Pantry Pleasures {CtBF}
Sometimes we like something to nibble on while dinner is cooking. It’s always something simple, typically a bowl of guacamole or some cheese and crackers. When company comes over, I get a little fancier and often make some kind of dip. I’m particularly fond of variations on white bean dips. This week’s choice for Cook the Book Fridays from David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen introduced a new option to our pre-weeknight dinner snacking: Artichoke Tapenade with Rosemary Oil.
The first step is to make a batch of Rosemary Oil. Rosemary and parsley leaves are blanched and drained, then steeped in warm olive oil for a while. The herbs and oil go for a whirl in the food processor to puree the herbs, then the herbs are strained out of the oil. The result is a jar of verdant fragrant herbaceous oil. I’ll be drizzling this on everything that invites it in the weeks to come.
The tapenade itself comes together quickly with pantry items: canned artichoke hearts, green olives, and capers along with olive oil, lemon juice and a couple of cloves of garlic. It takes about 30 seconds. A generous glug of rosemary oil adds an extra spark of flavor. Served with crackers or baguette slices, this winning combination makes a perfect starter.
I also learned this tidbit from the vignette on the page opposite the recipe. Did you know that while tapenade refer to an olive spread, the name tapenade is derived from the Provençal word for capers, tapenas? According to David Lebovitz, it isn’t tapenade without capers!
I suspect my friends enjoyed tapenade as much as I did. To validate my theory, follow their links here. Due to copyright considerations, I don’t publish the recipes here. You can find the tapenade on page 53 and the rosemary oil on page 332 of David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen. Or feel free to drop me a line and I’ll share the recipe with you.
Posted on 1 April 2016, in Cook The Book Fridays, my paris kitchen and tagged appetizers, artichokes, Cook The Book Fridays, my paris kitchen. Bookmark the permalink. 19 Comments.
A Plateful of Happiness 
I definitely need to make the rosemary oil sometime soon!
The green color and the flavor of the rosemary oil is certainly a great addition to the tapenade. I should make this with the oil next time.
We did great with our rosemary oil, look at the gorgeous green! Do you think it will also work with basil instead of parsley? BTW, totally not pantry items this week… I had to get the canned artichokes (first time ever using that!), the green olives and parsley! Rosemary was from my container garden!
The capers thing was news to me as well and I can confirm that this friend enjoyed the tapenade as much as you did.
Glad you enjoyed it. Your crackers look very good.
The tapenade is delicious! We love it!
I loved that story about capers – it’s always nice to know that others can have pet peeves as intransigent as some of mine. We’ve been really into white bean salads lately, so I can see why you enjoy having white bean dips before dinner. They carry flavour so well and are so creamy. This tapenade is going to be a regular, at home and for parties.
Betsy, I didn’t even read that story about the capers and only learned about it when I had to approve your trackback to the LYL post. HA. (Echoes of when I kept not reading the all-important headnotes on Dorie’s recipes in AMFT.) That’s a really cool tidbit. Anyway, I also thought this was such a great and easy-to-make appetizer and it’s right up my alley with the vegetal artichoke hearts and the briny capers and green olives. Woo and it’s so much fun doing this again, this cooking together from afar!!
Betsy, I was intrigued by the fact that in order for it to be considered tapenade it had to contain capers. We are always learning fun facts. Your tapenade looks luscious…especially with the rosemary oil drizzled on top.
My plumber was quite happy to share some of the tapenade with me. Do you think he’ll reduce my bill? Happy weekend!
Hi Betsy, all your selections look amazing, would love to be a guest at your table, This morning we enjoyed a bagel with salmon, capers and cream cheese, perfect Saturday morning breakfast. Learned so much with this post.
Lovely! The rosemary oil was fantastic and I loved the tapenade too. My hubby was not too keen on sharing it haha!
This was so good. I loved the green-ness from the infused oil. I am glad to have leftovers of both as I plan on tossing the rest of the tapenade into some pasta for lunch.
your tapenade and rosemary oil look picture perfect!
I think you have a great idea there; small snacks while cooking dinner! If you cook dinner late like I do, this would definitely prevent me getting overly ‘hangry’ like I do.
Plus, tapenade is salty and gets those salivary glands working so it’s the perfect appetizer!
Your oil looks great! As does your tapenade! Such a gorgeous green!
Your first photo of the Artichoke Tapenade with Rosemary Oil is especially wonderful. It just looks like something I must make (well, I do intend to do that tomorrow). This has been another David Lebovitz thumbs-up winner, for sure. Nice job, Betsy, and I do agree, nice to have a little something before dinner sometimes. I will think of you tomorrow when I pick up “Rightful heritage : Franklin D. Roosevelt and the land of America” at the library. One of the best things about our cooking groups, along with making great food, is the people we meet. My few hours with Katie and her family was wonderful, felt just as “at home” as when we get together.
I added a few rosemary needles to the food processor to make sure I got the full intended taste without the extra oil (we were running low). This is going to be a regular in our dip/spread roster… so easy and flavorful.
I like to nibble on something while I’m getting dinner ready as well! Your dip looks delicious and the oil is such a beautiful colour. Most of mine ended up sprayed around the kitchen but I managed to save some and it heightened and already amazing dish.
This is one I will be making often! So flavorful for something so quick an easy to make.