Warm and Salty Things

Last weekend I threw Kyle a birthday party and somehow I got it in my head that making many small appetizers, salads and bread rather than one main dish and a few sides dishes was a great idea. That is probably not a choice I will make again since it had me in the kitchen the entire day, from 9 am until the party started! However, in the process I discovered some delicious recipes which I'd like to share with you. I found a wonderful cupcake recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, but I'm going to go salty instead of sweet on this post and share with you some very tasty appetizers. Dangerously tasty appetizers. I'm warning you that these are I-could-eat-them-all-day-every-day tasty.

Baked Olives from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

Bakes olives sounds unassuming, right? Well, there is nothing unassuming about their flavor once this recipe is through with them!

2 cups Kalamata Olives
1/2 cup dry red or white wine
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, 1 sliced, 2 coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp marjoram or 1 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
freshly ground pepper
several pinches of red pepper flakes

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Rinse olives if salty and put them in a baking dish large enough to hold them in one layer. Add the wine, half the oil, the sliced garlic and the bay leaf. Cover tightly with foil and bike until they are fragrant and swollen, about 45 min.

2. Pound the chopped garlic in a mortar with the marjoram, parsley and a few grinds of pepper. When the olives come out of the oven, poke each one with a fork or tip of a knife then stir in the garlic-herb paste, remaining oil and the red pepper flakes. Its best to let them sit a few hours to let the flavors meld and them warm them back up before serving.

I don't have a mortar so I just chopped the garlic finely into the marjoram. I also didn't use any parsley and it was great. I'd imagine that this tastes good with any assortment of herbs, and preserved lemons would make a really great addition in the step 2.

Sesame Lemon Feta Spread

(sorry, no picture for this one...I ate it too fast)

This is an adaptation from another recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, one that came about by necessity when the original recipe failed miserably. The original instructions were to cut up feta into little rectangles then fry them for a few minutes before removing them and sprinkling with sesame seeds. I'm addicted to a corsican feta which the cheese shop down the street sells at a really good price but I think it's softer than the average feta. As soon as the cheese hit the oil it began to melt and loose its form and so to save the beautiful feta, this dish was born. Enjoy!

8 oz feta (the softer the better)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 bay leaves
freshly milled pepper
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp of chopped marjoram **again any herb will work
1 tbsp sesame seeds

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over med-high heat. Mix in a bowl with the marjoram and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat with the bay leaf until you can smell it. Crumble the feta into small pieces and add to the pan. It should bubble and begin to melt. Stir until it becomes somewhat smooth, remove from the heat and add the juice of the lemon. Stir until incorporated and then stir in the pepper and sesame-marjoram mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature.