A Casual Culinary Chat About Olives With Ana Johns

Summary

The Joy of Cooking Podcast: Episode Summary

Title: A Casual Culinary Chat About Olives With Ana Johns
Release Date: February 5, 2025
Host/Authors: John Becker, Megan Scott, and Shannon Larson
Guest: Ana Johns, Local Produce Enthusiast

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Joy of Cooking Podcast, hosts John Becker, Megan Scott, and Shannon Larson delve into the versatile world of olives with special guest Ana Johns. Based in Portland, Oregon, the Rombauer family continues their legacy by exploring cherished recipes, kitchen triumphs, and culinary inspirations. This episode focuses on olives, exploring their varieties, historical significance, and myriad uses in cooking.

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Guest Introduction

Megan Scott (01:56):
"We'd like to welcome Ana Johns to the show. Ana is a local produce enthusiast with a decade-long career in connecting people with food, including many years working farmers markets at one of the country's largest organic produce distributors. And now as part of a team leading a specialty retail produce department. Welcome to the show, Ana."

Ana Johns (08:47):
"Thanks for having me."

Ana Johns brings a wealth of knowledge about locally sourced produce and sustainable food systems, offering listeners invaluable insights into incorporating fresh, high-quality ingredients into their cooking routines.

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Personal Cooking Experiences and Favorites

Shannon Larson on Comfort Foods (03:41):
"I was on a jury last week and couldn't cook much, so my husband made a pot of rice and beans. It's so comforting and sounds plain but is just so good."

Megan Scott on Tamarind Glazed Tempeh (04:57):
"There's a recipe in the 2019 Joy for a tamarind glazed tempeh, and it's delicious. You steam the tempeh first to soften it, then brown it in a skillet with citrus juices, tamarind, garlic, and ginger to create a thick, shiny glaze."

Jon Becker on Solo Cooking (06:24):
"One night, I made a katsu cutlet with radicchio Caesar and roasted potatoes. It was a satisfying solo meal."

These exchanges highlight the hosts' diverse culinary practices, emphasizing comfort and innovation in daily cooking.

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Olive Varieties and Culinary Uses

Olive Salad and Muffuletta Recipe (17:54):
Jon Becker (17:54):
"I redeveloped our muffuletta recipe, the olive salad specifically. It’s so good, I just wanted to eat it as a salad. You can try it on its own or with the sandwich."
Megan Scott (18:24):
"The olive salad is like a tapenade with jardinera, roasted red peppers, capers, and garlic. It’s super flavorful and great on crackers or sandwiches."

Notable Quotes:

• Shannon Larson (20:13):
  "And I think a lot for the tasting segment, we have chili lime fresco trano olives that look like Castelvetrano."
• Megan Scott (21:00):
  "I love that about Castelvetrano olives—the buttery, meaty texture."

Olive Varieties Discussed:

• Castelvetrano Olives:
  Known for their buttery texture and substantial flesh, making them a favorite for snacking and adding to dishes.
• Divina Tangerine and Chili Olives:
  A unique variety combining fruity and spicy flavors, perfect as a daily treat.

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Historical Insights on Olives

Origins of Canned Black Olives (22:50):
Megan Scott (22:50):
"The process was invented in the late 1800s by a German widow named Frieda. She treated olives with lye, which unfortunately led to botulism outbreaks due to improper sealing."
Jon Becker (24:55):
"Canned black olives are treated with lye and then canned at high temperatures to prevent botulism, which is why they’re predominantly found in cans rather than jars."

This segment delves into the historical processing methods of black olives, highlighting the evolution of safety standards in olive preservation.

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Local Produce and Sustainability

Ana Johns on Farmer’s Markets (28:06):
"It's the community. Seeing the same people every week and contributing to a sustainable local food system is what's important."
Megan Scott (28:13):
"Advice for incorporating more local foods: Understand the varieties and take an interest in what you're bringing into your kitchen."
Ana Johns (28:13):
"Recognize that imperfect-looking produce often has superior flavor. Embrace diversity in appearance and taste to enhance your culinary experience."

Ana emphasizes the importance of supporting local farmers and appreciating the unique qualities of locally grown produce, urging listeners to explore beyond the homogenized offerings of conventional grocery stores.

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Tasting Segment: Exploring Olive Flavors

Olive Varieties Tasted:

1. Chili Lime Fresco Trano Olives:
   Described as similar to Castelvetrano with a spicy kick, featuring a fruity and substantial texture.
2. Divina Tangerine and Chili Olives:
   Praised for their delightful balance of sweetness from tangerine and heat from chili, making them a perfect party treat.

Notable Comments:

• Jon Becker (21:06):
  "The texture is very meaty, which is a trait we love in our recipes."
• Megan Scott (20:57):
  "They’re so buttery and delicious."

The tasting segment allows hosts and Ana to compare different olive varieties, discussing their textures, flavors, and ideal culinary applications.

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Audience Interaction and Recipe Club Launch

Listener Suggestion:
Donna from Chicago (16:24):
"I’d love to hear you feature one recipe from Joy of Cooking each episode. Listeners could cook that recipe during the week and share their joy on social media."

Hosts' Response (16:24):
"Inspired by your suggestion, we're launching a new segment called Joy Scouts Cooking Club. Each week, we'll feature a recipe from the 2019 edition of Joy of Cooking that aligns with our weekly theme. Cook along and share your creations using #JoyScoutsCookingClub."

Featured Recipe for the Week:

• Olive Salad:
  Encouraged listeners to make the olive salad from the muffuletta recipe, available on page 137 of the 2019 edition. For those without the book, the recipe will be shared on social media.

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Cooking Tips and Techniques

Ana Johns on Tomato Sauce (12:30):
"Slow roasting tomatoes with garlic concentrates their flavor, creating a rich sauce perfect for various dishes."
Megan Scott (14:16):
"Adding orange juice to apricot jam brightens the flavor, much like adding citrus oils enhances olive recipes."

Jon Becker (34:04):
"When making meatballs, browning them first ensures they hold their shape in the sauce."

Cooking Methods Discussed:

• Slow Roasting Tomatoes:
  Enhances flavor concentration for robust sauces.
• Browning Meatballs:
  Prevents breakage and adds texture to dishes.
• Marinating Olives:
  Infusing olives with herbs and spices to elevate their flavor profiles.

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Upcoming Segments and Topics

Next Week's Theme:
Eggplant Casserole

• Inspired by a listener's nostalgic recipe from Joy of Cooking, the hosts plan to explore and possibly reconstruct traditional eggplant casserole variations.

Listener Call-In Highlight:
Dave Stone from Petaluma, California (48:19):
"I remembered my mother teaching me how to make an eggplant casserole when I moved into my house in 1970. She combined elements from different recipes and used a heavy cast iron pot with layered sliced eggplant."

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Conclusion

The episode wraps up with reflections on the versatility of olives in various cuisines, the importance of local produce, and the excitement surrounding the newly launched Joy Scouts Cooking Club. Hosts share their upcoming culinary plans, encouraging listeners to engage and share their cooking experiences.

Final Call to Action (53:36):
"If you have a topic, ingredient, or Joy story to share, call our hotline at 503-395-8858. Leave us a message or send us a text. We'd love to hear from you!"

