How to prepare home-made Olive Dip

NB. This is officially my first recipe on the blog... so please bear with me!

Local olives are rarely, if ever, found pitted

6 years ago, when we were still at the initial stages of starting this eco venture, I didn't have the slightest of clues that I'll be concocting dips or preparing recipe blogs! Ok, we were already delving into local products and stuff by then, but me, writing a recipe?! Well it turned out that most of our eco tours ended up having something to do with local food, in some form or another, so it was only a matter of time that we started to explore our own twists to traditional recipes.

For this season's Olive Grove Experience we introduced home-made dips. We figured that if we're promoting local products we should serve in-house nibbles with fresh ingredients - wherever possible - no shortcuts. Quite simple... yet it took time for us to get there. The supermarket, grab-and-go option was just too tempting! Even though we did our best to see that the processed ingredients were local, we knew that we could do better - yet the additional chore of preparing even the dips for each event seemed to be a daunting task. Until, one fine day Jeanette casually mentioned cream cheese!

Wild Thyme from
Tas-Salut Orchard

She has lately spent a lot of her free time looking into baking and other flabby-belly-inducing habits, mostly thanks to Il Piu Grande Pasticciere, a food reality TV series, and her knowledge of ingredients increased exponentially. When she did mention this wonder ingredient - cream cheese - it was quite a revelation to me.

Guilty as charged, I don't 'make' home-made cream cheese in our tiny apartment... this is one of the short list of ingredients that we buy from a supermarket! But if you want to keep the recipe 100% local you can even try and substitute cream cheese with ricotta and even fresh sheep's milk cheeselets - I tried this and it's divine! But cream cheese it is for now...

So this Olive Dip made it to this year's Olive Grove Experiences - and we'll have to be really running out of time to go back to the pre-packed version. The dip was a winner during every experience. We just couldn't believe how much the guests enjoyed it, and raved about it, given that it was not such a big deal to prepare.

Maybe it's just because of that - the simplicity and freshness of the ingredients, or it could be due to the extra bitterness of the olive drupe. Whatever the reason, during all of the sessions, without exception, some guest asked for the recipe... so here it is.

Enjoy!

Christian

OLIVE DIP 

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PREP TIME  15 mins

Ingredients

80g olives (around 20 pitted olives)

1 medium tomato

200g regular cream cheese

1.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Fresh herbs

Salt & pepper 

  

 

Instructions

Bring the cream cheese close to room temperature, this avoids leaving larger chunks of cheese in the dip.

Remove the pits from the olives by pinching both ends of the drupe, or squash it with the flat part of a heavy chef knife, and place the flesh in a separate bowl. 

Dice the tomato in smaller parts, so as it will be easier to blend. Don't waste anything from the tomato (apart from the top part of the stem). This adds liquid to the mixture and also gives it a nice orange-to-pinkish colour. 

Toss everything into a mixing bowl and blend with an electric blender until it's the right consistency.

Add the extra virgin olive oil, together with the other seasoning and blend further.

For best results, refrigerate, and let the mixture settle for at least 12 hours before serving.

Olive & Caper Dip

Olives and olive oil can be considered to be jewels of the Maltese islands. The olive fruit and oil made from the fruit are central to the Mediterranean diet, and many studies cite their benefits and anti-oxidant powers.

Growing in a temperate climate where the weather is not too harsh, the rain is not too hot or too cold, the soil is not too acidic or alkaline, and where the tree is never far away from the sea, the olives obtain a tangy saltiness that is rich and unique.

As far back as the Roman era, areas in many villages across the islands were set aside for agricultural activities, particularly the pressing and processing of olives. The wooden structures of the olive-presses were mounted on large rectangular blocks of stone. Many of these can still be seen in some villages. In fact, this practice was held in such high regard that two towns (one in Malta and one in Gozo) are called Żebbug (Maltese for ‘olives’) and another in Malta is called Żejtun (also the Sicilian-Arabic for ‘olives’).

The olive fruit is not ready for consumption straight off the tree; a process of immersion in water and brine is conducted to render it more palatable and remove some of its bitterness.

Olive Dip Recipe:

200g green olives, bone removed

2 tablespoons capers

1 clove of garlic

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup fresh parsley

2 heaped tablespoons cream cheese

1/2 cup canellini beans

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Use a blender to make a fine paste. Test taste to see if you want to adjust any of the flavours. For example, if the olive taste is too strong, you may add more beans or cream cheese to your liking. Since the olives and capers are already rather salty, you will not need to add more salt. Using fresh parsley will help to counteract the aftertaste of garlic.

Serve the dip with crackers, bread or vegetable crudités. Keep some parsley and capers to garnish when serving. Keep refrigerated before serving. This dip may be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Merill products used: olives, capers, olive oil

written by Miriam Calleja

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Experience 

NOW AVAILABLE FOR INDIVIDUALS

every Sunday morning!

Bird is the Word!

Chicken meat is a lean, versatile and affordable means of getting protein. And yet not all chicken is equal. In Malta, St. Mary Farm has been operational for 23 years and Karl took over in 2011, soon after he obtained a Diploma from MCAST. Karl is the youngest member of the Merill Rural Network and he proudly describes the conditions under which the broilers – chickens of a special breed kept purposely for meat consumptions – are kept. 

Karl Scerri, young farmer from Dingli, Malta

Their sanitation and health is taken seriously. For example, their feed is studied well so that it fulfills all their nutritional needs; the temperature of the pens is controlled to keep them at their healthiest and happiest. There are less chickens per squared meter when compared to other EU countries because their rearing is less intense. In Malta, all barns are regularly tested for Salmonella and very strict sanitation rules are followed. 

This means that you can feel safe buying local chicken for your family’s consumption. By doing that you would be supporting a local farmer and decreasing the carbon footprint of your meals. 

The Recipe:

• Heat your fan-assisted oven to 200 degrees Celsius and cook the chicken thighs for 12 minutes on each side. 
• With a brush, spread the tomato jam on both sides and return to the oven to cook for a further 5 minutes on each side. Remember that the appearance of the chicken flesh is not always enough to judge whether it has cooked through and is safe to eat. 
• Use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature has reached 73 degrees Celsius (165 Fahrenheit) and make sure that any juices that come out of the chicken run clear. The tomato jam will form a coating on the meat that will give it an interesting tangy and sweet flavor with an attractive appearance. Just a simple addition to your usual roast chicken will make a big difference to the result you present to the table.

Serving suggestion:

• Sweet potato chips: Peel a sweet potato and cut it into strips. Drizzle some olive oil and sea salt on top and roast in the oven whilst the chicken is cooking (in a different dish). Toss every few minutes to make sure all your chips cook evenly and remove them from the oven when they are cooked through and start to brown at the edges. Depending on the size of your chips, they should take between 20-30 minutes to cook at 200 degrees Celsius.
• Simple side salad: Use vegetables that are eaten raw such as tomatoes, cucumber and bells peppers. Chop into bite size pieces and drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. You may also crumble a fresh, local cheeselet (Ġbejna) on top.

Merill products used: tomato jam, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and a ġbejna.

written by Miriam Calleja