I've cooked my way through all 264 recipes
in The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook!

March 12, 2010

Tapenade (p. 52)

Tapenade, or black olive paste, is one of those examples of how you can hate the texture of something (like I do with olives) but still love the flavor. You'll never catch me tossing back olives, but grind them up with some other salty and delicious flavors and I am so there.

Tomorrow my friends are having a cook out, and I am forcing it to become a Mediterranean feast by bringing tapenade, delicious home-made bread (which I'll probably post about later today), and a big Greek salad, which I won't make until tomorrow.

The tapenade can be made up to a week in advance, and is super easy to make. Plus, it gives me a chance to use the beautiful food processor I got for my wedding, which I love. Combine a pound of black olives, capers, canned tuna, olive oil, garlic, and brandy (!) in the food processor, and voila, tapenade. Too easy, really. You don't want to process it for too long, because it should have a texture to it when served. Mine's in the fridge now, waiting to be accompanied by delicious bread. I can't wait for tomorrow!


Actually, this picture makes it look a little bit gross, but it's not -- it's delicious.

black olives -- $15.98 (I need to stop shopping the olive bar at Fresh Market, though this also leaves some for another recipe) 
tuna -- $3.49 (with two tins leftover)
brandy -- $7.95 (Obviously, there's a lot of this leftover. I only used 2 tablespoons. I'm sure my husband can figure out something to do with the remainder.)

Total Cost for Tapenade: $27.42

6 comments:

  1. I am sitting here wondering why I am looking at and reading about this but not tasting it...weren't you just here?
    I guess I will get to try some tomorrow!

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  2. Mmm, cat food! =)

    I can't wait to try it.

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  3. Yes, it looks like cat food. But it tastes like awesome, so that's the difference.

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  4. I bet it would be good on a sandwich too...with some really tasty bread.

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  5. It TOTALLY looks like cat food!

    But I love tapenade. Question: is it really top-a-nod or top-a-nade? Or am I dumb and it's tape-a-nod? Tape-a-nade?

    I would eat some right now.

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  6. I bet it would be awesome with a little spread on a sandwich. It'd be like a salty little fix.

    I say top-a-nod. And in my top-a-nod's defense, I would like to say it looks slightly less cat food-y in person. Or at least a really high-grade cat food.

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Thanks for dropping by! Love, Katrina.