Olives Galore

My MIL loves black olives.

On days that I feel like manja-ing her I'll make her something olive-y.Her favourites include my olive rice, olive bread and tabouleh. I score big points when I get it right.

So here are the recipes especially for Aunty N, no need to ngendeng, I give you FOC, and for Ayu,to eat with your beef sauce. The tabouleh recipe is gratis for the rest of you.

EZPZ Olive Rice

3 cups rice

2 cups water

1.5 cups chicken stock

1 cup chopped black olives

A few knobs unsalted butter

Salt to taste

Raisins

Fragrant Garlic

Bell Peppers

Aubergines

Cilantro for garnishing

Mix and cook rice, water, stock and olives as you would normally.

Meanwhile cut the veges into bite sizes.

Roast them in a bit of olive oil until nicely smokey and caramelised.

Once the rice is cooked, stir a few knobs of butter, raisins and season with salt.

Garnish with roasted veges and cilantro.

Perfect accompanied with any type of roasts, especially Ayam Golek. Or Kak Teh's mustard and honey leg of lamb.Yumm.

Carbo-Fix Olive Bread

6 cups bread flour
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
4 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped black olives
6 tablespoons olive oil
2.5 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 tablespoon cornmeal

In a large bowl, mix together flour, yeast, sugar, salt, black olives, olive oil, and water.
Turn out dough onto a floured board.
Knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes.
Set aside, and let rise about 45 minutes, until it doubles in size.
Punch down.
Knead well again, for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Let rise for about 30 minutes, until it doubles in size.
Cut the dough into two on kneading board.
Place upside down in 2 separate bowls lined with a lint-free, well floured towel.
Let rise until double in size.
While the bread is rising for the third time, put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
Gently turn loaves out onto a sheet pan that has been lightly oiled and dusted with cornmeal.
Bake loaves at 500 degrees F (260 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Bake for 30 more minutes, or until done.

This recipe makes 2 loaves. This recipe is also good if you've had a bad day, all that kneading and punching can be therapeutic. Serve with wild mushroom soup or minestrone.

Buono. Bellisimo

Tabouleh Boleh

Microwave a packet of couscous/bhulgur wheat for 10 minutes in a few agak-agak cups of water. Substitute with small sized semolina pasta if you don't have couscous.

Chop some mint, parsley,cilantro, tomatoes and olives.

You can add tuna and black beans etc if you like.

Dressing:

A few shakes of allspice
One shake of ground cinnamon
Lemon juice
Chopped onions
Olive oil

Mix everything, season with salt and pepper and chill before serving. Serve with romaine or butterhead lettuce. To eat it, wrap the tabouleh in a lettuce leaf as you would a sireh and chomp. Whoopah!

One has to acquire the taste for olives. Some people get terrible gaseous indigestion that sometimes mimick a minor heart attack. So try it a little at a time before taking one too many.

I did not make these dishes today, but I am day dreaming that I am, so that's why I blogged the recipes. My flu is getting better, I think it has graduated to something else, my throat is on fire, I can't swallow.

Apa makan ni hari? There's still some of that kari from last night. So I campak-campak some stuff and made sambal fishcake with ikan bilis, and green sprouts with soft tofu cooked in beef broth. Che Anwar balik lunch and tambah 3 kali. Scoooooore!!!!

So how's your day at work today?