California is a wonderful hub for olive trees and local craft curing. A brief stop along Interstate-5 at Granzella’s, in Williams, presents the opportunity to gather a variety of styles and flavors.
Chef Husband selected four varieties, procuring two of each, for a blended olive appetizer. He drained all eight jars and emptied the olives into full hotel pan and added about a cup of roasted garlic. He used a lemon stripper to zest one orange, one lemon and two limes, making sure to capture as much of the citrus oils as possible by zesting them over the pan of olives. Of course to waste not any additional flavor, each piece of citrus was reamed for their juice.
Next we harvested a fistful of fresh oregano and rosemary stems from our yard, about 10 each. The more delicate pieces went in stem and all, while the woodier stems of oregano were stripped for the leaves, from base to tip. About a cup of extra virgin olive oil would seal the deal.
Topped with cracked pepper followed by a gentle folding with his hands, the mixture would then be covered tightly and settled into the fridge for the next two weeks.
Until next time…
Sandbagging
