Two recipes featuring olives

Had a hankerin' for the olive-based flavors of Provencal cuisine yesterday, so I cooked up a Provencal pasta dish and a Provencal-inspired chicken dish created by our friend (and excellent cook) Robert Finley.

Rosemary Pasta with Black Olives and Carrots

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic
1/2 medium onion (or mixture of onions & shallots) chopped
1 to 3 carrots (depending on size), peeled, sliced into very thin discs
1 Tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1/2 cup oil-cured black olives
1 lb. pasta (penne, fusilli, or something else along those lines)
fresh grated parmigiano (to taste)
salt
pepper

Bring large pot of salted water to boil.

Meanwhile, warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add half the garlic, all of the onion and carrot, and saute for 7 to 10 minutes (until carrots start to soften).

Add remaining garlic, generous grinding of black pepper, half of the rosemary, and the olives. Continue to saute about 3 or 4 minutes more. Add remaining rosemary, then turn off heat and cover pan until your pasta is ready.

Water for the pasta should be boiling by now, so add pasta and boil until al dente. Drain, place in serving bowl. Add sauteed veggies and pan juices, season with salt and more pepper to taste, add remaining tablespoon of olive oil (or more if you like) and toss. Grate parmigiano on top as desired.

The above recipe was adapted from The Foods and Flavors of Haute Provence, by Georgeanne Brennan.


Whole Chicken Braised with Garlic, Calamata Olives, Lemon, and Rosemary (Here's the link to Robert's blog)

1 whole chicken (take out the stuff in the cavity!)
1 med. yellow onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic.
1 cup pitted calamatas (Don't be lazy! Get the best olives you can find and pit them right before you prepare)

1/4 cup ground calamata or olive tapenade.
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (don't be lazy here either.)
6 inch sprig of rosemary cleaned and chopped
2 cups dry wine (Robert suggests a dry rose, and that's what I used)

Prepare in a solid braiser, Dutch oven, or rondeau that fits the size of the chicken fairly snugly (so that the braising liquid rises up to a level that covers most of the bird -- I used my trusty oval Le Creuset dutch oven.)



1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. With your finger loosen the skin of the bird and spread ground calamata under it, reaching as far as you can. Season outside of bird with salt and pepper.

3. Brown that bird....all over. Remove from pan.

4. Cook onions and garlic till soft.

5. Return the bird along with everything else and place in medium oven for no less than an hour!
Serve bird, olives, garlic and braising liquid over a plate of fresh polenta.

NB: Robert's unusual technique of braising the chicken WHOLE results in an incredibly flavorful braising liquid and a falling-apart, remarkably tender bird.