Olive Oil Health: the Updated Mediterranean Diet Pyramid

Posted on March 30, 2010

When it comes to food pyramids, being at the bottom of the heap is actually a good thing. We just discovered olive oil has moved up in the world  . . . by moving farther down on the  new version of the 17-year-old Mediterranean diet pyramid.

The new version, pictured here, combines the original pyramid with the latest health and scientific studies.

Here are the key changes, according toOldways, the Boston food think tank that was among the groups behind the launch of the original pyramid:

1. All plant foods – fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, legumes, seeds, olives, and olive oil– were combined in a single group and placed at the base. The change was meant to signal these foods “should be the basis of most meals.”
2. The recommended consumption of fish and shellfish was increased to two times a week, “indicating their multiple contributions to brain and reproductive organ health.”
3. Herbs and spices were added to reflect “increased evidence of their health-promoting properties” and their role in making foods taste better.

The pyramid also emphasizes the importance of physical activity and how you should enjoy meals in the company of family and friends.

The Mediterranean diet first came under the spotlight in 1993. That’s when Oldways, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the European Office of the World Health Organization unveiled the “classic” Mediterranean diet and the original pyramid. (The Harvard School of Public Health has issued its own “Healthy Eating Pyramid,” which I featured in a blog last week.)

Kathy McManus, director of the department of nutrition at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, noted the “center of the plate” in the Mediterranean diet revolves around plant-based foods. She was speaking at a recent healthy eating and living conference we attended in northern California,  co-sponsored by the Culinary Institute of America and the Osher Research Center at Harvard Medical School.

McManus  gave a rundown of the diet’s overall healthful properties:

• Low consumption of red meat
• Daily use of olive oil
• Regular consumption of fish
• “Abundant intake” of plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts
• And wine in moderation

McManus noted “moderation is key” when it comes to eating healthful foods. “Savor it and enjoy it,” she said. “But don’t abuse it by piling up the plate.”

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

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An Olive Oil’s Color Won’t Tell You If It’s Good, But Will Tell You Other Things

Posted on September 25, 2012

Next month we begin our harvest. Our harvest teams will gather our olives and rush them to our northern California mill, where Master Miller Bob Singletary and his crew will crush them into extra virgin olive. So now seems like a good time to address a question we hear from time to time: Is an olive oil’s color a reliable indicator of quality?

The short answer: No. Color won’t tell whether an olive oil is good or bad. But color will tell you other things about an olive oil.

Because color can be an indicator of certain characteristics, such as when the olives were harvested, professional olive oil tasters use a special blue glass when they taste oils.  The blue tint is designed to hide the oil’s color so it won’t influence a taster’s judgment – although black glass might do an even better job!

Good extra virgin olive oils can be green … or golden. However, the two oils’ styles can differ. A green color can suggest a robust tasting oil that gives your throat a pleasant tickle when you swallow the oil. A golden oil might be delicate, buttery and mild in profile.

Color also will tell you other things, too, like when the olives were harvested. Those harvested early in the season, for example, are naturally very green – and so yield a greener oil.

“Olives picked early in the season tend to make green colored oil as they contain higher levels of chlorophyll,” Australian olive oil guru Richard Gawel writes in an FAQ.

“Olives harvested late in the season will typically produce more golden colored oils due to a higher level of natural occurring levels of carotene-like substances. Both oils may be technically equivalent in quality but very different in style.”

But even then there are wrinkles. Gawel notes many green oils become more golden when stored. The bottom line: “Don’t place too much emphasis on color,” Gawel says.

That reminds us: Avoid the temptation to buy olive oil that comes in a clear bottle so you can see its color.

“Light, together with heat and oxygen, is one of the enemies of olive oil. Light causes olive oil to degrade,” notes olive oil aficionado Tom Mueller, author of the book Extra Virginity (W.W. Norton & Co., 2012). “So dark glass that filters out light is very important. A metal container also is good. Clear plastic and glass are to be avoided.”

Specifically, heat, light and oxygen promote oxidation and can make an oil rancid. That’s why we package our extra virgin olive oil in dark green bottles and boxes.

But not all olive oil companies do that. “Many curious consumers want to see the color of the oil (even though the color is not an accurate indicator of quality or taste), so producers often use clear glass,” olive oil expert Fran Gage writes in her book The New American Olive Oil (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009.

Bon appétit,

Your friends at California Olive Ranch

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Grilled, Herb-Marinated Fish on a Bed of White Beans

Grilled, Herb-Marinated Fish on a Bed of White Beans

• 1/2 cup California Olive Ranch extra virgin olive oil
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 4 sage leaves
• 2 small bay leaves, broken up
• 1 to 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped rosemary
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 6-ounce fillets of albacore tuna, swordfish, or sea bass
• Cooked White Beans
• 4 lemon wedges

In a small saucepan, bring the olive oil, thyme, sage, bay leaves, and rosemary to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 2 to 3 minutes to infuse the oil with the herbs. Remove from the heat and cool to lukewarm.  Add the garlic, orange zest, and salt and pepper to taste. Let the marinade cool completely. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade to drizzle on the fish later.

