Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

1 c Olives purchased from deli -(green
-or Middle Eastern grocery

Yield: 1 cup

Olives are often served as part of the Middle Eastern appetizer
assortment called mezze or mazza that is brought to your table with
your wine, ouzo, or arak. Anything can turn up as part of a mezze
selection: octopus dressed in olive oil and lemon, chunks of feta
cheese or salami on small pieces of bread, or a plate of creamy, tart
hummus. Olives, brined, salted, or marinated, are almost always on
one of the little plates.

Middle Eastern marketplaces feature huge vats and crocks of
differently spiced olives in myriad array. Some are fleshy, some
juicy, others bitter and dense, and each is in a subtly different
mainade. The marinade in this recipe is good for almost any type of
olive; it is especially delicious with green brined olives or fleshy
Greek-style ones (it even improves California-style ripe Olives).

brine-cured, Kalamata, Greek-style, or shriveled black dry-cured) 1/4
cup olive oil 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves,
lightly crushed 1 1/2 tsp Aji Harissa, Berbere, or commercial
chile-garlic paste 1 tbsp wine vinegar

1. Drain olives of any brine.

2. Slowly heat olive oil over low heat. Remove from heat and add
garlic, rosemary, chile-garlic paste, and vinegar.

3. Pour marinade over olives and let stand at least 2 hours (the
flavor gets hotter the longer it stands).

ADVANCE PREPRATION: Lasts almost forever, covered and refrigerated

VARIATION: A Mediterranean-inspired hors d'oeuvre.

4 ounces Montrachet or Leazay goat cheese 1 to 2 cloves garlic,
chopped 1 tsp finely chopped cilantro (optional) 1 tsp medium salsa
(or to taste) 1/2 tsp thyme 1 tsp olive oil Approximately 1/2 a
French baguette, cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices Morroccan Spiced
Olives

1. Mash goat cheese with a fork. Add garlic, cilantro, salsa,
thyme, and olive oil.

2. Spread goat cheese mixture on bread slices; top each with half a
pitted marinated olive.

RECOMMENDED WINE: Enjoy with a glass of a medium-bodied Cabernet
Sauvignon with noticeable character, one from California, Chile, or
Spain.

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