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Key Takeaways

• Olives are a versatile ingredient, suitable for salads, sauces, and as standalone snacks.
• Local produce enhances flavor and supports sustainable food systems.
• Cooking techniques like slow roasting and browning can significantly elevate dish quality.
• Community engagement through initiatives like the Joy Scouts Cooking Club fosters a shared culinary experience.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jon Becker (17:54):
  "I redeveloped our muffuletta recipe, the olive salad specifically. I had trouble stopping because it was so good."

• Ana Johns (28:13):
  "Imperfect-looking produce often has superior flavor. Embrace diversity in appearance and taste to enhance your culinary experience."

• Megan Scott (22:50):
  "The process of curing black olives was invented by a German widow, but it led to botulism outbreaks due to improper sealing."

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Stay tuned for more culinary adventures on The Joy of Cooking Podcast, where each episode brings new flavors, stories, and inspirations to your kitchen table.

Transcript

[Shannon Larson]

Hello and welcome to the Joy of Cooking podcast. Each week we set the table for a discussion about recipes and stories from the authors of the Joy of Cooking, kitchen victories and misadventures, and most importantly, what we are cooking and eating right now. We're glad you've joined us at the table today. I'm Shannon Larson, home cook, ardent Joy of Cooking user and fan, and rice and bean enthusiastic.

[Megan Scott]

I'm Megan Scott, co author of the 2019 Joy of Cooking. I'm a food editor by day and avoider of dish duty by night, and I compulsively smell every ingredient before using it.

[Jon Becker]

I'm Jon Becker, 4th Generation Co author and steward of the Joy of Cooking, America's oldest family run cookbook. I have a hereditary urge to buy too much parsley. And I think fried shallots make everything better.

[Megan Scott]

You know, I never bought parsley before I met John because, I don't know, I just didn't. I didn't think of it as very useful. I thought it was like a garnish.

[Shannon Larson]

Like the curly parsley.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, like the curly stuff.

[Shannon Larson]

You didn't like, use Italian parsley and things?

[Megan Scott]

No. Oh, I didn't grow up. My family didn't use parsley ever. Unless it was dried.

[Shannon Larson]

Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

On like twice baked potatoes.

[Jon Becker]

I said it's a hereditary urge because my father, Ethan, he would just compulsively buy parsley whenever he was at the store and he would always buy the curly kind. He actually really prefers curly to the Italian. Really?

[Megan Scott]

That's a choice.

[Jon Becker]

It is a choice. I think it has a place and it's, it's good. I like it in tabouli. I like it in other, other things. But yeah, I feel like we always buy Italian.

[Shannon Larson]

Yeah, I feel like that's what we got. Are there things that you always get when you're at the grocery store, though? Like just compulsively. I don't know if I have this at home, but I need to grab it well.

[Megan Scott]

Parsley, cilantro, green onions, lemons.

[Shannon Larson]

Yeah, I always get lemons, limes, and I always have to grab an onion. Even if I have like 12 onions at home.

[Megan Scott]

I'm like, you might not have.

[Shannon Larson]

Exactly.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, yeah. It only.

[Jon Becker]

All it takes is one tragic coming home and having that moment of recognition where he's like, oh, crap. Yeah, no onion. Damn it.

[Megan Scott]

Worst.

[Shannon Larson]

I don't think I've ever gone without an onion because of that. So there you go.

[Megan Scott]

That's a good strategy though. Yeah, it works. Before we go further, I just wanted to pause for A second. And talk about the fact that the podcast had 16,000 downloads last week, which is wild. And also up from like 300 a week. Yeah. So thank you for listening.

[Jon Becker]

And welcome.

[Megan Scott]

And welcome. Also, the most downloaded episode was the one where we actually, like, we had a guest scheduled and then they canceled. And so we ended up just kind of riffing on Joy of Cooking History, and people really loved that one and want to hear more of the history. And we will do that in future episodes. I think we'll probably at some point go through each edition and talk about the history of each one.

[Jon Becker]

I feel like just have a periodic episode about one of the nine editions that has been published. And yeah, just do kind of a semi deep dive on that.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah. So stay tuned for that. We'll do that in the future. But yeah. What has everyone made this week? Shannon, what did you make this week for dinner?

[Shannon Larson]

Well, I mentioned rice and beans because one night I was chosen to be on a jury this past week. And so I wasn't able to actually cook or think about cooking very much because I was in that world and my husband made just a pot of rice and beans. And I don't know, there's something so comforting about it, and it always. It sounds so plain, but it's just so good. And we use Ali Slagle's recipe on the New York Times where it's just like a one pot and you cook it with onion, and so it's just really flavorful. So that was great and very needed after a long day sitting in a courtroom.

[Megan Scott]

What kind of beans?

[Shannon Larson]

Black beans? Yeah, we like a black. We like a black bean. We also did congee this week with like, tofu crumbles and spinach and mushrooms. And that's always. It was a very comfort. It was like a com. We made pasta two nights, including Marshall's Hot Sauce. Our producer owns Marshall's Hot Sauce here, based in Portland and have radiatory. And so we made that with the Joy's chicken piccata and it worked perfectly. So it was a comfort meal. Heavy week this week, but it was needed.

[Megan Scott]

Sometimes you need that.

[Jon Becker]

All the carbs, please.

[Shannon Larson]

Yeah, it was. It will be better this week.

[Ana Johns]

That's what I always say.

[Shannon Larson]

What about you two?

[Megan Scott]

There's a recipe in the 2019 joy for a tamarind glazed tempeh, and it's delicious. It's one of my favorite things to make, period. But it is. You just cut tempeh. Well, you steam the tempeh first in like a thin, whole block. You just steam it, which is actually really nice because I'll. I'll buy tempeh and throw it in the freezer and then just steam it directly from frozen so I don't have to worry about thawing. And it also, the steaming changes the texture a little bit and makes it, like, softer. Or I. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it just gives it more like it's not dry. After you steam it, and then you brown it in a skillet, add a mixture of citrus juices and tamarind and garlic and ginger, and let that reduce down, and it kind of glazes into, like, this thick, shiny sauce. It's delicious. You can also just use whatever sauce you have. Like, if you have a favorite barbecue sauce or, like one of those Bachan's sauces, you could use that. Probably water it down a little. But whatever your favorite sauce is, just throw that in the pan and then it glazes it and it's.

[Shannon Larson]

What do you serve it with?

[Megan Scott]

And it's delicious. Usually coconut rice. And this time I made a roasted broccoli and peanut salad, which is from Julia Tershen's new cookbook, which is called what Goes with what.

[Shannon Larson]

I've heard about that book.

[Megan Scott]

It's a really good book. Yeah, it's really sweet. And that's the first recipe I've made out of it.

[Jon Becker]

We also did a few salads. Well, there was one night where I was alone.

[Shannon Larson]

Don't you say that.

[Jon Becker]

So left to my own devices because somebody had to just abandon me, go socialize. So, yeah, we had an extra pork chop laying around and was like, okay, I'm just going to do a katsu cutlet fried on both sides, and I cut it into fairly thin strips and then served it on top of a radicchio Caesar with some roasted potatoes underneath. Because we had a few potatoes knocking around. And then, yeah, some chopped Calabrian chilies on top of the pork.

[Shannon Larson]

That sounds delicious.

[Jon Becker]

It was good.

[Megan Scott]

It's not bad for a desperation dinner, I know.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah. Not very desperate.

