After eating my Muffeletta the other day, I developed a craving for some Tapenade. Nothing says summer like a nice Tapenade. So I marched over to the neighborhood market, which for us is an IGA; Keil's. They happen to have an olive bar with a nice selection:
When we first moved into this area I scoffed at the existence of Keil's, it really doesn't look like much from the outside, and I would make the extra trip to go to one of the major chain supermarkets. But when I finally did shop at Keil's I was thoroughly surprised. They carry everything from Boar's Head Deli Products to Tiparos Fish Sauce. Though I'm not impressed by the produce, Keil's is one of the few places where I will purchase ground beef. During the summer weekends they even have a smoker going with ribs, chicken, and corn for sale.
So I grabbed some pitted Kalamata olives and some Niscoise olives and the other ingredients and headed the few blocks home. Now in the days BFP (before food processor), if I wanted to make a tapenade I would have spent a good portion of the evening pitting the olives, than chopping everything, before finally mixing. Now that I can get decent quality pitted Kalamata's (I still have to pit the Nicoise) and can use the food processor, my time is cut by 80%.
Here's the recipe - all measurements are approximations. I basically "eyeball" everything, and go by taste:
Tapenade
2 cups good quality olives pitted
2 TB capers drained and dried
2 Anchovy filets
1/3 cup artichoke hearts preserved in brine - drained
1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes in olive oil - drained
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 TB Fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup of Good Quality extra virgin olive oil
Separate half the olives and pulse 1-2 times in a food processor until you have larger chopped pieces of olive, remove to a bowl. Add the other half of the olives, capers, anchovy, sun dried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts, and pulse in the food processor. Add to bowl with olives. Add olive oil pouring slowly while mixing. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and mix. Refrigerate. Will keep up to a week tightly covered in the frig.
Slice ciabatta loaf in half, spread tapenade on bottom. Add a double layer of genoa salami, followed by a single layer of provolone cheese. Top with a double layer of Cappicola. Wrap sandwich in saran, place between 2 plates and press down; or use some other "pressing" method. Eat until olive oil oozes out of your pores, repeat as necessary.
"Eat until olive oil oozes out of your pores." huh? ::nodding thoughtfully:: Kirk, you are a true romantic. I bet you Missus thinks you are the Cat's Pajamas!
I gotta hand it to you, you definately know how to put together a sammich. I like the idea of pressing. If you allowed it to sit an hour or so, then cut into sizes of say 2 or 3 bites, but that would be an awesome hors'd ourve (spelling?). I think I would go with Spanish olives myself. Of course being half Spaniard, I have a cultural pride thing going. On the island (Mallorca) they have an exquisite tiny cracked green olive that would make an incredible tapenade.
I just made guacalsa for dinner. Fried the chips myself then covered with grated cheese and popped them in the oven for a couple minutes. Oinker city. ::happy sigh::
Posted by: Jo | Sunday, 10 July 2005 at 08:43 PM
Hi Kirk,
Sandwich looks delicious. I had a sandwich for lunch that didn't look like that! =P
Posted by: Reid | Sunday, 10 July 2005 at 09:43 PM
Hi Jo - Well I press it to make it denser, as well was make sure that it fits in my mouth - sure don't want no TMJ problems! The tapenade sure did hit the spot, esp since I don't have to do everything by hand anymore. delici-yoso! Sounds like you're ready to make a batch for yourself!
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 10 July 2005 at 09:44 PM
Hi Reid - The sandwich was very tasty. I'm sure your sandwich was every bit as good....
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 10 July 2005 at 09:46 PM
Actually, I hate olives. I know that is a bit bizzare since I'll cook with them in a heartbeat, but alone, yuck! In tapenade, double yuck! I love mixing GREAT (I will spend some bucks on a good oil) olive oil with a touch of balsamic & garlic in a blender. I like that as a bread dip. Mmmm Delisi-YoSo! ;o)
Posted by: Jo | Monday, 11 July 2005 at 08:24 AM
Yummy...that sounds pretty good right about now. I also press my covered muffeletta but let it sit pressed for an hour++ so the bread soaks up all those good flavors. For a variant, toast it after it's been pressed...ok you're killing me, I'm going to have to make one of these in the next couple of days!
Posted by: Jack | Monday, 11 July 2005 at 09:48 AM
Jack - You know I woulda gone ahead and pressed the sandwiches for an hour or so - but I wuz to darn hungry - so I got the two plates put the sandwich between and pressed the daylights out of it!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 11 July 2005 at 01:39 PM
Dontcha just looooove your food processor??? It's so handy!
I think I will try making your tapenade--looks yummy! I'm already breaking out the Cuisinart this week to make pesto, so might as well do the olives too! =)
Posted by: Pam | Monday, 11 July 2005 at 04:20 PM
Hi Pam - Yes, the food processor is a godsend - especially for tapenade - still have to find a "ptting machine though". About the recipe - you may want to throw in 1-2 cloves garlic, didn't have any on hand so didn't add - my normal recipe uses it!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 11 July 2005 at 04:43 PM
Kirk,
you ever notice that good olive tapenade (a la Cafe Luna in Pasedena) tastes a lot like tofu lu or fermented bean curd?
Posted by: Jeffrey C | Tuesday, 09 December 2008 at 06:49 PM
Hi Jeffrey - I think it has that fermented and briney smell - but the taste is fairly different.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 09 December 2008 at 07:32 PM