Fresh Brined Olives (A Herbie Special!)

Recently, in another forum, http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/463124/#new Herbie received ten pounds of fresh olives, said he was gonna use his uncles recipe! Herewith, is the recipe he asked me to post! Thanks Herbie!


horseshoe - here is the recipe for the olives

wash olives throughly

place on a hard surface and crack each olive. (i put them in a plastic bag and hit them with a hammer)

put them in a large pot or two and cover them with water. cover with top and place on a counter (do not refrigerate) for 24 hours.

you have to keep changing the water for 5 or 6 days to get rid of the bitterness.
after 6 days take an olive out and taste it. if you are not happy with the way it taste, just refill pot with water and wait another 24 hours. if you like the way it taste then go to next step.

have lots of salt at the ready
take a large egg out the fridge and wash it. fill a large pot with cold water and mix in a couple of cups of salt. stir to dissolve the salt. gently place the egg in the water. if the egg floats to the top you have enough salt. if not, remove the egg, add more salte and stir again. put the egg back in. keep doing this until the egg floats.

final step--remove olives with a slotted spoon and place them in glass jars . (i use the quart size) fill the jars about 3/4 full with olives. take the salted water and add to jars up to 1/2 inch from top. to each jar add 5 or 6 cloves of garlic and some oregano (my uncle never measures, but i put about a tablespoon)
place a piece of wax paper on the top of the jar and then screw on the cap. let stand on counter. after one week taste an olive. if you like the way it taste then you can enjoy them. if not, let them stand for another day. what you are looking for is the saltyness to pass through into the olives.

horseshoe - don't know if you like olives but these are really good. i paid only 14 dollars for a ten pound case plus the shipping naturally.

p.s. maybe i should have put this on the regular recipe forum rather than on the garlic forum. don't know how to switch it over. if you do, please do it if you think others might be interested.

And there you have it folks! (Makes me wanna go find some fresh olives!)