Olives Home-made

[Dino_Pizza]

It's been at least 15 years since we made olives at home. I picked a large grocery bag full of green and just barely ripe olives to make a batch for this winter.

I had to look up on-line to remind myself how it's done without using lye.

I did put a slit ("clicked" them with a paring knife) as I dropped them in the water and separated the green from purples. I'll change the water daily for 2 weeks. Then, add a salt brine and change weekly for a month. See if they are then ready for vinegar, lemons, bay leaf and garlic cloves.

Any suggestions would be welcomed!



They're going to be great on pizza's!
-Dino

[mfiore]

Re: Olives Home-made

Sorry, no help here. Not a lot of Olives growing in Michigan! It looks and sounds great though. If you are in need of discriminating tasters, let me know Olives are one of my favorite foods!

[texassourdough]

Re: Olives Home-made

I look forward to hearing how it goes, Dino. I have three olive trees and this year I have my first (and I do mean first for I have ONLY ONE) olive and it is just about ready to pick. Next year all three trees should bear and I will FINALLY be able to make olives.

Alas, one olive is sort of unusable!
Jay

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Olives Home-made

Jay,

I only put one olive in my martinis...

John

[roobqn]

Re: Olives Home-made

Jay,

I only put one olive in my martinis...

John

What a great attitude!

When life gives you one olive . . . make a martini

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Olives Home-made

Ok, that's what I get for saying "any suggestions will be welcomed". Now I can't wait to get home and make a Hendricks Gin Martini and drink it in the pool , olives or not.

Jay, you'll be pleasantly surprised how quickly the trees start fruiting. I'm sure you'll have a bumper crop soon. Keep an eye out for olives growing in parkways and parking lots. That's what I did .


Mike, I guess I'll have go back to the university parking lot and pick another batch for you.

[texassourdough]

Re: Olives Home-made

Hi Dino!

I picked my one olive today!

The issue with one olive is that it is a LOT of work and time which is the same for one olive or a thousand and as cool as home made martini olive might be....geesh!

And besides my wife likes martinis too and there might be a squabble.

My area north of San Antonio is occasionally really dry and the soil very VERY rocky (most of the meadow above my house is exposed rock). My trees were two years old when planted and are now eight! In theory they should have produced two years ago but...the past two years have been exceptionally dry. This year is pretty wet and they are MUCH happier so I suspect I will have many martini olives next year!

And to John....Touche! You got me! )

Jay

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Olives Home-made

Aha, Jay! You are in a decidedly bigger pickle now, what with a lovely wife who will joust you for 'THE OLIVE'... I say give it up gracefully, kneel down on the floor and beg, and just see what comes back for your gentlemanly gesture.

[texassourdough]

Re: Olives Home-made

Or be clever and make one home grown olive and pretend it is two - then add a commercial olive and ....

(of course one can die doing things like this with a perceptive spouse!)
Jay

[Tscarborough]

Re: Olives Home-made

A friend bought an olive tree for me. It is very small and I have it potted until I decide where to plant it, but it will be near the oven.

[texassourdough]

Re: Olives Home-made

Good Luck TS! We are right at the northern edge of olive tree viability. It will probably get frozen back every so often. Not a bad idea to give it a year or two in a pot before putting it in the ground (so you can move it inside if you have to). As they grow older they get a bit more cold tolerant. Will be three to seven years to fruit depending on how much you water and feed. (But they don't want too much of either...)

Good luck!
Jay

[SCChris]

Re: Olives Home-made

Dino,
Do you worry about the spotted olives, black spots, or only use perfect?

Chris

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Olives Home-made

No, I don't worry about spotted, blotchy olives. They tend to get blotchy as they cure and darken as well. I do avoid picking the olives that have tiny dimples which makes the surrounding area appear bumpy. I know it's some sort of soil virus that does that probably is harmless and tasteless for these salty, vinegary things. I had 3-4 trees to choose from so I did pick nice looking olives. If I only had 1 choice, I'd use the imperfect, no question.

My 2 weeks of 'water curing' are over and I'm in my 1st week of brine solution, changing it weekly for 1 month. In 3 weeks I'll taste 'em and see if they are ready for final jaring.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Olives Home-made

I put my olives into jars yesterday. It only took them 2 weeks and 1 change of salty-brine (after the 3 weeks of water only to get the bitter out) and they taste great.

I put the green only in a brine-white vinegar/cider vinegar mix with green peppercorns, dill seed and oregano. I may add some celery sticks.

The 3 red-mostly jars have different mixes of red wine and cider vinegar, oregano, juniper berries peppercorns, garlic cloves and lemon wedges.

And of course, topped off with 1" of olive oil to 'seal' the top while they cure in their mixes for about 1-2 weeks. Then, I'll start eating them, see if I need to adjust it with more vinegar or less.



I was surprised the greens were more mild and the reds only a tad bitter but with great olive taste. I think when their solutions blend in, they'll be terrific.

OHHH...MY FIRST: while jarring olives, I also shredded a head of cabbage to make my 1st Sauerkraut. I've got a couple books on fermentation, compared with on-line instructions (very simple) salted and pounded it into a crock with a few pickle spices and it smells great this morning. I'll know in 1-2 weeks. -Dino

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Olives Home-made

Dino,

Boy do those look good! It'll be nice to taste the difference over time as the olives age. This of course is slightly difficult to do when there is only ONE olive!

Nice plumeria too!

John