Mediterranean -Style Cracked Olives

After a recent visit to my dad's house in Mulwala along the mighty Murray River with my beautiful sons, dad's olive trees were laden with green olives. Last year's crops were decimated by the cockatoos so we decided to pick some green olives to take home with us to preserve this years crop.

I had never preserved green olives before and researched lots of recipes and chose the one below from ANR-Publication-8267 Olives: Safe Methods for Home Pickling.

Mediterranean-Style Cracked Olives

You can use green-ripe fruit of any variety to prepare this style of olive.

Preparation

1. Sort the olives and discard any bruised or defective fruit.

2. Rinse the olives in water and drain.

3. Place olives one or two at a time on a clean chopping board and strike with the flat side of a mallet or with a rolling pin. Crush each olive just to crack the flesh - do not break the pits or remove them.

4. Place the cracked olives into a food grade plastic bucket (I used a large pot) and cover with fresh, cool water. Keep the olive submerged by placing a heavy plate over the fruit. Close the lid loosely and leave the olives to soak.

5. After 24 hours, drain the olives and cover again with fresh, cool water. Repeat the daily water change for 6 to 7 days (I waited 7 days) to reach the desired level of de-bittering. If you want less-bitter olives, continue to soak for a few more days and change water daily.

6. Prepare the finished brine - add 1 1/2 cups of pickling salt (I used Maldon salt) to 3.8 litres of water, stir to dissolve, and add 2 cups of white wine vinegar. This amount of solution is enough to treat about 4.5 kilograms of fresh olives. (I altered the solution quantities for my 2 kilograms of olives.)

7. Drain the de-bittered olives and place in sterilised jars, cover with brine solution and place the lid on tightly and refrigerate. Note:These olives must be kept refrigerated. The olives are ready to eat after 4 days in the finished brine.

8. These Mediterranean-style cracked olives must be stored in the fridge and can last up to one year in the finished brine.

   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   The finished olives look amazing in their jars and I can't wait to get feedback from family and friends once they are ready. I'll keep you posted.