Place the fish fillets in a shallow dish or bowl. Pour the herbed oil over the fillets. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat the broiler or prepare a charcoal or gas grill. Remove the fish from the marinade. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook the fish until it is opaque in the center when pierced with a knife, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Place a serving spoonful of white beans on each dinner plate. Top with the cooked fish. Drizzle with the reserved marinade and add a few grinds of black pepper. Serve lemon wedges on the side.

Recipe credit: Perfect Pairings (University of California Press, 2006), by Evan Goldstein; recipes by Joyce Goldstein. Photographs Copyright 2006 by Joyce Oudkerk Pool.

Suggested wine pairing: Earthy, minerally Chardonnay (Burgundy style)

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Sorting & Tasting Oil From 800 Truckloads of Olives

Our Miller Bob Talks About Sorting & Tasting Oil From 800 Truckloads of Olives | California Olive Ranch EVOO – Consumer News, Info and Recipes

Homemade Pizza - Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella and Basil - The challenge

Fellow Foodies.

Who doesn't love pizza?  Having grown up in Chicago we have such great Pizza places and so many varieties to choose from.  This past summer my wife asked me to make her a special type of Pizza with Tomato and Fresh Basil.  The challenge for me was making the dough from scratch.  One of my buddies, who is from New York helped me with this by providing me with a gift of 10# of special pizza flour. So, it was time to attempt this new challenge.

Pizza Dough Recipe.

Dough ball

3 cups of bread flour
2 Tsp of Yeast (Fast Acting)
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Cup of Warm Water
3/4 Tsp Salt


In a bowl, combine the flour and salt and mix together.  Using a pyrex measuring cup, fill with 1 cup of warm water (110 degrees), add the yeast and wait for about 10 minutes for it to activate.

Once you see the yeast foaming, add to the dry ingredients along with the Tbs of Olive Oil and begin working it with your hands.  You must keep folding it.  I then transfer the mixture to a cutting board that I have dusted with flour and continue folding the mixture into itself.  Depending on the day, you may need to add a bit more water to help with the density of the flour.  The dough mixture needs to look like its come together as you form a ball.  See picture above.  Once the dough has been folded together, put back into a bowl cover with a towel, and let it alone for about 30 minutes.  If the yeast has worked, you should see that the dough ball has risen.

Dough Fitted to Pizza Pan

After the dough has risen, you will need to rework the dough.  In this recipe I cut the dough in half, as this recipe will make 2 pizza shells.  Take half of the dough and form into a ball.  Use flour on the cutting board so that you are able to roll the dough out.  If you want a thin crust you will need to work the dough with  a rolling pin until you get both the size and the thickness that you desire.  This is one of those tasks that you learn as you go.  Once I have the pizza dough rolled out, I use a pizza pan as my guide to finish sizing the dough.

Finished Dough ready for toppings

One other suggestion that you may want to do, is to use a fork to puncture the dough after fitting in the pan. The purpose is to even out the cooking of the crust.  When that is finished I use Olive Oil to paint the dough,  See picture on the right.  I also use corn meal to sprinkle on the bottom of the pizza pan.  This helps the bottom cook evenly and crisp.

Tomatoes added to the dough

For this type of Pizza I use Del Monte Italian Stewed Tomatoes - these are already marinated with Basil, Garlic and Oregano.  I drain the liquid and then slice the pieces so that I have even slices.  I lay out the tomatoes across the dough shell evenly to cover the entire surface.

Finished Pizza with Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil

OK, now to finish the Pizza, I use Fresh Mozzarella, not the packaged type. You may use that if you are not able to find Fresh.  Fresh has a wonderful taste and consistency.  I slice the Mozzarella in thin slices and then add to the pizza covering most of the tomatoes.  I add fresh basil over the Mozzarella.  By using "fresh basil" the flavor pops. 

Pizza in the oven

Finished Pizza - Ready to Serve (Yum)

I cook the pizza using a pizza stone at 475 degrees for about 15 - 18 minutes in a preheated oven.









The finished Pizza has an incredible aroma.  Slice quickly and serve.  This is a Pizza you will want to make again and again.  This also makes a great party dish.

Great Eating!!
Memphis Food Guy

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Buy Some Bricks and Make Crispy Grilled Chicken Under a Brick

This is another great post from California Olive Ranch on Brick Chicken that looks awesome.  Enjoy!!


We visited the hardware store recently store to buy a couple of bricks … for grilling purposes. We wanted to make the famed Tuscan dish chicken under a brick. We weren’t disappointed. We got a beautifully crispy chicken infused with rosemary, sage, and garlic. Bricks are now a go-to grilling tool for us.