[Shannon Larson]

My husband always just gets, like, frozen chicken wings whenever he's left to his own devices. And it took a long time for him to admit that that was what his go to meal was when I wasn't around.

[Megan Scott]

I think that's a great solo meal. I don't know what he's ashamed of.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah. No. Always keep something like that in the freezer just in case there's a. A sad time and you just need that comfort.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah.

[Jon Becker]

Need that convenience. We also did, like, A Vietnamese chicken and red cabbage salad. We've seen this like on menus in several restaurants and always been curious. Finally just decided to look up a good recipe and yeah, fantastic. It has Vietnamese coriander or raw rum, shiso, green onion, fried shallots, peanuts. Hence the fried shallot comment I made. There was like a. The recipe I used which was from serious seeds, had a nook cham, but there was a little bit of ginger in there which was.

[Megan Scott]

The ginger in there was so good. And I've never, I've never added ginger to that sauce, but highly recommend that especially for that salad.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah, it was great. It was. I think that, you know, typically you're supposed to be poaching the chicken from scratch or whatever for that recipe, but we just used some leftover roasted chicken and it was, was a great use of that.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, yeah, I'll make that again.

[Shannon Larson]

That sounds great. I plan on roasting a chicken this week, so same I, I do honestly for the listeners. I have a piece of paper that I just take notes on like. Cause I try to go grocery shopping or to the farmer's market after we record and I just meal plan while I'm here most of the time because we do. And our guest. Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

This week we'd like to welcome Anna Johns to the show. Ana is a local produce enthusiast with a decade long career in connecting people with food, including many years working farmers markets at one of the country's largest organic produce distributors. And now as part of a team leading a specialty retail produce department. Welcome to the show, Ana. Thanks for coming.

[Ana Johns]

Thanks for having me.

[Megan Scott]

What did you cook this week that you are still thinking about?

[Ana Johns]

Well, on the topic of comfort, our family always relies on spaghetti and meatballs and so, you know, with the backdrop of everything happening in LA with family that is supporting their family down in la, I went to go support the supporters and brought a version of spaghetti meatballs which is not the family, what we call Saraceno sauce version. It was like a fresher pasta and a much lighter meatball than our family typically makes. And it was very well received by a five year old who historically doesn't eat food at all. So if a five year old's palate is the indicator that you need to make it this way, that was the endorsement that you needed. That's a good endorsement. Yeah.

[Jon Becker]

Five year olds, famous arbiters of taste.

[Ana Johns]

100%. Yeah, absolutely. And this one is pretty exacting in all ways. So yeah. Feel good about that.

[Megan Scott]

Well, that makes me want to ask like what's Your. What's the traditional way your family makes that recipe?

[Ana Johns]

So the traditional way is as our grandmother, my maternal grandmother's way. And when I think about that recipe, I think about her sort of, you know, post depression era, starting a young family. She eventually had eight children beginning in the early 50s. And so those recipes were really convenience foods at the time. So it was like a lot of, you know, like canned tomatoes and dried oregano and things that just sort of feel commodity now. And that was carried through into her children's version of those recipes. And, you know, will often reference who, which of the uncles, which of the cousins is making the sauce that tastes the most like grandma's. And when I started making that recipe, I took special interest in the component of that sauce that I feel is the most important, which is the tomato. And was like, we're not using Hunt's canned. Sorry, to the brand. We're not using Hunt scanned tomatoes as the, like, flavor driver of that recipe. We're gonna find, like, heresy. I know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. There's families across the country who hate me now. But, you know, really in, you know, my experience working in produce really, like, took interest in finding the best tomatoes. And so I have a couple that I rely on and will preserve to have on hand at all times. And I think, you know, the family is like, well, it's not the Saraceno sauce, but it's really good. Yeah, that's good enough for me.

[Jon Becker]

So are you, are you canning the sauce or are you canning like a crushed tomato or whole tomato?

[Ana Johns]

So all of the above. And I also, and this is, I mean, the COVID era brain, there's stories coming out of my deep freeze still of what was going on at that time in my brain, but in like 2020. So these have been so an endorsement of keeping things in the freezer for a very long time. They're fine. I've had bags and bags and bags of these heirloom tomatoes that in 2020 I had cut in half, slow roasted at 200 de 8 hours, because we had all the time in the world then with like shallots and garlic. And in my brain four or five years ago, I portioned them out and labeled them into meal sized portions, which I have no idea what that meal was. There was no recipe that I was thinking of at the time. And I think that like, that's the reason why they kicked around in the freezer so long. It was like, what was this recipe for? I have no idea. But it turns out that that's a really great way to just have these incredible, flavorful, ready to go tomatoes that you can just like, stick in a pot, heat up. I just blitzed them and then added meatballs to it, and that was like, it. I highly endorse it.

[Jon Becker]

I feel like that was the first quote, unquote hack that I ever learned about. Like, tomato sauce is like, if you just slow roast them with maybe a head of garlic. I mean, it's almost instant sauce after we're talking a pretty low oven and, you know, you just let them get nice and concentrated and soft and.

[Megan Scott]

Eight hour instant sauce. Yeah.

[Jon Becker]

Eight hours is pretty excessive, right? I mean, I feel like you can.

[Ana Johns]

Probably get away with two years.

[Megan Scott]

Two years?

[Jon Becker]

Not two years, two hours. What is time?

[Ana Johns]

Yeah, totally.

[Megan Scott]

Exactly.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

I love that you have produce enthusiast in your bio, because you've influenced me on more than one occasion to, like, go out and buy a very specific vegetable or fruit or, like, I feel like we've bartered on various occasions for very good produce.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah. So what is your favorite extremely local produce thing that you look forward to every year?

[Ana Johns]

Oh, well. So you and I this last summer, cooked apricot jam from Joy, but not just apricot jam. It was specifically robata apricot jam from Baird, which I think is the most exceptional apricot that you can find. And then also ostiana tomatoes, which have, you know, anybody familiar with that tomato knows that it's just an exceptional sauce tomato. It has this really fantastic story of the folks at Ayers Creek eating a meal in Italy, fishing those seeds out of the compost, bringing them back to the Willamette Valley, spending a decade, you know, climate adapting them so that we could have access to them consistently in Oregon. And I just think they're an exceptional tomato. And if those were the two varieties that I wish that everybody could try and incorporate into their cooking, those would be the two. Absolutely.

[Megan Scott]

I agree that robata apricot jam is. I don't even like jam that much. I don't eat it that much. But the apricot jam is my favorite of all the jams I've ever made.

[Ana Johns]

For a really long time, I was making marionberry thyme Meyer lemon jam. That was really well received. And then after making this apricot jam this last summer, and it's, you know, as good as the robattas are, it's the orange juice in that recipe that I think is the hidden ingredient that nobody knows why it's so good, but it's that really Good apricots and orange juice.

[Megan Scott]

I remember how this got started for us was that we were looking for Blenheim apricots at the farmer's market, and we asked the folks like, hey, do you have any Blenheims? And they were like, you don't want Blenheims, you want Robattas.

[Shannon Larson]

Yes.

[Megan Scott]

And we trusted them.

[Jon Becker]

No offense to Blenheims. I feel like robotas just grow better up here.

[Megan Scott]

Yes, I think so.

[Jon Becker]

It would be interesting to have peak season rabbattas and Blenheim side by side.

