Olives...
How do I love thee!
Olives are one of the things I love to eat! Anytime, Anywhere & Anyplace!
To me, Olives are the best snack food ever!
I recently ran across a Farm thats local and sells raw olives! Chaffin Orchards, They are located in Oroville, California!http://www.chaffinfamilyorchards.com/ Check them out! They have alot of other things to offer! You can also follow them on Twitter @ChaffinOrchards.
I decided since I have such a love for Olives, I was going to take on the task of curing my own! I checked out many differnt sites before purchase! First decicding on only 10 pounds and then in the end I ordered 17 pounds! That day I met Chris at a nerby location to pick up my order! I also ordered Avacodos & Organic Brown Rice. The Avacodos were delicious and the rice was awesome! Back to the Olives...
The minute I got home I started the process of cleaning them. Cutting a slit in each individual olive, I admit it took awhile to to do that! They also say you can hit them with a small mallet, I chose to do the slits! My next step was to get my salt water ready in my large containers that would be curing my olives for the next 41 days! Some people salt cure them for a shorter time, I like my olives salty!
I used 1 cup of Kosher Salt for every Quart of water! The above picture is how they looked at day 1.
Gourgeous dont ya think? You also need to place a plate or something heavy to hold the olives under the water for even curing! You dont want any of those bad boys to be left out! I didnt have a plate small enough to fit inside my glass crocks! I just filled up 2 gallon size zip lock bags, full of water to keep them submerged! You also want to keep these in a cool dark place while they are taking thier salt bath.Every 4 days or so, I changed out the salt water! I started taste testing about the 25th day and there after till I got the taste I desired! Day 41 I decided it was time! Excitiment came over me and I couldnt wait to add the flavors I desired for my Olives!
On to the marinade that would join my wonderful little green friends! I added Crushed Red Pepper, Crushed Bay Leaves, Black Peppercorns, Dill Seed, Coriander, Ginger and Cloves. I also used Vinager and water!
Not only do I like my Olives salty, I like em with a little kick too!
I started to fill my sterile Jars with Olives, smelling them was heavenly!
Then I added the mixture of vinegar and spices that I made! At the top of each filled jar I added 2 Tbls of Olive Oil. Sealed them jars up and got them ready for the pressure cooker. 17 pounds of olives fills, 12 Quart size canning jars. I put my jars in a pressure canner until they sealed. About 35-40 minutes.
Now that my Olives are finished! They will go on a cool dark shelf for a couple of months to soak in all the wonderful flavor! I did do a small jar for the fridge. I waited a week and tasted them! They were pretty darn good with a small kick! I can just imagine how yummy they will be in a couple of months! I have to say, im pretty proud of myself! I wasnt sure I could do it! I was afraid I would screw them up!
I cant wait to sit and eat a jar with friends on New Years Eve! Beer and Olives, Delicious!
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Small world. I follow Chaffin on Twitter. Glad you had such a great experience curing olives, I think I'll have to try it too!
ReplyDeleteI never knew you could cure olives like this - I thought it was all caustic soda and large barrels! Trouble is we can't get non-cured olives here and it isn't warm enough to grwo large enough ones. I have two olive bushes but they never make anything bigger than a grape pip!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you could cure olives at home. I thought it needed large barrels and caustic soda! I am fanatical about olives and I have two olive bushes but they never produce anything larger than a grape pip cos it never gets hot enough here, for long enough. Nowhere here (Jersey, Channel Islands, U.K.) sells uncured olives so I will not be able to try this but I wish I could...
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