Olivada: Black Olive Spread

All week I had great aspirations for cooking something warm and inviting today, but, as Boston has decided that it is fall - never mind that I have just bought 2 smart shirt dresses in an attempt to look more intellectual for nursing school - it is positively dreary outside! Heavy rain last night and all morning, *sigh*. So my amazing recipe for today must be pushed back until tomorrow evening or possibly Tuesday to accommodate the weather and oodles of pharmacology reading.

However, I do have a quick & easy recipe to share with you, a photo will be uploaded once I get off my butt and walk to the store to purchase some bread, cheese or any other logical accompaniment. (I suspect that I may be a bit melodramatic about walking in the rain as I do have an umbrella and it is about 5 minutes to Trader Joe's).

Las Ventas is a specialty Spanish foods shop in the South End of Boston. One of my (many) favorite items there is a black olive spread. Unlike tapenade, this spread has no capers, herbs or other added flavors. The result is a deep, pure olive taste. It is amazing on a sandwich or just spread over a crusty piece of bread.

I love visiting Las Ventas, but it is a bit of a trek from my apartment, so I have decided to attempt to replicate this savory spread at home.

Ingredients:
2 cup high quality Kalamata olives
1/3 cup EVOO
Sea salt, to taste
Garlic, minced (optional)

Remove pits from olives. Pulse in food processor or blender with olive oil until just combined. The mixture should retain a little texture. Add sea salt to taste.

Serve with your favorite combination of crackers, cheese, bread, vegetables and meat.

Spinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken over Spinach-Dill Rice, with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

I have been a little uninspired lately with my cooking, so I wanted to try something new. Greek is a cuisine that I have little experience cooking but intrigues me. Greek foodies: ANY comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated! : )

This recipe looks complicated, but each step takes about ten minutes to complete. The chicken can be marinated & stuffed the night before serving or earlier that day. The cucumber-yogurt sauce can be prepared up to 2 days before serving. This serves about 3-4 people.

For Chicken Marinade:

2 lbs chicken drumsticks (about 6)
1/2 lemon, juiced
12 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup EVOO (8 tablespoons)
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 cloves chopped garlic
Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup chicken stock (reserved for cooking)

Rinse chicken with water and pat dry with a paper towel. In a shallow baking dish, drizzle olive oil, lemon juice and white wine over chicken.

Sprinkle garlic and olives over chicken and cover with freshly ground black pepper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.



For Spinach & Feta Stuffing:

1 cup chopped spinach (I used frozen chopped spinach for this recipe)
1 tablespoon minced dill
2 green onions
6 oz crumbled feta cheese

Remove chicken from marinade.

Heat up marinate in saute pan until simmering. Simmer until liquid is reduced (less than 1/4 cup liquid).

Add green onions and saute 1 minute.

Add spinach and cook 1 minute.

Mix in dill and feta cheese.




Remove from heat.

Carefully push cooled stuffing into each chicken drumstick.



To Cook Chicken:

Heat oven to 350.

Pour 1 cup chicken broth into saute pan and bring to boil on high heat. Pour into 9 x 13 glass baking dish.

Place each chicken drumstick stuffing-side up in baking dish.

Bake approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour (until juices run clear).

While chicken is roasting, prepare Spinach-Dill rice.

For Spinach-Dill Rice:

1 tablespoon EVOO 1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped spinach
1 tablespoon minced dill
1 1/2-2 cups chicken stock
1 cup of rice

Heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil in medium-sized sauce pot. Add onion and garlic and saute 5 minutes until onion is translucent.

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Add rice and stir 1 minute.

Stir in dill, reduce heat to low and cook about 20 minutes, until liquid has evaporated, stirring very occasionally.

Stir in spinach and fluff to serve.

For Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce:

1 /2 cups Greek yogurt
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1 minced garlic clove
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons EVOO

Stir ingredients together, cover and refrigerate a minimum of 3 hours before serving.



Scoop rice over 3-4 dinner plates. Place 1 or 2 chicken drumsticks over rice. Carefully scoop cucumber-yogurt sauce over chicken and rice.


Happy Eating,

Caitlin