[Ana Johns]

Well, and Blenheims are, you know, the arc of taste, the slow food arc of taste has preserved that as a heritage variety. And it is also a really great apricot. But yeah, it doesn't grow as great in the Pacific Northwest as the robata does. So, you know, California, enjoy your Blenheims.

[Jon Becker]

That is pretty much the one preserve that we need to make every year Now, I feel like it's been three or four years that we've done it, and especially this time of year where it's early January when we're recording. But now it's a perfect time to have that apricot jam. It just feels like you're kind of importing a little sunshine shine onto the onto your toast. It's just very essential.

[Megan Scott]

And we've yet to make enough to get us totally through the year. So this year we need to, like, figure out what that perfect amount is to stock.

[Ana Johns]

Right.

[Megan Scott]

Because we give it away a lot, too.

[Ana Johns]

It's my favorite thing to give away now. That and jars of pasta sauce are always really well received. You feel like a superhero because you are. Look at what you've done. But yeah, I think you and I do we split a case. Like a 20 pound case?

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, I think so.

[Ana Johns]

Let's go full case.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah.

[Ana Johns]

All right, great. Sounds good.

[Megan Scott]

Before we move on to our tasting segment, we have a special message from our co producer, Dirk Marshall.

[Donna]

Hi, this is Donna from Chicago and I am a huge fan of your podcast. I recently rediscovered the Joy of Cooking and I'm eager to refresh my cooking skills for the new year. I was intrigued by the book's long history and various editions it's gone through. A deep dive into the evolution of Joy of Cooking would be fascinating for your listeners to make your podcast interactive. I'd love to hear you feature one recipe from Joy of Cooking on each episode. Listeners could then cook that recipe during the week and share their joy on the hotline or social media. This would create a Wonderful sense of community and a shared cooking experience. Donna, thank you so much for listening to the podcast and sharing your fantastic idea. Inspired by your suggestion, we're launching a new segment called Joy Scouts Cooking Club. Each week, we'll feature a recipe from the 2019 edition of Joy of Cooking that aligns with our weekly theme. You're invited to cook along. Feel free to tag us at joyofcooking using joyscoutscookingclub to share your culinary masterpieces on Instagram and check out what other Joy Scouts are cooking. And Donna, don't worry. We'll keep digging into Joy of Cooking history, so stay tuned.

[Megan Scott]

So we will. We'll do some episodes about Joy of Cooking history, but we loved this idea about having a recipe club, and we think that would be super fun. So we're going to start it this week because our theme for today's episode is olives. We have chosen an olive recipe that we are asking everybody to make. If you like olives, John, do you want to share the recipe?

[Jon Becker]

Sure. There are plenty of recipes in the 2019 that incorporate olives in various ways, but I redeveloped our muffuletta recipe, the olive salad specifically. And I remember it was like one of the few times that when I had arrived at the final version and I just did a taste test, I had trouble stopping. Yeah, I just wanted to, like, eat it as a salad. It's not supposed to be served as a salad. And yet there I was. So.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah. And I feel like that was rare at the time because when we were in the. The midst of developing and testing all of those recipes, it was really just a, like, let's make it. Let's taste it, make notes about it. If we need to, we'll retest it, but, like, move on to the next one.

[Jon Becker]

Right. Well, especially with something like the olive salad. For the muffaletta, we had already made the muffuletta at some point, and we knew that it was a pretty solid recipe. I mean, it's. It's a sandwich recipe. You know, it doesn't require, like a ton of. It's not rocket science. There was a class of recipe where we were just like, okay, we are dotting the I's, we are crossing the T's. This one is great.

[Megan Scott]

In fact, we actually talked about separating out the olive salad recip recipe from the muffaletta sandwich because it's so good on its own. So, yeah, we would encourage everybody to try the olive salad recipe that's part of the muffuletta recipe. Just try it on its own. You don't have to make the muffaletta. You can if you want. It's still. That's delicious as well. But, yeah, the olive salad is kind of like a topanade, but it has jardiniera in it and roasted red peppers and capers and garlic. It's just super flavorful, and it's really good on. I mean, it's just, like, good on crackers. It's good on all kinds of sandwiches.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah. We would love to know what people use their olive salad for. Yeah. And also for those who don't mind a little spice, don't skip the pickled jalapeno, the optional ingredient. Yeah, you could use pepperoncini, but the jalapeno, my favorite.

[Shannon Larson]

And for anybody who might not have the 2019 version of the book, where can we find that recipe?

[Megan Scott]

For those who do have the 2019 edition, it's on page 137. For those who don't have it. Yeah. We'll share it on social media along with, you know, when we send out the next podcast, when the next podcast goes live. I don't know if we'll do that for every single recipe. That's kind of a lot, but for this first one, we'll do the olive salad.

[Shannon Larson]

Yeah. And I know a lot of libraries carry the 2019 version, too. For anybody out there, go to the public library, check to see if they have it, so.

[Megan Scott]

Absolutely.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah. I feel like the ebook is probably available on Libby as well.

[Megan Scott]

Mm. And that leads us nicely into our tasting segment. And since today's theme is olives, we're going to try some olives that our producer has set out for us. We've got chili lime fresco trano olives. Does anyone. Has anyone heard of these before? That variety?

[Jon Becker]

It sounds like a Castelvetrano.

[Megan Scott]

It looks like a Castelvetrano.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, I guess. It has chili and lime.

[Ana Johns]

Fruity and spicy. It says spicy.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah, Castelvetranos. We call them out by name several times in the new edition because they are definitely one of our favorites.

[Shannon Larson]

They're so buttery.

[Megan Scott]

I love that about them.

[Jon Becker]

The texture, very meaty texture. I don't know if meaty is quite the word, but substantial texture.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

That is a very good olive. It's very similar to a Castel Vetrano. And then we have these. The brand is Divina Divina tangerine and chili olives that I only recently had for the first time because someone brought them over to our house for a party. They are so Good.

[Shannon Larson]

So good.

[Megan Scott]

I cannot. I have still have it at home, and I dip into it every day as a treat.

[Ana Johns]

This specific brand, though, because you and I have had these, like, version of this long ago. I think of you always when I have those olives in my home.

[Megan Scott]

Really?

[Ana Johns]

Yeah. For context, Megan and I were working at a culinary creative agency and we ate a lot of food together. And there was something that felt really revelatory about dried tangerine peel and olives. I don't know. She grew up in a small town, guys. Doesn't take much to impress, I guess.

[Jon Becker]

Big sections of orange peel. That's one of the additions we made to our marinated olive recipe in the 2019. It's definitely like, something really nice about having orange essential oil flavor going on.

[Megan Scott]

Well, like with the. With the apricot jam we were talking about earlier, adding orange juice to that, there's just. It brightens. It's not just the, like, acidity that brightens it up, but yeah, the oils and the peel are. Get in there and add so much flavor.

[Ana Johns]

It's like the perfect supporting note. It doesn't taste like an orange olive. These are olive. That's really humming.

[Shannon Larson]

These are really the best olives. The Divina tangerine and chili olives. They're so good.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

Those will be at every. Every party that we host from now on. Oh. While I was looking up, I was doing some olive research in preparation for the show. And I was really just curious about those canned black olives that you get that are. You know, you get them on taco salad and seven layer dip and stuff like that. Yeah.