We got the recipe for chicken under a brick — or pollo al mattone — from grilling guru Steven Raichlen’s book, Planet Barbecue! (Workman Publishing, 2010). It’s a great resource, and we’ve been cooking from it frequently. (Click here to get the recipe.)

For this recipe, a whole chicken is butterflied, or spatchcocked, rubbed with rosemary, sage and sea salt, and then grilled under bricks.  The bricks flatten the bird out so you get a nice, crispy skin. You can also use game hens or baby chickens, known as poussins. (That’s our cooked chicken below.)

Raichlen suggests drizzling the grilled bird with a good quality extra virgin olive oil. We did that, too, and it kicked up the flavor another notch.

We’ve made this dish a few times. We’re looking forward to making it again. If you ever make it and happen to have friends over, they’ll no doubt be impressed — particularly when you show them the chicken sizzling away under the bricks. They’ll love the flavor, too.

Memphis Food Guy

Your basic big, fat Greek salad

Fellow Foodies

I saw this recipe from California Olive Ranch and Viking Cooking School and thought I would pass it on, it looks like a great summer salad.  Enjoy!!

Choriatiki Salata (or horiatiki salata) has been dubbed “your basic big, fat Greek salad.” It’s a classic dish found at Greek restaurants. It’s also called Greek village salad. In addition to Greece, you’ll find this salad in various forms on dining tables throughout the eastern Mediterranean. It features feta cheese, olives and tomatoes, among other ingredients.

 “Pick your ingredients well and you’ll realize why a Greek salad with some bread is a hearty summer lunch,” one Greek food blogger advises, noting that good ripe tomatoes and a quality feta cheese are key.

Our friends at Viking Range cooking school shared their riff on Greek village salad.


While Greek Village salad recipes often don’t call for lettuce, the Viking culinary team uses half a head of romaine lettuce in their version. The salad also features ripe tomatoes, feta cheese, green pepper, green onions, radishes, and marinated Greek olives.


You can either buy the olives, or marinate them yourself. Do so by combining pitted kalamata olives with extra virgin olive oil, a sliced leek, dried oregano, orange zest, red pepper flakes, a bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Marinate the olives for at least three hours. Alternatively, you can also marinate them up to one month in advance.


The dressing, meanwhile, combines extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, fresh parsley, a pinch of dried oregano, and salt and pepper.

Pair this salad with some good crusty bread. And prepare to have your taste buds transported to Greece.

Greek Village Salad (Choriatiki Salata)

Dressing

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 pinch dried oregano
• 1/2 cup California Olive Ranch extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salad

• 1/2 small head romaine lettuce, crisped*
• 5 medium ripe red tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 5 green onions, green tops only, very thinly sliced
• 5 radishes, trimmed and very thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 cup marinated Greek Olives**
• 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese, lightly packed (1 cup)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the Dressing: In a small mixing bowl or blender, combine the vinegar, garlic and herbs. In a slow, steady stream, add the California Olive Ranch extra-virgin olive oil, whisking (or blending) constantly until creamy and emulsified. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed with salt and pepper.

For the Salad: Place the crisped salad greens, tomato wedges, bell pepper, green onions, radishes, fresh dill, olives and feta cheese in a salad bowl; toss with just enough dressing to lightly coat each leaf, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Mound onto chilled salad plates, and serve immediately.

*To Crisp Salad Greens: Soak the salad greens briefly in a large basin of water. Lift the greens out of the water, shake off the excess water and dry in a salad spinner (do this in batches, if necessary). To crisp, wrap in linen or paper towels, place in a plastic zip-top bag and store in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator. If the greens are to be torn or cut into smaller pieces, it is best done just before the salad is dressed and served. Greens will stay crisp this way for up to two days.

**Marinated Greek olives may be found in specialty markets, Mediterranean markets or online at parthenonfoods.com. If you prefer to make your own marinated olives, a recipe follows.

Marinated Greek Olives (Elies Marinates)

• 1 medium leek
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely minced orange zest (about 1 orange)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1 bay leaf (preferably Turkish)
• 1 cup California Olive Ranch extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 quart pitted kalamata olives

Slice the leek crosswise, separating the tender, pale green and white portion from the tough, darker green upper stems. (Note: You may save the dark green tops for another use.) Cut the leek in half lengthwise, then rinse thoroughly under cool running water to remove all grit from between the layers. Pat dry with paper towels, then thinly slice crosswise into half-moons.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the sliced leeks, vinegar, oregano, zest, crushed red pepper flakes and bay leaf. In a slow, steady stream, add theCalifornia Olive Ranch extra-virgin olive oil, whisking constantly and vigorously until creamy and emulsified. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed with salt and pepper.

Pour the marinade over the olives, and toss to combine; cover and marinate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Make it ahead: Marinate olives up to one month in advance; store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.

Serving Suggestions: Add to salads, or serve as an accompaniment to Mediterranean-style grilled or roasted meats and vegetables.

Recipe courtesy of Viking Cooking School

Enjoy!!

Memphis Food Guy