Calling all olive lovers: June 1st is National Olive Day.
 

OLIVE HISTORY

The olive history is an ancient one, following figs as the earliest domesticated fruit tree.

Olives trees were native to Asia Minor. The latest findings show that the olive was first domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean basin between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago.

(Writing itself only began some 5200 years ago, around 3200 B.C.E.)

The olive tree spread from Iran, Palestine and Syria to the rest of the Mediterranean. It was grown on Crete by 3000 BC.E., and the crop of fruit and oil may have been the source of the wealth of the Minoan kingdom.

The Phoenicians brought the olive tree to the north coast of Africa and to southern Europe.

The olive culture arrived in ancient Greece, and from there to Rome. As the Romans extended their empire, they brought the olive with them.

Here’s more on the history of the olive.
 
 
21 USES FOR OLIVES

Our personal favorite recipes are black olive tapenade and green olive tapenade.

Here are 22 more everyday uses for olives:

 
 
OLIVE RECIPES

Thanks to Lindsay olives for these yummy recipes (click links):

 
Find many other olive recipes at ILoveLindsay.com.
 
 
> TYPES OF OLIVES & OLIVE OILS

[1] Castelvetrano olives from Sicily, one of our favorite varieties (photo © DiBruno Brothers | Philadelphia).

[2] Olive & Cheese Cornbread (photos #2, #3, #4 © Lindsay Olives).

[3] Olive & Cherry Tomato Panzanella.

[4] Savory Jalapeño & Olive Margarita.

[1] Koloa 12-Barrel Select Hawaiian Rum: heavenly (photo © Koloa Rum).

[2] Round Barn Winery’s Mint Chocolate Cream is a delight for any chocolate lover [of drinking age] (photo © Round Barn Winery).

We taste lots of spirits, and most of them are delicious. But we’re not a spirits website, so we only write about those that truly stand out.

Just in time for Father’s Day, we have two recommendations.
 
 
1. KOLOA SINGLE-BATCH HAWAIIAN RUM

Rum is typically made from molasses, a by-product of sugar refining. Most rum comes from the Caribbean, where sugar plantations abound.

Koloa rums have a different pedigree. Their handcrafted premium rums are not made with molasses, but with pure sugarcane.

The second ingredient, water, is the pristine rainwater from Mount Waiʻaleʻale and nearby mountain peaks and rainforests. The water is captured after it filters through volcanic strata and into vast underground aquifers.

The Kaua‘i Reserve 12-Barrel Select Hawaiian Rum is artfully crafted in single batches, then carefully aged for at least 3 years in charred American oak barrels.

It is remarkably smooth on the palate. We’re not excessively poetic when we say that every drop is to be cherished.

Take a sip: The first drops introduce you to a natural sweetness that’s profoundly different from the big brands.

It’s not a sugary sweetness, but a profound depth of flavor from the sugarcane, followed by rich and complex flavors that linger throughout the exceptionally clean finish.

This is a special expression that any connoisseur of fine spirits will appreciate. Non-rum drinkers who have only tasted the big brands will discover how wonderful rum can be.

It’s a great sipping rum, straight up or on the rocks, and a wonderful discovery.

Koloa Rum does ship to all 50 states via partnerships with Mel & Rose and Drizly, among others.

> Discover more about the brand at Koala brand at KoloaRum.com.

> Check out the history of rum and the different types of rum.

Round Barn Estate in Baroda, Michigan began in 1997, when the Moersch family discovered a 1912 round barn in northern Indiana, and envisioned it as a place to enter thirsty and leave happy.

Today it is Round Barn Winery, Distillery and Brewery: a lovely home to the family’s handcrafted wines, spirits and brews.

What a contribution to the community: great drink, entertainment, beautiful grounds and event space.

In the liqueur category, they began with Black Walnut Cream Liqueur, then Salted Caramel Cream, and now the latest, Mint Chocolate Cream.

Based on our tasting of the Mint Chocolate Cream, our next liqueur purchases will be the Black Walnut and the Salted Caramel.

The Mint Chocolate Cream liqueur tastes like a chocolate shake with a hint of mint—and a hint of distilled spirits.

Served it after dessert and/or coffee, add it to coffee or hot chocolate, make adult chocolate milk, top off a dish of ice cream.

If you need a gift for a lover of chocolate, this is it!

Discover more at RoundBarn.com.
 
 

[3] A lovely destination in Michigan: Round Barn Estate (photo © Round Barn).