[Shannon Larson]

You put them on your fingers when you're young and you pretend you're eating olives.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah.

[Ana Johns]

The primary reason to buy them olives.

[Megan Scott]

I love them, but I was really curious about them because they're. They're very odd. The flavor is kind of strange and they have a funky. I don't know, they're just like. What is going on here? Is. Was my thought. Most olives are cured either just with salt or with a brine. These black olives, they're not cured. They're treated with lye. Oh, yeah.

[Jon Becker]

They're picked green.

[Megan Scott]

They're picked green, treated with lye, and they turn black over a period of time.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah. Lion oxygen. So the. The black is actually them becoming oxidized.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah. The process was invented in the late 1800s by a German widow named Frieda. Amen. And she was using a recipe from the University of California, and she sort of turned her back porch into Like a olive making factory and figured out this process. And then her olives became really popular and she actually moved to the East Co coast to explore, like, new markets for her olives. They started packaging them in glass jars. I think they originally they were selling them just out of, like, big wooden vats, but they started packaging them in glass jars. But because the olives are treated with lye, they're alkaline. And when you seal something that is not acidic in an anaerobic environment, you create a really good place for the bacteria that causes botulism to grow. And that is exactly what happened, not specifically with her olives, but with another, like, a competitor's product. There was a case where seven people actually died in 1919 from eating black olives that had clostridium botulinum in them. And so after that, they started processing them in cans at 240 degrees under pressure, which will kill everything. But that's why they're in cans mostly. I thought that was just, like, a fascinating story. Yeah, you're right.

[Shannon Larson]

Because a lot of when you go to the olive section in the grocery store, most of them are in glass jars, except for the, like, black olives. And I think there are some whole green olives that come in a can too, but.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah. Yeah. Wild. So happy that we have. We have figured some things out anyway.

[Ana Johns]

Yes.

[Megan Scott]

Do you like those olive. The black olives, the finger olives?

[Shannon Larson]

Kinda, yeah. It's not gonna be like the first choice for me in the olive department, but occasionally I might just get a little bit of a hankering for. Mostly just because they remind me of childhood and, like, going to, like, family parties. And they were always on the vegetable plate. And again, I would put them on my fingers and pretend I was ET and sometimes as an adult, we also need to do that. They don't fit quite the same on my fingers these days, but they split.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah.

[Ana Johns]

They sell them in those tiny little jars of sliced. Which I think is the correct. Because, like, how many times are you going to eat nachos?

[Megan Scott]

Right. Exactly.

[Ana Johns]

How many olives do you need? You're not going to use the leftovers?

[Shannon Larson]

No.

[Ana Johns]

You're not going to snack on those leftovers? I always think they taste a little metallic.

[Megan Scott]

They do, yeah.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

They taste soapy. Yeah. Because of that alkalinity. Like, they're just like a little soapy. But they are perfect on. You're right. They're perfect on nachos. The taco salad thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's just times when you need a seven layer Dip.

[Jon Becker]

Without that, nothing.

[Ana Johns]

Nothing. So an endorsement and a slight criticism of black olives at the same time.

[Megan Scott]

So, Ana, you've worked at farmers markets for a really long time. How did you get started working behind the booth?

[Ana Johns]

I had lived abroad for a long time after college, and I had just moved back. One of the reasons why I moved back was really missing grocery stores. I was living in South Korea, and there's obviously plenty of food resources, but there's nothing like walking into the slightly manic experience of a American grocery store. So I was really excited to come back and explore food as an adult, and then was at the Farmer's Market one Saturday talking to a farmer about his honey, and he just was like, hey, would you ever consider working for us? And I was like, okay. And it was kind of a dreamy summer, right? Like, kind of getting immersed in that community and that culture and talking about food all the time. And then, you know, all of a sudden, seven or eight years later, I was like, oh, this is kind of like part of your life now, and did take a break, and now I'm back.

[Megan Scott]

So I'm seeing at psu.

[Shannon Larson]

What's your favorite thing about working at a farmer's market?

[Ana Johns]

It's the community. It's seeing the same people every week. You know, when you're looking the day ahead at the weather and you're like, well, it's going to be 37 degrees and raining, you're not there because you love to stand in that. You're there because you really love the people that you see. And I think anything that you can do to contribute to a durable, sustainable local food system is important. And it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be a farmer to do that. Just, you know, it takes all of us doing every little bit to promote that type of eating and shopping. And so I'm happy to, you know, be a part of that and to help remove barriers for locals that want to shop that way.

[Megan Scott]

What advice do you have for folks who want to incorporate more local foods into their cooking?

[Ana Johns]

Oh, well, gosh, we've really done a disservice. And this is me now, you know, speaking with the hat of somebody that now works in retail but has previously worked at a large distributor and has done sales. We've really done a disservice to ourselves for creating this totally unattainable standard of what produce is supposed to look like on the shelf. And so, you know, when you're going to the farmer's market, you're going to be exploring Options that are not as homogenized as what you find at the grocery store. And so just getting over it. Just get over it.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah.

[Ana Johns]

You're going to see ugly things. Often they're more beautiful in flavor. Right. Like learning to recognize that a blemish, like for example, on a piece of fruit actually means that that piece of fruit has produced more sugar to help heal over that blemish. And so really just like taking an interest in what you're actually bringing into your kitchen. Because if you're just there for like, if you're shopping locally just because it's sort of stylish, you're going to burn out, I think because it is more expensive and it's inconvenient. That's the advice that I would give. And if you aren't really wanting to be that invested, if you're not wanting to deep dive educationally for yourself into growing practices and variety selection and who the growers are, et cetera, just go spend money. Yeah, that's fine too. It's not a litmus test for how successful you are. But I personally have found really understanding varieties more deeply has been. What has I found the most engaging about bringing local food into my kitchen.

[Megan Scott]

So I'll confess that I have a love hate relationship with farmers markets more broadly because I get overwhelmed.

[Ana Johns]

Right.

[Megan Scott]

With mostly just the number of people.

[Ana Johns]

Strollers and it's a lot.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah.

[Ana Johns]

Slow walkers and.

[Megan Scott]

But I love talking to the vendors and asking questions about the stuff I'm buying or like, what is really. What do you think is really good right now? Like what should I make with this thing? Because they're so full of knowledge and it's easy to go and just buy the thing you want and walk away. But I think there's just like a wealth of knowledge at the farmer's market in the vendors and the people who grow the food.

[Ana Johns]

Yep, absolutely.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah. I mean, you know, two edged sword or whatever. I mean, if you're actually having a little anxiety because there's a crowd at your farmer's market, that means that you're at a really good one.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, yeah, that's true. Typically the sad truth for me, I guess.

[Jon Becker]

Or else. Or else there's a lot of crafts, which. Nothing wrong with that.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah. Get up early. We're up early.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah. You know, how early do you get up when you're working the farmer's market?

[Ana Johns]

When I. Well, so now I have a little bit more of a plum gig with a CPG product, but when I was managing a produce stand, it was you know, like 3:34am Wake up time, which is even luxurious compared to, you know, if you're in Portland and you're buying food from anybody that farms in the Willamette Valley. Those people, Groundworks, gtf, Eloisa, all of those familiar names, they've been up since 1:32. They've been on the road since before the sun has come up.

