Conversion Olives

"GO friends. How nice to be amongst you again.

Last night I had an impromptu guest over and had very little time to rustle up some appetizers. Yes, I always have cukes, peppers, spiced nuts and chocolate covered nuts, a variety of cheeses and olives. Hummus. Always have that too. I happen to adore olives. Castelvetrano especially. Had I known my guest did not like olives, I still would have made this dish because I believe in tempted conversions. Especially to olives. So, part of my ‘spread’, included these magic olives. I emptied a jar of pitted Castelvetrano, keeping just the olives. I set the heat of a saute’ pan with the olives in it between low and medium, letting them sit, swirling them in the pan every 3-4 minutes. The goal is to mostly ‘dry’ out the olives, softly roasting them. While they sat in the saute’ pan, I heated a small pot with rosemary, GO-On Tap Meyer Lemon oo, GO-On Tap Blood Orange oo, GO-On Tap white Lemon balsamic and red pepper flake. Once this was warm and my olives not watery and softly roasted, I poured the olives into the pan of warm oil/herbs. I turned the heat up just a little for 6-8 minutes. While this was warming the olives more, I used a peeler to get nice strips of meyer lemon and blood orange peel (no pith) and crushed a clove of garlic. I turned the heat off, added the strips of citrus peel, crushed garlic and let it all marinate 10-12 minutes. I turned the heat off, so to not turn the garlic or peel bitter. The oil was warm enough to release the oils in the zest bring out a kiss of garlic. Before serving, I removed the citrus peel and big bits of garlic. Poured into a bowl and served warm. IT’S A HIT! These are not briny, salty, or tangy. These are warm, buttery, herby and fresh. My ‘not an olive eater’ friend loves these and asked to take them home. GO Conversion Olives. Happy New Year GO friends. Eat. Smile. Share.”