The price of your grocery bill does not need to suffer over the cost of olives. You can buy simple fermented olives from California or if you live in the Mediterranean from France, Italy or Greece, and upgrade the olives with a marinade you make it home. Marinating olives is not the same as fermenting olives, a process which takes months and which turns a very bitter olive into a delightful side dish eaten with a glass of wine, cheese or any Mediterranean salad. Olives come in hundreds of varieties. Here are 17 of the best olives you can try with your new marinade. Scroll down for the recipe.
Marinating Olives
Upgrade store bought olives with this olive marinade
- large bowl
- glass jar with lid
- 2 cups olives (either one variety or an assortment of different colors and sizes)
- 1/2 cup olive oil (extra virgin)
- 1 peel lemon (try to use organic lemon as most sold contain pesticides on the peel. You can also add wedges, to taste.)
- 2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- 1 leaf bay (Take a large bay leaf, broken up, or 2 small whole bay leaves)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, rosemary, oregano, or za'atar (Crushed)
- 1 coriander seeds
- 2 red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes ((optional) or to taste)
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If using black olives, rinse them separately to prevent discoloring the rest of the olives.
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Drain all olives; place them in a large bowl.
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Smash the coriander seeds in a mortar once or twice. Don't pulverize them. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, wrap the seeds in a kitchen towel and bang them with the bottom of an empty bottle or jar a few times.
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Toast the coriander seeds in a dry pan for 2 minutes, or until the fragrance rises. Remove from the heat.
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Combine the oil, coriander seeds and the rest of the seasonings, except for the vinegar, in the pan. Heat this seasoned oil over low heat for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool.
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Pour the marinade over the olives. Drizzle the vinegar in. Mix gently.
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Cover the olives and allow them to marinate at least a couple of hours at room temperature, turning them over twice. But they'll taste better after a week in the refrigerator, and will keep for up to a month there, the flavors improving as they mature.
Take the olives out of the fridge an hour before serving, to let the solidified olive oil thaw.