[Jon Becker]

So just for my benefit and maybe our listeners, what's CPG Consumer Packaged good like a product. Got it. Sorry.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah, no, that's a great question.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, I think when I worked at the farmer's market, I was getting up at 4, which felt so inhumane. But yeah, you're right. Like the farmers themselves are up before that harvesting or preparing.

[Ana Johns]

Right? Yeah, yeah. So you know, if you're like, oh man, the farmer's market opens at 8 and that feels really early. Does it? I don't know. Everything is relative.

[Jon Becker]

Well, this is, this is good ammunition for when I try to motivate Megan to go to the PSU farmers market.

[Megan Scott]

See, this is why we've signed up for a csa though, because now we get the local produce and I don't have to go to the farmer's market every week. I think we still go for specific, like the robota apricots, the tomatoes. We go for the New Mexico chilies when they're in season. There are specific things we'll go to the farmer's market for. But I do like having a source of local produce that comes to me sort of.

[Ana Johns]

Absolutely. I mean, the other benefit of the farmer's market is that you can kind of look over shoulders and be like, what are those people doing? And get some inspiration there. That's what I do. And like, I see somebody that recognizes. I'm like, oh, I trust you. What are you buying?

[Jon Becker]

Well, when I, when I see you walking around the farmer's market, I'm going to be looking for this behavior.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah, right. Tag along.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah, let's go spy on everybody.

[Megan Scott]

Ana, what is in your fridge right now, if you can remember?

[Ana Johns]

Well, yeah, there's a lot. I made some yuzu kosho that's still in there.

[Megan Scott]

Could you talk a little bit about what that is?

[Ana Johns]

I could talk about that. Yeah. It's, you know, yuzu is a variety of citron, so it's really bitter with skin that's really laden with oil. And yuzu koshu, or yuzu kosho is sort of like a paste that you take the rind, remove the pith, use some sort of chili. You know, traditionally it would be a Japanese chili, but in this case I used bird's eye chili because that's what I had. And a bunch of salt and you just grind it into a paste and you can use it in miso soup or I marinated chicken thighs with it and it's just kind of one of those like, what do the French call them? Mother sauces. Yeah. I'm not a classically trained cook, so my mother sauce is like that type of thing, right? Like interesting spicy mother paste. Mother paste, yeah. Like that's one thing that like I'll want to have in my refrigerator every winter. So I've made that for the past couple of years. And then, you know, half eaten jars of jam for sure. Always lots of those. And then leftover meatballs because I did make two pounds of meatballs.

[Jon Becker]

Oh, you know. Yeah. You said that you made a lighter meatball. Were you incorporating ricotta or were you using like a white meat?

[Ana Johns]

No. Well, so it's traditionally our family did like a straight beef, which I think is a little bit of a crime. That is a dense meatball. So I do like 50, 50 pork and ground beef and then eggs. One egg per pound. So in this case, two eggs. And then like an eyeball of a like half cup or so of breadcrumbs.

[Jon Becker]

And then I thought you were like talking about eyeball. Like it's a unit of measurement.

[Ana Johns]

That's a unit of measurement, is it not Creepy.

[Megan Scott]

Unit of measurement?

[Ana Johns]

Yeah, like the size of an eyeball.

[Jon Becker]

It's about a tablespoon and a half.

[Megan Scott]

Right.

[Ana Johns]

Not like a large grape. It's an eyeball. Yeah. Or a tablespoon as people commonly use. And then like half a cup of Parmesan. And then the volume of garlic and fresh basil is determined by whatever I have on hand because I don't want to ever have leftovers of fresh garlic. So in this case it was like a whole 8 ounce bag that was pretty herby. And then I had like 3/4 of a head of softneck garlic. So that's, you know, many, many, many cloves. Like if I tell you that it's like 15 cloves, know that it's like teeny tiny little cloves. But you know, all of that because I wanted to be rid of that. So that was like a pretty garlic heavy meatball. When you're forming them, I always get a little bit afraid that they're going to break apart in the sauce. And I have to remind myself that like you're going to fry them. We are a fry house. And then once you get them into the sauce, they're going to firm up and hold their shape. But the end result is like a pretty supple, lighter meatball than the like, really dense ass beef one that I grew up with.

[Jon Becker]

Do you. Do you always fry or do you broil sometimes?

[Ana Johns]

You know, I have broiled before. I've also done like raw into the sauce as well. And yeah, a poached meatball, for some.

[Shannon Larson]

Reason that just doesn't.

[Megan Scott]

It sounds a little wrong.

[Ana Johns]

I don't enjoy the process. I don't. I don't enjoy visually putting raw meatballs into a sauce. There's just nothing enjoyable about that to me. But like standing over the fry and like flipping the meatballs and like, you know, sometimes you're kind of in a rush and so it's like a light fry. And then, you know, yesterday I had like a good amount of time, so it was like a really, like, thick crust on those meatballs and that felt like really satisfying. And that's just not something that you get from a broiler. So do I think that the end result with the broiler is better or worse? I don't know, but I just don't like doing it as well.

[Jon Becker]

I really like broiling, I have to say. They don't turn out like balls. They're more like mounds. But. But I don't know. I feel like I'm cheating and that goes a long way.

[Megan Scott]

You. You do, like, we've talked about this many times how you like those kinds of processes, like browning meat for a braise or caramelizing onions. Because you kind of just have to stand there and you can't, you know, you can think your thoughts, but you're. You have. You're stuck at the stove for a little while, which is kind of a nice thing sometimes.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah, no, it's. It's forced contemplation, like in a non. Not go to your room kind of way. Yeah. It's like by your own volition.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah.

[Jon Becker]

And you're. And of course you're trying to achieve something that is going to be delicious. I do appreciate that. I don't know, frying meatballs for some reason that it's not scratching the same edge. For me, it. That's just me, I think.

[Shannon Larson]

Meatball off.

[Ana Johns]

I. Absolutely.

[Shannon Larson]

Yeah.

[Ana Johns]

Let's do it anytime.

[Megan Scott]

Okay.

[Ana Johns]

And like, to be extremely competitive. It's Aunt Shannon. So good.

[Shannon Larson]

Wait, you competitive?

[Ana Johns]

It's so weird.

[Jon Becker]

And aside, you mentioned Yuzu Kosho and I just wanted to give A shout out to Heather Anderson, friend of the pod. Friend of the pod. And guest for what? Our first guest.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jon Becker]

So she just recently published a recipe on the Super Abundant blog for Yuzu Kosho that she offers a really awesome substitute that I would like to try, and that is, like, you know, yuzu, fresh yuzu, especially, very hard to find. So she offers, like, a substitute where you can use lemon zest and then add some. Some cedar fronds or pine fronds, because I guess that, yeah, yuzu. There's in addition to, like, the typical citrus oils that are. That are in the. In there. I think it's limonene. I'm probably mispronouncing that, but there's also pinene, and so you're, like, kind of making up for the lack of pinene that's in the lemon.

[Megan Scott]

Interesting.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah, I want to try it.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, I'm curious. I want to try that.

[Ana Johns]

That sounds amazing.

[Megan Scott]

Each week we choose a topic to tackle based on caller suggestions. And this week, we're talking about olives.

[Jon Becker]

Hi.

[Donna]

Joy of Cooking podcast. Do you have any favorite recipes that use olives? No specific kind. All olives are welcome. Thank you.

