Black Olive Pickles
This recipe is for curing black olives by soaking them in water to remove bitterness, then draining them with salt under a weight, followed by a quick blanching with boiling water. The olives are then preserved in a jar with a brine of water, salt, lemon juice, and olive oil, with chopped lemon, a little thyme, and optional bay leaves, then covered with oil and served cold.
Salt-cured black olives preserved with lemon and olive oil for a simple cold appetizer or snack.
Like olives served on a mezze platter.
Expect a salty, tangy flavor and a soft cured texture. This is a straightforward preserved-olive preparation.
Ingredients
- 1½ kilos Black olives
- 6 tablespoons Coarse salt
- Lemon
- Olive oil
- 4 cups Water
- 4 tablespoons Coarse salt for the brine
- ½ cup Olive oil for the brine
- ½ cup Lemon juice for the brine
- a little Thyme
- a few leaves Bay leaves
- Boiling water
Instructions
- Wash the black olives in a kitchen bowl, removing any leaves and dust, then drain them well.
- On a cutting board, score each olive with a knife, making two or three cuts.
- Place the scored olives in a jar or large bowl, then cover them with plain water only, without adding any other ingredients.
- Place a lid or weight inside the jar or bowl over the olives so they remain submerged and the water reaches every olive.
- Leave the olives in the jar or bowl for a full week.
- Change the olive water in the jar or bowl throughout this week whenever possible; the chef mentioned three to five times daily to speed up the removal of bitterness.
- After seven days, drain the olives from their soaking water in a colander.
- Place the drained olives in the colander over a pot or deep pan so they release their water without touching the liquid.
- Add 6 tablespoons of coarse salt to the olives in the colander, then toss them in the colander until the salt reaches every olive.
- Place a plate over the olives in the colander, then place a suitable weight on top to press the olives.
- Leave the olives in the colander under the weight for about one week to ten days, until they release their water and bitterness.
- Turn the olives in the colander every day during the salting period, without adding any new ingredients.
- Discard the liquid that drains from the olives into the pot or pan beneath the colander whenever it collects.
- After the salting period, transfer the olives to a large bowl once they are dry and wrinkled.
- Pour plain boiling water from a pot over the olives in the bowl until they are submerged.
- Stir the olives in the bowl with a spoon in the boiling water so the heat reaches every olive.
- Leave the olives in the bowl in the hot water for only 10 minutes to a quarter of an hour.
- Prepare the brine in a mixing bowl by adding 4 cups water, 4 tablespoons coarse salt, ½ cup lemon juice, and ½ cup olive oil, then stir the mixture until the salt dissolves.
- Juice the lemon in the kitchen, remove the seeds, then cut the lemon in the preparation bowl.
- Once the olives have cooled and firmed up, drain them from the hot water in a colander.
- Cool the olives, then spread them on a tray lined with kitchen towels or a towel until they are completely dry, with no trace of water.
- Place the dried olives in a bowl or mixing bowl, then add the chopped lemon.
- Add a little oil and a little lemon juice to the olives in the bowl, then mix by hand until distributed.
- Add a little thyme to the olives in the bowl.
- Place a few bay leaves in the jar if available; this is optional.
- Transfer the seasoned olives to a clean, dry jar.
- Pour the brine into the jar over the olives and lemon.
- Finish covering the surface of the olives in the jar with olive oil so the olives are submerged from above.
- Seal the jar tightly after making sure the olives are submerged in oil.
- When serving, take the olives from the jar with a clean, dry spoon and serve cold.