A few weeks ago, I laid out the ingredients to make these marinated olives, set up my tripod and recorded the entire process with my trusty little DSLR camera. Then I uploaded the footage to my computer and went on my merry way. A few days later, I tried to upload more footage – footage I needed THAT week – but there was no storage left on the computer, because – newsflash! – videos take up tons of space. So rather than doing the smart thing: plugging in my external hard drive and transferring files over, I went on a deleting rampage, zapping up old files and footage no longer needed and emptying the trashcan with reckless abandon. 

You might have an idea where this story is going. 

This week, I sat down to edit my olive video and all of the footage was nowhere to be found. NOWHERE. And I looked everywhere. It was obvious what had happened. How could I be so stupid? So careless! After thoroughly beating myself up, I was ready to scrap the whole thing and move on to something else. But then I thought about how deliciously tangy and flavorful these olives are; how they’re the perfect little nibble to serve with cocktails, and how guests always gobble them up. I thought about how meyer lemons are just coming back into season and how they’re begging to be zested and squeezed into recipes. I pictured how lovely they’d look amongst the spread of hors d’oeuvres on your holiday table, and how appreciative the hostess will be when you walk through the door with a batch of these adorned with a bow. 

I thought about how much I’d be depriving you by not posting the recipe, and I don’t ever want to do that. So I very carefully cleared more space on the computer, bought more olives and got back into the kitchen to recreate the video. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it (both times).

Meyer Lemon Marinated Olives

2015-12-11 09:59:06

Makes about 2 cups

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Ingredients

1. 1-2 Meyer Lemons
2. 1 sprig fresh thyme (lemon thyme is nice)*
3. 1 sprig fresh rosemary*
4. 2 dried bay leaves
5. 2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
6. 1 small dried red chile, halved (optional) - recommended: Chile de Arbol
7. 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
8. 2 cups assorted green and black olives with about 1/2 cup brine**

Instructions

1. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from one meyer lemon, being careful to avoid as much of the white pith as you can. Roughly chop the thyme, rosemary and bay leaves so they're in large pieces. Add the zest, herbs, garlic, chile (if using) and olive oil to a medium saucepan, then place it on the stove over medium low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes to let the aromatics infuse.
2. Remove from the heat and add the olives while still warm. Squeeze the juice from 1-2 meyer lemons (I like mine extra tangy) and mix to combine.
3. Transfer to a bowl, cover and let marinate over night or longer for best results. Let sit at room temperature before serving.
4. remove from the heat and at the olives, then squeeze in the juice from one or two meyer lemons - i like mine extra tangy.
5. give them a stir and let them hang out in the fridge for a day or so to soak up all that awesome flavor.

Notes

1. *You can opt to use either thyme, rosemary or both. If only dry herbs are available, use about 1/4 teaspoon each.
2. **I prefer mostly green olives for this mix, but any will work. My favorites are are cerignola, castelvetrano and lucque

By Nicole Gaffney (ColeyCooks.com)

Coley Cooks... http://coleycooks.com/