[Megan Scott]

I appreciate how general this question is. Like, tell me how to use olives. Which. Yeah, I can do that. The first thing that came to mind for me was this soup that we make all the time in the winter. It's called Aso pao de pollo. It's a Puerto Rican chicken and rice soup. And it has. It's really hearty and a little bit spicy. I think it has one habanero pepper in it, but you could totally omit that or just use half. And then it has green peas and sliced pimento stuffed olives. And the olives just add this, really, whenever you get, like, a piece of olive in a bite, it's just this briny, delicious. I don't know. The texture is really soft and good. There's just something about the olives that really make that soup for me, vaguely.

[Jon Becker]

Related is also, like, the Veracruz style tomato sauce that we added. I love that. And, you know, it's a tomato sauce that has, like, true cinnamon.

[Megan Scott]

Talk a little bit about that.

[Ana Johns]

What's.

[Megan Scott]

What's true cinnamon?

[Jon Becker]

It's canela and also referred to as canela at Latino markets. Yeah, it just has this really nice, you know, like, the cinnamon that we're mostly familiar with is. It's cassia, actually, and has kind of a hotter, like, kind of profile to it. But, yeah, I don't know. There's just something about the, you know, ceylon or true cinnamon that adds a really nice flavor to the sauce. There's some capers and some olives in there. It's really good for either topping fish or actually braising fish in. That's. I think, you know, the. There's a kind of a classic Veracruz style snapper dish that. It's the sauce for that.

[Shannon Larson]

Want to do a shout out for your puttanesca sauce, which is our go to. I know you have something to add about that, John, but it is delicious. I remember camping with you one time and that was what you made.

[Megan Scott]

That's a great camping recipe. It was.

[Shannon Larson]

It was so, so good. It just was like everything I wanted. And the, like oily tuna in it was just incredible.

[Jon Becker]

I'm gonna have to look at our recipe again. I feel like the tuna was something that we added.

[Megan Scott]

Oh, I think it. The tuna is not actually in the recipe, but we add it. Add that especially when camping. Cause you want that protein. Yeah, we were looking.

[Shannon Larson]

Or when you're not camping.

[Ana Johns]

Or when you're not camping.

[Jon Becker]

I feel like we want to make a slight change to the puttanesca recipe just because it calls for quite a.

[Megan Scott]

Bit of olive, A lot of olives.

[Jon Becker]

Especially if. I don't know, I. I think there was once in particular where I used the, you know, the wrinkly salt cured olives. And I feel, I just felt like we need. We at least need to warn people like, hey, maybe don't use olives. Maybe have those halve the amount for like the salt cured olives. So. Or yeah, just use a milder olive.

[Shannon Larson]

Use a mild olive. Add oily tuna.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah.

[Shannon Larson]

Next version.

[Jon Becker]

Making notes right now in my head.

[Megan Scott]

So nicoise salad is another recipe that we love making all the time, especially in the summertime. And we always include olives in that. Kalamata olives. Well, it's a nissoise salad, so it. You should probably use nicoise olives. But we usually have kalamatas on hand. It's adaptable. It's fine. And then another recipe that came to mind is pain bagnat, which is a French pressed sandwich. So it has. It's kind of like nicoise salad in sandwich form, except it has eggplant in it. So it has roasted eggplant, roasted peppers. What else? It has tuna, it has olives. But the key to that sandwich is you actually do want to. You want to. Once you assemble it, you want to smash it between two heavy things. Or like I remember, I cannot remember what book this Is in, but maybe not smash.

[Jon Becker]

Smoosh.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah. Smoosh compress.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah. Not a sandwich press. Like panini.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, Not a panini press. Just something to compact it. But I remember reading something from MFK Fisher where she tells a story about someone sitting on the sandwich on. On the train, like, until they got to their destination, like, smooshed and warm. Yes.

[Shannon Larson]

Which.

[Megan Scott]

Now that you say that sounds really weird, but I thought that was kind of a fun. A fun way of thinking about it.

[Jon Becker]

Pro tip for you commuters out there.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah. Sit on your sandwich, wrap it really well, and. Yeah. And then the last recipe that came to mind for me was there's a roasted cauliflower with. With green olives and Lemon in the 2019 edition. It's really simple. You just roast them all together, and you're using lemon slices. So the lemon slices get a little caramelized in the oven. It's best to, like, chop them up a little after roasting because you don't want to eat, like, a whole lemon slice at once. But it adds a really nice bitterness and a little bit of sweetness. And then I definitely recommend serving that cauliflower with some kind of, like, a savory yogurt sauce of some sort, because I find roasted cauliflower to be a little bit dry. It just needs a little help at the end.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah. And that's one of the many instances where we call for Castelvetranos, because they are. They are God's olive.

[Megan Scott]

God's own olive. Anna, what do you like to use olives for?

[Ana Johns]

I'm gonna be honest that I don't often.

[Megan Scott]

You don't use olives? I don't.

[Ana Johns]

They're just not something that, like, I'll bring them into my kitchen for, like, a cheese plate or, you know, if we're doing, like, a snacky thing. It's just not a component that makes its way onto my grocery list that often, but an endorsement of puttanesca. When I do have a bunch left over, they're probably going in pasta. I think it's really easy to build a pan sauce with them also. So, like, if there's roasted chicken thighs with some olives tossed in and drippings and a little bit of wine, that's. I mean, that's a really good dinner. So. Yeah, sorry, Guilty. I'm the number one guest to have on an olive episode.

[Jon Becker]

Those were good answers, though.

[Ana Johns]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Jon Becker]

Have you tried marinating olives with, like, an infused oil or anything like that?

[Ana Johns]

No, but that sounds delightful.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah, it's Good.

[Ana Johns]

Are you talking about, like, fresh olives? Like, what kind of olives? Oh, like other people's olives.

[Megan Scott]

Building on other people's olives.

[Jon Becker]

Other people's olives? Yeah, other people.

[Ana Johns]

Opos.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah. No, I mean, like the. Just. I'm just talking about doing something kind of like the tangerine and chili olives that we just tasted, but just, you know, starting with plain olives and then going from there.

[Ana Johns]

Zhujing and olives.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah.

[Ana Johns]

No, but it sounds like something we should maybe do. Let's have a weekend.

[Jon Becker]

Okay.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Ana Johns]

Great.

[Megan Scott]

Olive party.

[Jon Becker]

I'll get the cheese.

[Megan Scott]

And do we still have instructions in joy for curing olives?

[Jon Becker]

We used to. We tried it. We failed.

[Megan Scott]

We did try. We. Occasionally we'll see fresh olives in one of the little specialty markets here. And one year, Barber World Foods shout.

[Jon Becker]

Out to Barber World foods, and. Yeah, LaBeouf. Sometimes they will.

[Megan Scott]

And we did try brining them ourselves. And you really have to. They're so, so bitter that you have to do several changes. I think we actually soak them in water. We soaked them in water for several days, maybe even a week, changing the water every day to get rid of some of those tannic properties of the olive to make it palatable. But I think even in the end, after changing the water, like, seven times and then doing a salt brine for a long time, they were still on the bitter side of. Yeah. They just weren't quite there. So kudos to the people who make olives taste good because they're so delicious when they're right, and when they're not, you just. They're not. They're not good.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah. Try making your own to appreciate it. Just to appreciate what they're doing.

