Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Black Olive Bread

You know those canned black olives? The type everyone seems to have a strong opinion about? Well love them or hate them, if you’re an American they’re likely deeply seeded into your childhood memories.

My brother Steve and I used to slink into the kitchen and pilfer out black olives from Dad’s holiday pickle tray. Smashing them down on our fingers, we’d race around like aliens with pod fingers until the last olive was sucked off our tentacles.

Steve and I did this year after year, until our fingers finally grew too big to fit in the holes. Perhaps giving up olive fingers is one of those rights of passage into adulthood. Like boxing up your GI Joes, if you haven’t blown them up with firecrackers already.

Last night, I paired this olive bread with artichokes and lemon dipping sauce for a light meal. It’s also good with soup, salad, or as a change to your standard garlic bread.

Black Olive Bread
Printer Version
I love soft, salty black olives so much that I had to stop myself from pilfering them from the topping mixture.

1 loaf French bread

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, very soft

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup finely shredded Mexican cheese

2 (3.8 ounce) cans sliced black olives, drained

1/2 cup chopped green onions
Dash of garlic powder
Dash of onion powder

Dash of salt
Dash of pepper


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.



2. In a large bowl, mix together the butter and mayonnaise. Stir in the Mexican cheese, olives, green onions, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.



3. Slice the bread into two long pieces and set them on the baking sheet. Spoon olive mixture on top and spread it out evenly with your fingers. Bake for 20 minutes or until warm and toasted.

Recipe and photograph by Laura Flowers.



16 comments:

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

LOOOOOOVE them!!!

Will definitely be making this yummy bread. Thanks, Laura!!

Anonymous said...

I "LOVE" black olives!! I remember when I was a kid, I hated them. As I grew into adulthood I learned to love them!! This bread look fabulous!! Thanks Laura :)
~~Cheryl Davis

Joanne said...

I spent the majority of my childhood stealing black olives from the salads my mother used to make. No lettuce, just salad please!

The bread look fantastic! Definitely need to make a batch of this!

Morgan said...

This sounds soooooo good!

RSA Now said...

Ooh my that look good! I love love love olives :)

natasha {schue love} said...

Oh this looks really yummy! Must try this soon! PS...I featured you yesterday and wanted to make sure you saw it! :)

Ryan said...

Yummmmy! :) In my opinion, olives in any form are absolutely delicious.

Simones Kitchen said...

I used to hate olives growing up so I certainly didn't steal them from anyone...lol.. In fact; now that I think about it, my parents must have hated them too as I don't think we ever had them in the house. I love olives now and this bread just looks fantastic!

MegSmith @ Cooking.In.College said...

I am not a huge fan of olives but have always wished I was! This bread looks so good. I may have to try it :-)

Holly said...

Oh man this looks delish and sounds even better!!!:)

Levi said...

I still have olives on the end of my fingers from my childhood. It's easier to use a keyboard. This bread looks yummy though I'm not into mayo.
I mayo have to try this regardless.
Yummy.

Anonymous said...

Hi Laura and nice to meet you! First, my apologies that your comment on my Pimm's post was accidentally deleted. I was trying to moderate comments at 5am on my iphone - not recommended! ;-)

I love your olive bread - so quick and easy too! I admit I am an olive snob (the one thing I allow myself to be elitist about) and I'd probably use Kalamata olives with this. But I agree the canned ones are way more fun!

Amee said...

i loved this story. totally took me back! thanks! and yes I love them!

Unknown said...

I love those olives, looks great to me!

Pattie @ Olla-Podrida said...

I used to do the same thing! I have always loved olives, all kinds, ever since I was a kid. This looks delicious and I'm trying it. Thanks for the memories and great recipe!

Raechel said...

I made this last night for a little get together. Everyone loved it, including me. I may try it with some green olives next time too. Thanks so much for sharing! :)

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