Tastespotting

I wish I came up with that title myself, but it's the name of a simple but great site called www.tastespotting.com. This gorgeous site lives up to its tagline "feed your addiction." The site allows users to share articles or products that inspire them. Pages and pages of stunning photos submitted by visitors entice you to click through to recipes on other sites. It is so interesting to see what everyone else is cooking up. A search function allows you to look for specific food items or dishes. Even if you don't have time to download the recipes or read the articles, it's fun to look at the inspiring photos. And they make the submission process very easy, so feel free to share your photos of anything relating to food.

The Secret to Sun Dried Tomatoes

The truth is, I didn’t discover sun dried tomatoes until I was in my twenties. It was one of those Italian food items that didn’t make it into my family’s pantry. Sun dried tomato is not a taste that can be ignored in any dish with its powerful salty and meaty flavors and rare texture. Just a little chunk sends off an explosion of flavor in your mouth. And when they are packed in a good extra virgin olive oil, what a combination! I love to add sun dried tomatoes in my sandwiches of cheese and prosciutto, for example. I even eat them straight on a piece of bread.

Get the recipe >

What is now a gourmet food once had a utilitarian function. Sun dried tomatoes were conserved along with other foods to stock up on food for the winter season. In southern Italy, the tomatoes were dried in the sun and, to make them last even more, they were preserved in olive oil.

I’ve bought many jars of sun dried tomatoes in oil, but at some point I got curious about the sun dried tomatoes that were still dried. I had bought some and tried packing it in olive oil, but they were still too hard for my liking. Then I discovered you have to reconstitute them first before adding the olive oil. That means soaking them in hot or boiling water first. You can add white wine or white wine vinegar to the liquid combination. When you conserve them in olive oil, you can add any combination of condiments, such as garlic, hot pepper, fresh or dried herbs, cocktail onions and anything else you want to experiment with!

Although packing them straight in olive oil is one viable method, I still like the rehydration method better. It’s faster and helps release the flavor of the tomato.

For a description of the full process on how to reconstitute sun dried tomatoes and preserve them in oil, see the recipe Sun Dried Tomatoes in Oil.

To learn how to dry the tomatoes from fresh, ripe ones, here are a few online sources:

• Sun-dried-tomatoes.com
• DIY Dried Fruit - Ecobites.com
  
• Homemade Sun-Dried Tomatoes
• How to Dehydrate Tomatoes

Olive Oil and Infant Health

When my daughter first started eating solid foods, she immediately was drawn to dipping pieces of bread in extra virgin olive oil. Not only did she think it was fun, but she loved the taste as well. She’s three now and still asks for “dip it” or “the oil.” In fact, since she was introduced to olive oil in our house early on, she now equates maple syrup on pancakes as “oil,” so we call it the “sweet oil.”

Knowing how healthy olive oil is generally, I began to wonder whether there were any special benefits for infants and children. I did a bit of searching and discovered olive oil, and in particular organic olive oil, is great from a nutritional perspective, and it’s also useful for body care.

Children Need More Fat (the good kind, of course): Children under three require more fat intake as at least forty percent of the energy they consume comes from fat. Extra virgin olive oil is a favorable means to providing some of these essential fatty acids as its ratio of linoleic acid to linolenic acid is similar to that of breast milk, and it’s low in polyunsaturated fats.

Pregnant and Breastfeeding Moms too!: It is also advisable that pregnant and breastfeeding mothers consume more fat, primarily monounsaturated fat as in olive oil, to pass on essential fatty acids and vitamins to their newborn children during postnatal development. Of course, this doesn’t mean eat more sweets — general dietary guidelines should be followed as usual.

Helps Bones Grow Strong: Bones need a large amount of oleates. The oleic acid contained in extra virgin olive oil appears to have a positive influence on growth and bone mineralization during infancy and childhood.