[Megan Scott]

Doing. Yeah, exactly. I did get to go to an olive orchard. Olive. What do you call it? Orchard Farm. Grove.

[Ana Johns]

Grove.

[Megan Scott]

That's right. Olive grove. I got to go to an olive grove during harvest a couple years ago, and that was a amazing experience to see the olives from harvest to bottling. And, like, just the smell was for olive oil. Incredible. Yeah. For olive oil. Not for olives, but. Yeah. And that. That smell of the olive oil was just. It permeated everything. It was magical.

[Shannon Larson]

Olive trees are so beautiful, too. They're like. They might be my favorite. Love them.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

If you have a topic, ingredient, or joy story to share, call our hotline at 503-395-8858. Leave us a message or send us a text. We'd love to hear from you next week's topic comes from our caller.

[Donna]

Hello. I'm a big fan of the Joya Cooking podcast. It got me really thinking about my cooking memories. And I remembered my mother, a true improvisational cook, teaching me how to make an eggplant casserole. When I first moved into my small adobe house In Cotati in 1970, I tried to find her exact recipe in Joy of Cooking, but it wasn't there. She probably combined elements from different recipes, as she often did. She gave me a heavy cast iron pot and I'd layer it with sliced eggplant. Any idea what this casserole was? Dave Stone, Petaluma, California.

[Shannon Larson]

It's a mystery. I love it.

[Megan Scott]

It is a mystery. We get these kinds of questions sometimes, especially on social media. And my follow up question is, do you remember what else was in it because.

[Jon Becker]

Or just what edition?

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, what edition? What did the COVID look like?

[Jon Becker]

Yeah, what did the COVID look like? People hardly ever know like what year it was published and understandably.

[Megan Scott]

But we'll do some digging. We'll dig around in some old editions and see what eggplant casseroles come up. I'm sure there's a few and we'll try to answer that question next time.

[Jon Becker]

It all comes back to eggplant.

[Shannon Larson]

Oh, my gosh. It should all come back to eggplant.

[Jon Becker]

The apple of madness. Again.

[Megan Scott]

Shannon, what are you doing this week? What are you cooking?

[Shannon Larson]

I have a few things. Well, I'm going to the farmer's market after this, so again I'll get inspiration there. That's, that's what I like to do. Green curry has been on the mind with like tofu and veg. I don't know. That just sounds good. It's also surprisingly going to be nice this week. I mean, it's still cold, but there's sun in the forecast and. I know I think I mentioned last week that we were going to maybe grill, but then jury duty happened. So I want to do some winter grilling this week. I think it's, it's time to like, build a fire in our little like, you know, chiminea thing and grill some root vegetables or something. I don't know. I'll get inspired when I get to the market.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah, actually, after you mentioned your intention to grill, we. One thing I forgot to mention, we did some kalbi on the grill with some cheese corn. It was so good.

[Megan Scott]

Oh, yeah, Cheese corn. Have you had that corn cheese? Oh, it's so good.

[Ana Johns]

It's ridiculous.

[Jon Becker]

Is it corn cheese or cheese corn?

[Megan Scott]

I've seen it both ways. Do you know Anna?

[Ana Johns]

Well, I'm trying to. I lived in Seoul. I should know. Corn cheese. I think it's corn cheese.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah.

[Ana Johns]

Yeah, sure. You're right. Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

That is not a recipe that we have. Enjoy. But probably will be in the next edition because it's outrageous. And it's. It's just like sauteed corn. And you can add onion. You can add diced. I think maangchi adds like, diced bell pepper for color. And then you add some mayonnaise to it and then top it with whatever kind of stringy cheese, like mozzarella or something, and then broil it. And it's. It's just one of the best things.

[Shannon Larson]

It's corn and cheese.

[Megan Scott]

It's corn and cheese.

[Ana Johns]

What could be bad?

[Shannon Larson]

What about you all?

[Jon Becker]

Well, yeah, I don't know. After doing all this olive thinking, there are Chinese dishes out there that call for salt, cured olives, Chinese style olives. And I want to try doing, like, a fried rice with those Chinese olives.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah, there's like a Thai. A Thai dish that uses those Chinese olives. A rice dish.

[Jon Becker]

Well, it's. It's served at a restaurant that's really not far away from us called Yaowarat. I think I'm saying that right. And they focus on, like, Chinese food that as it is served in, like this. On this one road in Bangkok called Yaowarat Road. So. But yeah, they've had a few stir fries with.

[Megan Scott]

With those olives, and they're really, really good.

[Jon Becker]

Yeah.

[Megan Scott]

I think the one we had was with ground pork or something.

[Jon Becker]

Yes.

[Megan Scott]

Yeah. I'm also cooking a pot of good mother Stallard beans this week, which are one of my. Maybe my favorite bean.

[Shannon Larson]

Can you explain why?

[Megan Scott]

I just love the flavor? The texture's super velvety. Like, they're. They keep their shape really well, but they're not. I mean, obviously they wouldn't be hard, but they're just. They have this really nice velvety texture. The bean broth is really good. It makes. Makes a very thick and rich flavorful bean liquid. So, yeah, that's. I would say they're my favorite bean. And they're hard to find, too, because I think they're a little tricky to grow. But you only see them every once in a while. So I'll probably do a pasta fagioli and freeze the rest.

[Shannon Larson]

Nice. Anna, anything on your menu this week?

[Ana Johns]

Radicchio all the time right now. Always. Local growers have finally been bringing in rosalba, the pink variety, in volume. This season. So I'm eating that pretty consistently in salad form with different variations of dressings and toppings every single week. Because when it's gone, it's gone. And you'll miss it. I'll miss it. And then there's also a lot of really great Asian greens at the market right now. So I picked up a couple bunches of what sort of looks like a rapini. But I know that it has sort of like there's an Asian name. I can't recall what it is, but it's like a good sturdy green with little sort of like looks like broccoli florets. So incorporating that into some sort of stir fry, because this next week is going to be busy. So every busy week is always stir fry week. It's just so satisfying and you feel like a hero because you busted out the wok and it's really not that hard. So those two things. And then also have some beans that I set aside this morning from some local growers, La Miranda Farm, these Blue Moro beans that are just, just gorgeous. And cooked them a couple weeks ago, and I would say that they're in a blind taste test. I don't know that I could tell the difference, but it's a bean that, like, is so beautiful when it's dry. It's so satisfying. It's grown locally. So we'll put that into like a probably a burrito bowl. Again, it's a busy week, so for, like, comfort and ease.

[Shannon Larson]

And we'll be making the olive salad from the dress.

[Megan Scott]

Yes, make the olive salad. Post about it. Let us know how you like it and how you're using it. Thanks for listening to the Joy of Cooking podcast. Before we go, show some love for your favorite podcast by leaving us a review on Apple podcasts and itunes. Follow us on Instagram hejoyofcooking. Stay tuned for next week where we'll tackle eggplant casserole. Eggplant. Again, call in with questions, hopes, history, or where you find joy in the kitchen. Our number is 503-395-8858. That's 503-395-8858.

[Shannon Larson]

And we could not do this without our fantastic team at the Joy of Creation production house. Thank you to Dave Dresky, our production coordinator, Haley Bowers, our audio engineer, and today, Dirk Marshall, our producer.