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Chicken Casserole With Olives
This recipe uses both the oil and the fruit of the olive to produce a casserole that brings the tastes and smells of the south of France to your table.
On our tour of Mediterranean cuisine, we have now reached what is truly the common denominator that binds all these disparate traditions together: the olive.
Olive trees start to bear fruit when they are five or six years old and, because of the shortage of water in the soil, they only come into fruit every other year.
The olives are harvested in winter and, amazingly in these days of intensive farming, the task is still mainly a family one.
The olives are harvested at various stages and for various purposes.
First of all, the green, unripe olives are selected towards the end of August or early September. These mild olives are cracked and dropped in brine, to which aromatic herbs such as coriander, garlic and oregano have been added. They readily take on the flavours of the additives and are generally served as appetisers.
Later in September, the olives turn purple or black. These are also destined for the table, and are prepared with brine or coarse salt.
Finally, in late October, the wholesale harvest of the ripe olives begins. The earth under the trees is hoed and cleared of weeds and sheets of plastic or hessian are laid down.
Then the harvesters beat the branches with sticks of log cypress and the fruit is gathered. Ladders are used to reach the higher branches, and the opportunity is taken to prune them at the same time.
The olive presses used to be operated manually, with the help of a horse or mule until quite recently. But now the process has succumbed to the march of time and become mechanised.
Hot water is added to help press the olives into a pulp, and then the extracted oil and water mixture is drained off.
The oil rises to the top and is filtered off and stored in special containers.
The best olive oil is the first pressing, which has least acidity. This is the pressing known as 'virgin' (with the best of the best being called 'extra virgin'). This is the purest and most aromatic oil and is closest in characteristics to the fruit.
The second pressing of the husks, stones and other leftovers yields inferior results.
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Chicken Casserole With Olives
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INGREDIENTS (serves 4-6)
1 chicken, jointed, about 3lb/1.5kg
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
8 fl oz/250ml white wine
4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
Half pint/300ml hot water
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
12 black olives, rinsed, pitted and sliced
2 tbsp chopped parsley
METHOD
1. Wash and dry the chicken pieces. Brown on both sides in the hot oil and reserve.
2. Fry the onion in the same saucepan until transparent without colouring. Add the garlic and saut for two minutes.
3. Return the chicken pieces to the pan and pour over the wine. Add the
tomatoes, water and seasoning, then cover and cook for 45 minutes. Add the olives and parsley and cook for ten minutes more.
4. Serve with buttered new potatoes.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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