Body Care: Olive oil can be used to moisturize the body, and it’s especially great for infant care. I know of some mothers who look for organic olive oil products to moisturize their children’s sensitive skin. As a solution for cradle cap, apply olive oil to the scalp and leave for 1 to 2 hours before bath time. Then gently brush with a soft brush and/or comb the hair with a very fine comb and finally wash the hair. Do 2-3 times within 10 days.

Symbolic Rituals: In some cultures, olive oil is a symbolic means of welcoming children into the world by rubbing them from head to toe in olive oil and giving them a light massage. As part of the baptism process in the Greek Orthodox Church, children are anointed with hallowed olive oil throughout their body.

Preserving Antipasti in Olive Oil

Roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes…we love preserving some of our favorite foods with olive oil to create flavorful antipasti. So we thought we’d share some of these in a multi-part series.

Most of these preparations are for short-term preservation in a refrigerator or even a freezer; they are not for long-term storage in a pantry. That type of preservation may require the boiling water method to better conserve the food. In addition, if you want to infuse herbs in oil, be sure that they are absolutely dry.

Things to know:

• Make sure your tools and containers are clean and dry before you start
• Use a glass storage unit with a seal or lid that closes tightly
• A narrow container is better than a wide one to keep the exposed top area to a minimum
• Place your food item in the container until full and then completely cover with olive oil. Make sure that none of the food items are protruding above the olive oil.
• Pour the olive oil all the way to the top to form a seal. Use a knife to push out the air bubbles.
• Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator, which will last a few months if stored properly
• Olive oil will congeal when cold. When serving the food item, allow the oil to clarify before removing a portion from the container.
• Add extra olive oil as needed while in storage

Get our recipe for tasty roasted red bell peppers and start preserving!

UC Davis Launches a New Olive Center

This week the University of California Davis launched the first university-based olive research and education center in North America. They are hoping to do for olives and olive oil what it has done for grapes and wine.

The center's program will be devoted to teaching, research and educational activities. The teaching component will eventually include a general-education class on olive oil; student internships; and short courses on olive growing, and olive-oil processing and sensory evaluation.

Neal Van Alfen, dean of UC Davis' College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is confident that the knowledge coming out of the new center "will lead to advances in olive growing and processing, and a better understanding of the link between olive products and consumer health."

The new center's initial priorities will include strengthening California's olive oil labeling statutes, conducting research on issues identified by olive-oil and table-olive producers, and identifying better laboratory methods for detecting adulterated olive oil.

An olive-oil processing plant will enable the center to examine the impact of different olive varieties, environmental factors and growing practices on olive-oil quality. Researchers affiliated with the center will also explore potential health benefits of olives and olive oil, pest management strategies and mechanical harvesting improvements.

More information

Chicken Cacciatore with Olives / Roasted Mushrooms

Recently I resuscitated this recipe in my own everyday cooking and was very pleased at how tasteful and satisfying it was for not much effort. The olives add an incredible burst of flavor to this classic dish. You can serve it over spaghetti or rice. Add more tomatoes if you like a saucier dish, especially if added to the pasta.

I tweaked the online recipe slightly, and from a tip I discovered recently, I included a roasted mushroom variation. Prepare the mushrooms separately. The mushrooms soak up the olive oil, salt and sherry vinegar flavors through the roasting method. When thoroughly cooked, add them into the chicken cacciatore towards the end of the cooking time.

This dish is also an excellent choice as the main entrée in a buffet meal. It was a success at a recent holiday party of mine. I just doubled the recipe, added a bunch of side dishes, and I was set to go!

Ready to try it? Chicken Cacciatore recipe | Roasted Mushroom recipe

(I promise to post pix soon!)

The New Olinda Ridge

We've recently given Olinda Ridge a whole new look. We've refreshed our logo and bottle labels and Web site. Our new Web site also will provide a host of new features and functionality to make your online shopping more convenient. Check out our new line of products, including the popular gift sets.