Good Provençal-Like Dip or Spread
Photo added 6/18/2016
If you like olives, you'll love this mixture, which can be used as a dip for veggies or chips, or you can spread it on toast or crackers. I took the basic recipe from "Fresh Herb Cooking" by Linda Dannenberg, 2001, which had a recipe "Provencal Olive-Rosemary Butter,"* but I substituted cream cheese and sour cream/mayo for the butter. I use the soft whipped cream cheese, because it's easy to mix with the other ingredients, but you could use the packaged cream cheese and let it sit out to soften. This is simple:
1 8 ounce tub of plain whipped cream cheese
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 to 4 tablespoons of chopped black olives, preferably Kalamata olives
splash of brine from the olives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
To a tub of whipped cream cheese mix in about a tablespoon of sour cream and one teaspoon mayo. Add about a teaspoon of minced garlic, 3-4 tablespoons of pitted and chopped black olives (I use Kalamata olives in brine, and I add a splash of the brine to the mixture**), a tablespoon of fresh chopped rosemary (or you could add a little less of dried rosemary), and about a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper. No salt is needed because the olives and brine have enough salt. Let it sit briefly, or put it in the refrigerator for an hour or two.
* Provençal means it comes from "Provence," a region of southern France with such well known cities as Nice, Cannes, Toulon, and Marseille. "Provençal" also is the name of the language from that region, which has several dialects, all now being overtaken by standard French, to which Provençal is related, as it too is Latin based, but with fewer influences from Germanic Frankish.
** I use a brand of Greek Kalamata olives called "Krinos," which I buy in a small clear plastic container. In my opinion they have the best flavor for this recipe, because they haven't added all sorts of other spices to the brine as some other brands do. Those added spices then conflict with the recipe in my opinion; then again, you may like it that way.
On some toasted wheat bread and along with some potato chips.
WORD HISTORY:
Olive-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, but it is assumed by many to have come from some ancient eastern Mediterranean language, where olive trees were indigenous, and where the oil from the olives was highly important, and this then provided a basis for the word "oil."^ Ancient Greek had "elaiva/elaiwa," which meant both "olive tree," as well as its fruit "olive." Latin borrowed the term from Greek as "oliva," which then was inherited by Latin-based Old French as "olive." English borrowed the word from French during the 1200s.
^ For the history of the the word "oil," see: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/05/oil-debate-spills-over.html
If you like olives, you'll love this mixture, which can be used as a dip for veggies or chips, or you can spread it on toast or crackers. I took the basic recipe from "Fresh Herb Cooking" by Linda Dannenberg, 2001, which had a recipe "Provencal Olive-Rosemary Butter,"* but I substituted cream cheese and sour cream/mayo for the butter. I use the soft whipped cream cheese, because it's easy to mix with the other ingredients, but you could use the packaged cream cheese and let it sit out to soften. This is simple:
1 8 ounce tub of plain whipped cream cheese
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 to 4 tablespoons of chopped black olives, preferably Kalamata olives
splash of brine from the olives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
To a tub of whipped cream cheese mix in about a tablespoon of sour cream and one teaspoon mayo. Add about a teaspoon of minced garlic, 3-4 tablespoons of pitted and chopped black olives (I use Kalamata olives in brine, and I add a splash of the brine to the mixture**), a tablespoon of fresh chopped rosemary (or you could add a little less of dried rosemary), and about a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper. No salt is needed because the olives and brine have enough salt. Let it sit briefly, or put it in the refrigerator for an hour or two.
* Provençal means it comes from "Provence," a region of southern France with such well known cities as Nice, Cannes, Toulon, and Marseille. "Provençal" also is the name of the language from that region, which has several dialects, all now being overtaken by standard French, to which Provençal is related, as it too is Latin based, but with fewer influences from Germanic Frankish.
** I use a brand of Greek Kalamata olives called "Krinos," which I buy in a small clear plastic container. In my opinion they have the best flavor for this recipe, because they haven't added all sorts of other spices to the brine as some other brands do. Those added spices then conflict with the recipe in my opinion; then again, you may like it that way.
On some toasted wheat bread and along with some potato chips.
Olive-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, but it is assumed by many to have come from some ancient eastern Mediterranean language, where olive trees were indigenous, and where the oil from the olives was highly important, and this then provided a basis for the word "oil."^ Ancient Greek had "elaiva/elaiwa," which meant both "olive tree," as well as its fruit "olive." Latin borrowed the term from Greek as "oliva," which then was inherited by Latin-based Old French as "olive." English borrowed the word from French during the 1200s.
^ For the history of the the word "oil," see: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/05/oil-debate-spills-over.html
Labels: cream cheese, dips, English, etymology, French, Greek, Latin, olives, Provençal, Provence, recipes, rosemary, spreads
posted by Randy at 11:06 AM
1 Comments:
I like olives, will have to try this.
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