My favorite olives and Tapenade

The other day I was really hungry. Knowing there wasn't much in the house to eat, I looked in the cupboards and fridge, noticed two kinds of olives, capers, walnuts, and sun dried tomatoes.  OK. I would make a tapenade.  It was fabulous!

I'm a black olive fan. I eat them daily. My father used to cure olives when I was a child.  We used to go olive hunting in the outskirts of Fresno.  Back in the 1960's, olive groves were easily found.  We would gather a bucket of spotted imperfect green which were bitter if you tried to eat them. 

He would then clean them, put them in a large container, and soak them in a lye mixture until the lye soaked all the way to the pit. I remember standing by him, watching him carefully tip the heavy container of olives as the water flowed into the gutter. He would then refill the container with fresh water  to continue the soaking process to leach out the lye. 

After a week or so, (I don't remember how long because I was a child and time meant little to me then) he would start cutting an olive to check for traces of lye. I remember my mouth watering, anxiously waiting for the day when he would check the olive with his pocket knife, look up at me, grin and tell me they were ready to eat.  The succulent flavors and texture were delightful.  They are still my favorite olives. My father hasn't cured olives in years since the groves have been plowed down and replaced with houses, offices, and shopping centers.

Over the years, I have gone through a phases where I ate all kinds of olives: Greek, green, Napa Valley Bristol (my favorite is the smoked kind), and those specialty olives found in grocery stores nowadays.  I loved green olives on pizza when I ate cooked food and enjoyed them in my salad.  However, lately the flavors are too strong, to overwhelming for me. So I stick to black olives which have a mild flavor. 

Yet, I still enjoy tapenade once in a while.  Although I didn't measure everything, these amounts are close to what I used.

Tapenade with walnuts and sun dried tomatoes
by La Buscadora

1 15 oz can of black olives
2 - 4 Tbs. of sliced green olives (to taste)
4 Tbs. walnuts
2 Tbs. capers
1 tsp. or to taste sage
black pepper

2 Tbs. sun dried tomatoes (I use Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes with Italian Herbs, Julienne cut. They're in oil, so drain the oil a bit before adding.)

Put all ingredients except tomatoes into the food processor and process to desired consistency.  Add the sun dried tomatoes and pulse a couple of times.  I like them to be a bit chunky.

Enjoy as a spread, dip, part of your salad or stuffed in tomatoes. Of course, whichever you choose is just a Tapenade delivery devise.

Happiness is part of the journey, not some distant destination.

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