Check out this new book on olive oil from California. I’m looking forward to reading it myself. It’s called: “The New American Olive Oil: Profiles of Artisan Producers and 75 Recipes,” by Fran Gage (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009).
We talked to Gage recently. She’s clearly on the lookout for unusual ways to use extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). “You can deep fry with extra virgin olive oil,” she said. At an event launching her book, in fact, Gage had the chefs prepare a batch of French-fried potatoes cooked in extra virgin olive oil. How’d they taste? “Fabulous,” she said.
Gage’s book is packed with recipes, ranging from red wine calamari stew to mashed potatoes topped with olive oil. Sauces, pestos, vinaigrettes and mayonnaise also are featured. “I try to avoid complicated recipes. I try to make the olive oil really be the star ingredient,” she told us.
Gage gave us some recipes from the book to share with you, including this one for a chocolate ganache made from extra virgin olive oil instead of butter. You can eat the ganache atop a piece of grilled crusty bread. Gage based the recipe on a dish she ate at a San Francisco restaurant.
“A delicate California Arbequina olive oil was drizzled over all. I mounded the ganache on the bread and took bites, the olive oil dripping from my fingers. It was delicious,” she recalled.
In the recipe, Gage suggests drizzling the ganache and the toasted bread with orange olive oil. I’m sure regular extra virgin olive oil would be just as good – as Gage noted when she first had the dish.
Pan Con Chocolate
4 to 6 servings
8 ounces 64% dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup (51/4 ounces) heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup (1 ounce by weight) powdered cane sugar
3 tablespoons (11/2 ounces) delicate extra virgin olive oil
4 pieces of crusty bread
2 tablespoons orange or blood orange oil for drizzling; fleur de sel (hand-harvested sea salt) for sprinkling
1. Put the chocolate in a 1-quart vessel, preferably a clear one designed for use with an immersion blender.
2. Put the cream and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking to dissolve the sugar.
3. Immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let it sit 1 minute. Blend the two together with an immersion blender using a stirring motion, going to the bottom of the vessel, until the ganache becomes less shiny and thickens to a pudding-like consistency, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Add the olive oil in a steady stream, blending constantly. Pour the ganache into a bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap without touching the ganache. Keep the ganache in a cool room until it sets, preferably overnight.
5. To serve, toast bread slices and put them on plates. Scoop balls of ganache and put them next to the toasts. Drizzle both the chocolate and the toast with orange olive oil and sprinkle with fleur de sel.
6. The ganache will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week. Bring it to room temperature before serving.
Bon appétit,
Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch
