Olive Cheese Bread

 

 

First, thanks to Ree Drummond for the recipe idea!  Simple, tasty and effective.

 

Ingredients:

 

Black olives – 2 parts

Green olives – 1 part

2 spring onions

Mayonnaise

Grated cheese

¼ pound butter

1 loaf of bread

 

Method:

 

I defrosted my loaf in the microwave.  We have discovered that the texture of the bread is closer to fresh this way than just leaving it on the bench to defrost.

 

Heat your oven up to hot

 

Slice the loaf of bread in half lengthways.

 

Chop your olives and spring onions.  Mix together with all the other ingredients.  It's best if the butter is softened.

 

Spread the mix onto the loaf and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Note this recipe did not call for added salt or pepper and was tasty without.

Olive Cheese Bread

First, thanks to Ree Drummond for the recipe idea!  Simple, tasty and effective.

Ingredients:

Black olives – 2 parts

Green olives – 1 part

2 spring onions

Mayonnaise

Grated cheese

¼ pound butter

1 loaf of bread

Method:

I defrosted my loaf in the microwave.  We have discovered that the texture of the bread is closer to fresh this way than just leaving it on the bench to defrost.

Heat your oven up to hot

Slice the loaf of bread in half lengthways.

Chop your olives and spring onions.  Mix together with all the other ingredients.  It's best if the butter is softened.

Spread the mix onto the loaf and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Note this recipe did not call for added salt or pepper and was tasty without.

Salmon with a tasty but split sauce

I was very pleased with the texture of the salmon but the sauce was a bit of a fail – tasted ok but looked terrible.

Ingredients:

Piece of fresh salmon

Oil

Salt

Sauce:

Chopped olives (mix of black and green)

Cream

Yuzu sauce (could use lemon juice)

Pepper

Knob of butter

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to moderate

Heat your frying pan to really hot.  Salt the skin side of the salmon.  Put the salmon in to the pan skin side down.  I cut the salmon into 2 – one bit was much thicker than the other so I put that thicker piece in for a couple of minutes first.

When the salmon has done about 5 minutes in the pan, transfer it to the oven to finish off gently.  This took about 15 minutes.

Make your sauce in the pan.  I think I should have let it cool down a bit and also should have poured out most of the oil.

I added the chopped olives, the cream, lashings of pepper and a splash of yuzu sauce (Japanese citrus). When it was clear that the sauce was splitting I added a knob of butter which didn't help the situation at all.

Experimental Pork Salad

I had some leftover cooked pork fillet that I didn't want to waste.  So I literally threw together a salad that I wasn't at all sure would work.  But it was a hit.

Ingredients:

Leftover pork fillet

Cranberry sauce

Bok choy leaves

Basil & coriander

Olives (green ones with chilli)

Red & yellow capsicum (bell pepper)

Cherry tomatoes

Salt & Pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

Grated parmesan cheese

Method:

Prep your ingredients – slice the pork thinly, select 2 bok choy leaves (green part only), chop up your herbs and olives.  Slice your capsicum.  Halve your cherry tomatoes.

Then scatter them in a salad bowl with a huge dollop of cranberry sauce in the middle.  Season and drizzle with oil.  Sprinkled grated parmesan and that's it.

Simply sensational!

Chicken Olives

I called these stuffed chicken thighs olives because I have heard of beef olives and also because some of the stuffing was made of olives.

Ingredients:

Chicken thighs – boneless and skinless

A slice of ham

Slices of a good melting cheese

Dijon mustard

3 olives

Salt and pepper

Method:

I laid the chicken thighs out on a board and then laid a slice of ham on top of each which had been painted with Dijon mustard.

On top of that I put the pieces of olive and then the cheese with a bit of pepper.

I then wrapped the thighs around the filling and secured them with toothpicks.  This was actually quite fiddly.

I then cooked them in the oven – turning them once or twice.  The end result was nice but I had 2 problems – one was that the cheese melted and escaped.  Alos the olive pieces didn't impart much saltiness to the dish which surprised me.  I had only salted the outside of each thigh.

Improvements for next time – bash the chicken thighs out a bit flatter so I can make neater parcels that overlap and keep the stuffing in.  Double the quantity of olives in the stuffing.