Cooking Techniques With Olive Oil
Read Cooking Techniques With Olive Oil Online
Authors: Mary Platis
Tags: #Cookbooks; Food & Wine, #Cooking Methods, #Regional & International, #European, #Mediterranean, #Culinary Arts & Techniques
Cooking Techniques with Olive Oil
Copyright © 2013 by Mary Platis and Laura Bashar
All rights reserved. This book was self-published by Mary Papoulias-Platis and Laura Bashar under Two Extra Virgins. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without the express permission of the authors. This includes reprints, excerpts, photocopying, recording, or any future means of reproducing text. If you would like to do any of the above, please seek permission by emailing the authors at
[email protected]
and
[email protected].
Designed and written by Mary Papoulias-Platis and Laura Bashar
Food Photography by Laura Bashar
Other Photography by Michael Platis
Copy Editors:
Elizabeth Perhac Schmitt
,
Stephanie Weaver
and
Lisa Dearen
For further information contact:
Two Extra Virgins
Published in the United States by Two Extra Virgins.
ISBN-10: 0989328902
ISBN-13: 978-0-9893289-0-6
About the Authors:
Mary Papoulias-Platis teaches culinary classes using a hybrid of recipes derived from her Greek heritage and California’s fresh produce. She emphasizes sustainable and regional foods from farmers markets and local producers in all of her recipes. Mary is a chef, food blogger (
California Greek Girl
), Greek olive oil representative for a major olive oil brand, and owns and operates The Greek Gourmet catering company. She is the mother of three and lives in San Diego with her husband and dog, Hershey.
Laura Bashar is a former graphic designer and advertising account executive. She writes regularly for her food blog,
Family Spice
, where she is able to let her inner artist out and express her creative voice through recipes and photography. She lives in San Diego with her husband and three children.
Acknowledgments:
To my mother Voula Papoulias and my mother-in-law Helen Platis, for encouraging me to cook from fresh ingredients. Thank you for showing me the beauty of the Greek culture, the magical land of Corinth and the island of Kythira.
-- Mary
To my dearest family, for waiting impatiently for dinner to be photographed while your tummies grumbled and for tolerating too many nights during which Mommy/Wife was working on the computer instead of curling up on the couch with all of you.
-- Laura
We would also like to thank John and Bonnie Manion for allowing us to photograph their beautiful garden at
Domain de Manion
. Thank you to Norman C. Rosen and Stephanie Platis for countlessly reading and editing our cookbook. Thank you to Chef Bridget Bueche for your culinary advice. And, thank you to Michael Platis for assisting with the additional photography, editing and recipe sampling.
-- Mary and Laura
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: A Lesson on Olive Oil
• Varieties and Flavors of Olive Oil
Chapter 2: Poaching with Olive Oil
• Description of technique
• Recipe: Poached Rosemary-Garlic Lamb Chops with Mashed Potatoes and Artichokes
• Recipe: Poached Tomatoes and Onions in Olive Oil with Fresh Basil
• Recipe: Poached Tuna with Citrus-Avocado Salad
• Recipe: Poached Leek and Oregano Chicken Breasts with Asparagus and Pea Orzo
Chapter 3: Braising with Olive Oil
• Description of technique
• Recipe: Fresh Tomato Braised Risotto
• Recipe: Braised Chicken with Carrots and Fennel
• Recipe: Braised Lamb Shanks with Rosemary, Garlic and Gigante Beans
• Recipe: Greek Style Braised Vegetables with Tomatoes
Chapter 4: Marinating with Olive Oil
• Description of technique
• Recipe: Marinated Chicken Kabobs with Cucumber-Mint Barley
• Recipe: Marinated Mediterranean Vegetables in Olive Oil
• Recipe: Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Herbs and Italian–Style Bulgur
• Recipe: Marinated Sockeye Salmon with Beet and Spinach Greens
Chapter 5: Healthy Steamed Recipes Enhanced with Olive Oil
• Description of technique
• Recipe: Steamed Basmati Rice with Potatoes, Dill and Saffron
• Recipe: Steamed Mussels with Saffron Broth
• Recipe: Steamed Baby Beets and Brussels Sprout Salad
• Recipe: Steamed Salmon with Olive Oil in Parchment (
Saumon en Papillote
)
Chapter 6: Baking with Olive Oil
• Description of technique
• Recipe: Whole Wheat Scones with Blueberries and Lavender
• Recipe: Kalamata Olive Bread with Rosemary
• Recipe: Olive Oil Almond Cookies with Rosewater and Cardamom
• Recipe: Dark Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Strawberries
Chapter 7: Other Cooking Techniques Using Olive Oil
• Recipe: Triple Herb Infused Olive Oil
• Recipe: Vanilla and Cinnamon Infused Olive Oil
• Recipe: Garlic and Peppercorn Infused Olive Oil
• Recipe: Baby Rose Bud and Clove Infused Olive Oil
• Recipe: Homemade Olive Oil Mayonnaise
• Recipe: Oregano and Mustard Vinaigrette
• Recipe: Lavender Vinaigrette
• Recipe: Pomegranate and Basil Vinaigrette
• Recipe: Roasted Baby Carrots with Thyme
• Recipe: Watermelon Shooters with Persian Mint Syrup and Olive Oil
Introduction
Meet Mary Papoulias-Platis
(on the left)
In a Greek household, olive oil serves many purposes. Not only is it a staple in the kitchen, it’s a key ingredient in every aspect of our lives. As a young girl, I remember watching my mother slather her arms and hands with olive oil. She would combine avocado, eggs and olive oil into a lotion and spread it over her face as a weekend cleansing mask. Now, I watch my husband use olive oil to remove motor oil and dirt from his hands after a long day in the garage. Who would have guessed? I often ask myself, “What
don’t
Greeks use olive oil for?”