While we have been hunkered down at home for the quarantine, we have been treating ourselves to great foods from artisans nationwide.

One of them is Jasper Hill Farm, in Greensboro, Vermont (in the “Northeast KingdomNortheast Kingdom”).

Jasper Hill sold its first wheels of Bayley Hazen Blue, their flagship cheese (photo #3), in 2003. Since then, with their own microbiology lab and scientists, they have been able to make incredible cheeses.

The cheeses are sold at fine retailers and e-tailers nationwide, and also on the Jasper Hill website.

Half of the cheeses online are made by Jasper Hill Farm, others are made by neighboring dairies and sent to Jasper Hill to take advantage of the huge, state-of-the-art, underground aging cellars.

The technology helps to make better cheeses. Just one bite of any of them tells you that you’ve arrived in cheese heaven.

Twice a month we order a shipment of our favorite cheeses, comparing similar styles (bloomy rinds, blues, cheddars, washed rinds) to pick the one from each group that we like the best.

We then re-order the “winner” along with our next group (and we keep notes on our preferences for future orders). And we never fail to add a wheel of our very favorite, the bloomy-rind Moses Sleeper.

We’re never without great cheeses on hand. We’d like to point the way to every turophile (connoisseur or fancier of fine cheeses).

Before you head to Jasper Hill Farm’s online storeJasper Hill Farm’s online store, check out the description of the cheeses that follow.

If you can’t make up your mind among the different cheeses, there are 13 curated gift boxes (scroll down), for yourself or for gifting.

We hope we’ve made it easier for you to choose among the 15 memorable cheeses.
 
 
15 MEMORABLE CHEESES

 
 
CHEESES BY CATEGORY

[1] Cheddar lovers will find joy in Cabot’s Clothbound Cheddar (all photos © Jasper Hill FarmJasper Hill Farm).

[2] A bloomy rind enthusiast’s delight: Harbison, with a creamy, spreadable center.

[3] One of the best blue cheeses anywhere: Bayley Hazen, Jasper Hill Farm’s flagship cheese.

[4] Oma, a washed rind tomme.

[5] Winnimere, a washed rind wheel, wrapped and ready to ship.

[1] An avocado “burger” or “sandwich” filled with whatever you like (photo © Love One Today).

[2] Instead of American cheese, use a Hispanic melting cheese like queso quesadilla (photo by Claire Freiermann © The Nibble).

What’s inside this avocado burger? Anything you want.

The idea is from Love One TodayLove One Today, the consumer website for the Hass Avocado Board and a source for everything avocado, including recipes.
 
 
BUILD YOUR AVOCADO BURGER

Starting with two avocado halves that form the “buns” or “bread,” you can add:

 
For our first avocado burger, we created the Ultimate Veggie Burger: veggie burger, lettuce and tomato, sweet onion, pickled vegetables, raw vegetables, roasted vegetables, sprouts…and melted gruyère cheese.

(Frankly, we went through everything in the fridge.)

We placed the Gruyère in a ramekin, melted it in the microwave, and poured it over the other ingredients piled onto the bottom avocado half; then put the top on and garnished the veggie burger with a toothpick of assorted olives.

A good lunch was had by all!

*Bacon, blue cheese, curry, garlic (i.e., aïoli—here’s the recipe), Dijon, hot sauce, lemon or lime zest. Just add any particular seasoning to taste.

May 29th is National Coq Au Vin Day (pronounced cuhk-oh-VAN). The name of this French country dish means “rooster with wine [sauce].”

The wine varies by local specialty and can be red or white: Burgundy in Burgundy, Riesling in Alsace, and so forth.

This classic dish is a bistro favorite, and one of the first French dishes many home cooks learn in the French repertoire.

Here’s a recipe. It’s a simpler preparation than the recipe from Chef Antoine Westermann, below.

Although the word coq in French means rooster or cock, most modern Coq au Vin recipes call for female chicken. It can be an old chicken: Tough birds with lots of connective tissue become tender meat after a long braise.

Older roosters and hens were preferred because more connective tissue creates a richer broth. In earlier days, chickens and roosters past their prime were headed to the braising pan or the stew pot.

In the U.S., standard recipes often call for red wine (often Burgundy or “red wine”) for braising, lardons (salt pork or bacon), button mushrooms, onions, perhaps garlic, and sometimes brandy.

The usual seasonings are bay leaf, parsley and thyme—usually in the form of a bouquet garni—plus salt and pepper. The pan juices are thickened with a roux.

