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Green Scored and Cured Olives

Green Scored and Cured Olives

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Green Scored and Cured Olives are easy to make at home and make a wonderful snack, appetizer to to accompany many meals, including Greek breakfast.

The best time to make these green scored cured olives here in Greece but also all over the Mediterranean is from the beginning of November till late December when the olives begin to ripen and are still green.

green huge olives image

I bought these olives from the farmers’ market in Nafplion early in October and what made me buy them was their size.  It goes without saying that you can follow this recipe for any type of green olives.

Collage curing olives

Look how big these olives are, as compared to the grapes!    The flesh of these olives is equivalent to 2 – 3 normal sized olives!

When picked from the tree, olives are very bitter so in order to make them edible a procedure has to be followed in order to remove this bitterness. By water curing them,  oleuropein, a component in olives that gives them a sharp, bitter taste, is removed.  I followed the same procedure I did when making Kalamata olives and Tsakistes (cracked olives).  The only difference here is the type of olive I’ve used and the aromatic herbs, I have added to the brine.

rosemary and scented geranium

In Assini, the village we live, we have  2 – 3 bitter or Seville oranges in our back yard as well as some rosemary among our herbs. I used wedges of lemons, bitter oranges and rosemary to flavour these olives and the taste and flavour was amazing.  Seville oranges have an amazing, unique taste but if you can’t find these bitter oranges where you live, you can substitute it with some other citrus fruit but of course each citrus fruit gives its own unique taste.

Seville or Bitter oranges

When they are ready you can eat them as they are but some times I like to add some finely chopped slices of garlic and crashed coriander, the way we eat them in Cyprus, just to remind me of home.

olives
Book Cover thumbnail

Today there are two giveaways.

If you would like to win a PDF copy of my cookbook “More Than a Greek Salad”:

1)  Leave me a comment here on the blog and tell me your favorite recipe with olives.    If you want more entries, you can share the recipe on twittter, google+, Pinterest, Facebook etc., and leave a second or third comment with the link for more chances to win. That’s it!

2)  Winner is selected randomly using random.org and is open worldwide.   Enter now through this Friday, November 28, 2014 midnight Greek time.  Winner will be notified by Saturday, November 29, 2014, during my next blog post.

Good luck!

For those who can read Greek, there is another giveaway on my Greek blog.  So if you would like to win it, please also leave a comment there.

thumbnail μαγειρευοντας για τον αλλο ανθρωπο3

You can find many more Greek recipes in my cookbook “More Than A Greek Salad”, and “Mint, Cinnamon & Blossom Water, Flavours of Cyprus, Kopiaste!” both available on all Amazon stores.

Curing olives image

Green Scored and Cured Olives

Yield: 2 kilos
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Additional Time: 15 days
Total Time: 15 days 30 minutes

Green Scored and Cured Olives are easy to make at home and make a wonderful snack, appetizer to to accompany many meals, including Greek breakfast.

Ingredients

  • 2 kilos extra large olives

For the brine:

  • 1 cup coarse sea salt
  • 8 cups water
  • 1 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 lemon cut into slices
  • 1 bitter orange, cut into slices
  • 6 - 7 small sprigs of rosemary
  • Olive oil to cover them

Instructions

  1. Wash the olives and score them in 1 - 2 spots.
  2. Put them in a basin or big bowl and cover them with water. As they will float, put a plate on top to keep them submerged.
  3. Change the water once a day for 10 consecutive days. On the 10th day try one and if they seem too bitter for your taste, continue for a few more days until you are satisfied with their taste.
  4. When they are ready, drain them.
  5. Put the salt in a bowl and add some hot water to dilute the salt. Add the remaining tap water and mix. (In order to know if the brine is of the right
    consistency, you can test it using an a washed raw whole egg. The brine
    is ready when the egg floats).
  6. Remove the egg and mix in the vinegar.
  7. Place the olives in clean, sterilized jars, adding in between slices of lemon, bitter oranges and rosemary.
  8. Pour the brine in the jars without covering them completely. Add olive oil to cover them.
  9. Let them marinate for a couple of days and they are ready to consumed.
  10. Store in the cupboard.
Nutrition Information
Yield 2 kilos Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 1240Total Fat 114gSaturated Fat 15gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 94gCholesterol 0mgSodium 63985mgCarbohydrates 65gFiber 33gSugar 1gProtein 9g

"These values are automatically calculated and offered for guidance only. Their accuracy is not guaranteed."

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

Other relevant recipes:

Kalamata Olives

Elies Tsakistes (green cracked olives)

How to Sterilize Jars

Collage Green Scored Cured Olives image

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,

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Mary Ioannidou

Friday 28th of November 2014

I read your blog on a regular basis but have never left a comment until today. Congratulations for the great job. I'd love to win your cookbook. Olive tapenade is my favourite.

Georgia Georgiou

Friday 28th of November 2014

Cypriot Eliotes is my favourite recipe. I have your Cypriot cookbook and would love to win this one.

Julia

Tuesday 25th of November 2014

Great giveaway! Love the pictures! What restaurant have you had the best olives? Remember to add it to your Besty List!

Jane

Tuesday 25th of November 2014

They look so appetizing! I wish I could find olives where I live. Unfortunately we can only get some types of olives in jars.

Rosa

Monday 24th of November 2014

Delicious! I'd love to taste your green olives.

Cheers,

Rosa

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