The new kitchen in the new house is nice. It has a new stainless fridge. A new stainless dishwasher. An ok stove. Plenty of cupboard room. Decent work space...and zero decoration. For countless years my kitchens were bedecked with a hot pepper motif. I had hot pepper everything from pepper cookie jars to pepper pitchers, strings of ceramic peppers and little ornamental glass peppers, a pepper cat, pepper hot mitts and pepper pot holders and even pepper salt and pepper shakers. Maybe it was the move to the country. Maybe I outgrew hot peppers. Or became allergic. Who knows. But with the move in, the peppers moved out. (I did keep the pepper cat). Hence, my new kitchen is naked and bare and awaiting adornment of some sort or another.
My AeroGarden must know it is spring. It is growing with a fervor I’ve never seen before. The basil, thyme and dill are going well. The parsley, so-so. And, technically the chives never came up - not that they would have had a chance to grow in the shade of the mint monster that is taking over my kitchen. Easily half the space in my seven-pod garden is full of mint - which would be nice if I knew what to do with it. So, last weekend I decided to make mojitos. Traditionally one would muddle the mint in the glass, but I had a different idea. I made a mint simple syrup and it was wonderful. I used it to make fabulous mojitos and foolproof iced tea (ala Cook's Illustrated).
Mint Simple Syrup – combine 1 cup sugar (refined white or raw), 1 cup water and 1 packed cup mint leaves in a small sauce pan. Heat over med heat and stir frequently until sugar is completely dissolved (do not let the mixture boil to better preserve the mint essence). Remove from heat and let sit until cool. Strain syrup, mashing the mint leaves against sides of strainer before discarding. Use as needed (refrigerate the unused portion).
Mojitos – combine 2 oz mint simple syrup, 2 oz golden rum, 1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice, 4oz club soda. Serve in a tall glass filled to the top with crushed ice. Garnish with additional mint leaves and enjoy!
Cook’s Illustrated iced tea – combine 5 tea bags with 32 ounces (1 qt) water in a medium sauce pan. Heat 10-15 minutes over medium heat until instant read thermometer reads exactly 190 degrees. Remove from heat and let steep for exactly 3 minutes. Remove tea bags (don't squeeze them) and combine tea with 32 ounces of ice cubes. Stir until ice is almost completely dissolved. Add Mint Simple Syrup to taste. Pour into ice filled glass and enjoy.
Until I traveled around the Mediterranean and Middle East, my primitive passion for olives was limited to brined black olives from a can (which I learned are actually picked green and oxidized to give them their ebony color – yes, even the so-called “ripe” ones) as well as those little green olives stuffed with pimento strips and served on every Midwestern holiday relish tray snug between the baby dills and the radish rosettes. (There was the occasional garlic clove stuffed green olive if I felt particularly fancy). However, my globe-trotting adventures opened a whole new olive world to me – dozens upon dozens of different varieties. Who knew!
In Crete I was treated to Megaritiki olives in both their black, salty, oily, dried form (reminded me a little of prunes in appearance) and the unripe, slightly sour, cracked green variety along with rich blackish purple Kalamatas with and without pits, giant green Gaidourolias, and more. In the UAE I was served a bowl of cashews, almonds and pistachios and a second dish filled with nearly every shade and size of olives imaginable each time I sat down to eat - before I even ordered. I was in olive heaven!
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and I returned home. While I smuggled in tins of olive oil from Crete and Malta, I didn’t bring any olives. To my surprise, I began to notice olives everywhere. Maybe they’d always been there, but I soon discovered a wide variety of choices available in delis and on grocery store “olive bars.” I was delighted to have found my fix of these foreign fruits.
Fruits? What? Yes, olives (Olea europaea) - their large pit frequently removed to make room for almonds, anchovies, feta cheese, or fingers - are fruits (specifically they are drupes which are fruits with large pits or stones like avocados, cherries and peaches). Olives are available in thousands of different cultivars and are fruits of an evergreen tree or bush grown in generally warm, dry areas of the world like the Mediterranean, parts of Africa…and California.
I was vacationing in The Golden State when I was fortunate enough to find a tasty place by the name of the Olive Pit. Located in Corning, California – just off I-5 exit 631 – this little shop is a full service olive stop. Alongside a mind-blowing inventory of pickled vegetables, vinegars, sauces, dips, nuts, oils and spices sit well over 100 breeds, variations and flavors of olives – including a magnificently monstrous 15 pound can of Musco Family Black Pearls fit for fingertips large and small. Especially special, though, is my hands-down favorite…the fabled Graber Olive.