The preparation is similar in many respects to Boeuf Bourguignon. The chicken is seasoned, dusted with flour, then seared in fat and slowly simmered in wine until tender.

 
THE HISTORY OF COQ AU VIN

Anecdotal talk traces Coq au Vin to ancient Gaul and the table of Julius Caesar, but it is generally accepted that the rustic dish existed long before then.

All a cook needed was wine and a rooster (both originating around 6000 B.C.E.).

However, it seems that the recipe was not documented until the early 20th century. A somewhat similar recipe, poulet au vin blanc ) chicken in white wine, appeared in an 1864 cookbook (source).

In recent centuries, Coq au Vin became a specialty in Lyon, a French culinary capital that also gave us:

 
Julia Child helped popularize Coq au Vin in the U.S. in her seminal 1961 cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking; and she frequently prepared it on her PBS cooking show, The French Chef.

It became a popular dish for entertaining, because much of the preparation is done before guests arrive.
 
 
BRAISE, FRICASSEE, SAUTÉ: THE DIFFERENCE

Coq au Vin is a braise. Related dishes are sautés and fricassees.

In Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child describes fricassee as “halfway between a sauté and a stew.” A sauté has no liquid added (besides the fat), while a stew includes liquid from the beginning.

A braise is first sautéed or seared at a high temperature, then cooked with a liquid or sauce for a longer time, at a lower temperature, in a covered pot.

In both Coq au Vin and Chicken (or veal) Fricassee, the meat is first braised.

The vegetables are usually carrots and onions or leeks, and they are generally served with dumplings, noodles, rice or roasted potatoes. A fruity red wine is a favored accompaniment to Coq au Vin (Beaujolais, California Syrah, Italian Dolcetto), a white wine for a fricassee.
 
 
RECIPE: COQ AU VIN

This recipe comes straight from the kitchen of Chef Antoine Westermann, who famously gave back his three Michelin stars to pursue “unfettered culinary creativity.”

A lifelong champion of poultry, Chef Westermann perfected the art of cooking fowl at his restaurant Le Coq RicoLe Coq Rico, with locations in Paris and New York City.

[1] Antoine Westermann’s coq au vin recipe (below), served in a pasta plate, a bowl with a very large rim (photo © Paste Magazine).

[2] The Coq au Vin recipe of Chef Antoine Westermann. The recipe is below (photo © Antoine Westerman | Le Coq Rico.

[3] He’s handsome now, but when he gets past his prime: Coq au Vin! (photo © Muhammad Mahdi Karim | Wikipedia).

[4] Pair Coq au Vin with a fruity red wine like Beaujolais (photo © Schott-ZwieselSchott-Zwiesel, which makes this special glass shape for Beaujolais).

Ingredients For 4 Servings

Total prep and cook time is 1 hour, 55 minutes.
 
For The Chicken

 
For The Marinade

 
Plus

 
Preparation

1. PREPARE the marinade: Peel and chop the carrots into pieces, wash and cut the leek into rounds, wash and cut the celery into chunks, peel and cut the onion into rings, and peel and crush the cloves of garlic.

2. PLACE the carrot, leek, celery, onion and garlic in a large bowl. Mix in the clove, thyme, bay leaf and wine. Place the chicken pieces in the marinade, cover, and put in the refrigerator to marinate for 24 hours. After the chicken has marinated…

3. POUR 7 tablespoons of olive oil into a cocotte (that’s French for a Dutch oven). Reserving the marinade, remove the chicken and cook over high heat until golden.

4. PLACE the marinade and vegetables in a pan and bring to a boil. Run through a strainer to clarify the liquid.

5. REMOVE the pieces of chicken from the pan and deglaze the pan with the chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper.

6. ADD the chicken, vegetables from the marinade, and filtered liquid. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 90 minutes.

7. WASH the mushrooms and cut them into large pieces. Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and brown the mushrooms and bacon. Add salt and pepper.

8. REMOVE the chicken and place it under a sheet of aluminum foil. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to the cooking juices, stirring constantly. Adjust the seasoning. Return the pieces of chicken to the pan, and add the bacon and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes on low heat.

9. CUT the bread into small cubes. Heat the butter and cook the croutons until golden brown.

10. PLACE the chicken in a baking dish. Distribute the bacon, mushrooms and croutons around the chicken. Evenly drizzle the sauce atop the dish. Reheat for a few minutes, so that the dish is very hot. Serve with egg noodles.

In conclusion: Cocorico!, French for cock-a-doodle-doo!