Though olive oil was always an integral part of my life, a recent trip to Greece changed the way I now think about it. My husband and I spent several days on Kythera, the island from which my husband’s family immigrated. We toured ancient olive groves and experienced the entire process of making olive oil from olive to oil. I developed a new-found respect for first press and organic extra virgin olive oil due to the extensive hours of hard work that are required to produce a single bottle.
As a chef, I try to incorporate extra virgin olive oil into my cooking classes, blog recipes and home-cooked meals in any way imaginable. The more I learn about the endless uses of extra virgin olive oil, the more confidence I gain in cooking with this truly extraordinary ingredient. I continue to share these lessons through my recipes and cooking techniques on my food blog
California Greek Girl
– and now, you, too, can master the use of olive oil.
Meet Laura Bashar
(on the right)
From my earliest memory, food has always been the center of family gatherings. Whether we were watching my grandmother carefully fan the flames for the perfect kabob or gathering with cousins to compare notes on our favorite dishes, we always talked about food or talked in the presence of food. My mother is Iranian, my father American. I was raised eating gourmet meals ranging from Persian stews to shrimp scampi. Growing up, my mom loved to cook despite working full time as a micro-paleontologist. I often helped start family dinners and I loved trying to create eccentric dishes that I read about in cookbooks. Even when I was a young advertising executive, long before food blogs made their appearance, I collected magazines, tested the recipes I saw, and continued my journey with food.
And now, with a family of my own, I am teaching the same culinary lessons to my children. Their palate is refined. They recognize quality ingredients. To put it bluntly, they are spoiled. And why not? Why should bland starchy foods be the norm on the American dinner plate?
The first time I recognized quality in something as simple as olive oil was at an Italian restaurant, where I was served exquisite olive oil to bathe my freshly baked bread. I was in heaven. This was not the same olive oil I found at the supermarket. I closed my eyes and let the flavors take me to far and exotic places. I still have not opened my eyes.
My cooking philosophy is to choose high quality, wholesome ingredients, and let them shine and take center stage. It’s about the food, the family gathered before it, and the love that is shared around the table. I share this love on my blog
Family Spice
.
Our Mission
How often do you come home from buying a beautiful bottle of extra virgin olive oil and wish you had more uses for it, other than a salad dressing or sautéing up a quick dish? In this book you will learn the easy cooking techniques of poaching, braising, marinating, infusing, and baking with olive oil. Our goal is to teach you a new way of cooking and to help you master fundamental skills.
The cooking techniques in this book will sharpen your skills in the kitchen and acquaint cooks at all levels with these basic methods. Don’t expect it to be overnight. Learning proper cooking techniques will take time, patience, practice and repetition. Soon, developing your own recipes will become easy and effortless, and you will have the knowledge and skills you need to successfully use olive oil in all your meals.
We chose Mediterranean recipes because most olive oils come from that region. But if you are fortunate to live in a state that produces local olive oil, we encourage you to buy locally and meet your farmers. We kept these recipes simple so you can have fun in the kitchen!
Chapter One:
A Lesson on Olive Oil
History of Olive Oil
The olive tree is one of the oldest known cultivated trees in the world. In fact, fossilized olive leaves 37,000 years old have been discovered on the Greek island of Santorini. Olive trees quickly spread to the rest of the Mediterranean basin, where the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans used olives and its oil as a fixture in their daily lives. As a result, over the centuries we have had countless varieties of olives to choose from. Although Spain produces most of the world’s olive oil, you can also find varieties from Greece, Italy, France, Australia, California and many other places around the world. However, the Greeks are the largest per capita consumers of olive oil worldwide.