I never in a million years even thought about making my own olives. In fact, never wondered how they made it into the jars.
On page 12 of A Taste of Utica CNYEats.com Cookbook is the recipe for how to make your own Green Olives. Plan on taking a month and a half or more to prepare your olives. This is how I got started….
I had no idea where to look locally for tree fresh olives, so I went online to Great Olives.com. I bought 1 box of Jumbo Green Sevillano olives. That was a LOT of olives.
This first photo was taken after 1 day of curing.
Here is the recipe offered in our book
page 12 by Chris.
- 1 Large Canning Kettle
- 1 box of olives (18 – 20 lbs)..(my box was about 11 lbs)
- Mallet
- Water
- Salt
- Garlic
- Oregano
- Pickling Jars
Instructions
Crack or split olives with a mallet. Cover with water and 1 cup of salt and let soak for 10 days. Change the water daily and add 1 cup of salt every time you change the water. You will see the olives change color over time.
This photo was taken after 5 days of curing.
After 10 days, drain and rinse the olives. Clean the kettle. Place olives back into the kettle and sprinkle with salt, chopped garlic, oregano and mix well.
Sanitize your pickling jars and lids. Fill jars with olives. Add water to fill the jars. Add 1 tsp. of salt to each jar. Seal the jars and let stand 1 month before using.
These are my jars with the olives, sliced pickling onions and garlic cloves.
The longer they are allowed to sit, the better they will taste.
READY TO SERVE!
Drain the water from the jar and rinse the olives.
See how the color has changed to …what else..Olive Green?
Fill again with water and drain. Place in a deep dish. Add oil and vinegar and salt if needed to taste. I added chunks of sharp Provolone cheese to some of my jars one week before eating.
Now enjoy your labors.
Since there are so many jars of olives, I made Green Olive Tapenade: Tapenade comes from the word “tapeno” meaning caper. I included sun dried tomatoes and we use it on bread or crackers. It’s super to add on pizza or spread on other main dishes.
- 1 cup Homemade Green olives (slice and pit).
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 TBS capers, chopped
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
- pepper to taste
- 2 TBS lemon juice
- 1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil
In a food processor, add the olives, garlic, capers, lemon zest , sun dried tomatoes and seasoning. Process to a chunky paste. Remove to a serving bowl and add pepper and lemon juice. Add more oil if wanted (about 1 to 2 TBS).
We have so many jars of olives. We will be able to see how much the flavor improves over time.
A neat idea around Christmas time would be to offer food gift baskets. Guess what MINE will contain???? 
Joanne
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Comments: 6
Brine Curing
(recommended for black olives)
Wash olives. With a sharp knife, make a cut in the meat of the olive (top to bottom) without cutting the pit. In a pan, soak the olives in brine (1 part salt to 10 parts water). Make sure the olives are submerged (use something to weight them down) and cover. Cure the olives for 3 weeks, shaking the pan each day and changing the brine each week, then taste for bitterness (they could take up to 5-6 weeks depending on the olives). When they taste the way you want, place in jars with brine (1 part sea salt to 10 parts water), add 4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and top with a layer of olive oil.
Dry (Salt) Curing
(recommended for large black olives)
Outdoors, in a basket, burlap bag, or wooden box lined with burlap (that allows air to circulate), layer olives with coarse sea salt (you'll need about 1 pound of salt for every 2 pounds of olives). Leave the olives outside (with plastic underneath to catch the juices that drain) for 3-4 weeks, shaking daily and adding a little more salt every 2-3 days. Taste for bitterness (rinsing the olive first). When no longer bitter, you can either shake off excess salt and keep them that way, or shake off the excess salt and dip them quickly in boiling water to get rid of the salt. They can be marinated for a few days in olive oil to regain plumpness (this type of curing will shrivel them), or just coated well with olive oil (using your hands) before eating.
Dry (Salt) Curing
(recommended for small black olives)
In glass jars, alternate layers of olives with coarse salt. Every day for 3 weeks, shake well and add more salt to absorb the juices. Test for bitterness (rinsing the olive first). Continue to cure if bitterness remains, otherwise, add warm water to cover and 4 tablespoons of good quality red wine vinegar, and top with a layer of olive oil. They will be ready to eat after 4-5 days.
Hope that helps. Thanks for your comment/question.