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Marinated Olives

Source of Recipe

From "What Can I Bring?" by Elizabeth Heiskell


Recipe Introduction

"Herend bunnies, jade grapes, Limoges boxes, and crystal dishes — my great-aunt used to call these 'sit-arounds" — those little things you place around your living room. Well, marinated olives, cheese straws, salted cashews, these are what I call sit arounds nowadays — the sort of hors d'oeuvres you can take out of the fridge or cabinet and put out for guests to sit around. In a perfect world, we would all have at least a couple of sit arounds in our pantry or fridge for unexpected guests who drop by, or you get a last-minute invitation to attend a festive event and don't want to fret about what to bring."

List of Ingredients

1 orange
1 lemon
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
5 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic
2 thyme sprigs
1 rosemary sprig
4 cups mixed black and green olives, pitted


Recipe

Cut three ¼-inch-thick slices from the orange; squeeze the juice from the remaining orange to equal 3 tablespoons. Cut three ¼-inch thick slices from the lemon; squeeze the juice from remaining lemon to equal 1½ tablespoons.

Stir together the olive oil, vinegar, bay leaves, garlic, lemon juice, and orange juice in a small saucepan; cook over medium-low until just warmed, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the lemon and orange slices, thyme and rosemary. Let stand 20 minutes.

Place the olives in a widemouthed 1-quart jar with a tight-fitting lid. Pour the citrus-herb mixture over the olives. Cover with the lid, and chill 2 hours. Shake the jar to redistribute seasonings before serving. Store in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.



Makes 4 cups