Cook the Book Fridays (CtBF) is currently cooking from My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz. This week's selected recipe is Artichoke Tapenade with Rosemary Oil. I have never made tapenade before, and have only eaten it once, store-bought black olive tapenade in a jar.
Rosemary Oil
Rosemary Oil, which is drizzled over the tapenade before serving. It is made by heating some olive oil and salt to warm. Fresh rosemary leaves and parsley leaves are blanched in boiling water for a few seconds, then cool in an ice bath. Drain and wipe dry thoroughly. Infuse the herbs in the oil for 15 minutes. Place the oil, and the herbs in a food processor and process till fine. Strain the oil in a fine mesh strainer. What you get is a lovely emerald green of Rosemary Oil.
Artichoke (either fresh or canned) is not easily available over here in Malaysia as it is not a common ingredient for us. This recipe uses canned artichoke. After a few trips to different supermarkets, I finally found it (big smile!), and there's only one brand available (still a big smile!).
The tapenade is made by putting the artichoke, green olives, capers, lemon juice, garlic, cayenne pepper and olive oil in a food processor and process to a puree. Season with some salt if necessary. I tasted mine and it was just right, taking into account that there's salt in the rosemary oil.
It was so delicious! We love it!
It was so good over toasted baguette slices. I bought only one baguette and it was gone pretty quick! The tapenade makes quite a lot, so the next morning we had it again, (yup, for breakfast, which we were looking forward to!), with some toasted whole wheat bread which I've made the week before, which I've kept frozen. This recipe is a keeper! Canned artichoke is on my grocery list now!
To see the other members' review on this Artichoke Tapenade with Rosemary Oil, please visit CtBF. If you would like to try this tapenade, you can get the recipe from this link. It would be even better to buy the book and join us at CtBF.
