Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Easy Peasy Olive-Anchovie Aioli Dip


Congrats to our very own Lucy Burdette who has a new book out as of yesterday, DEATH IN FOUR COURSES!  Love this new series about a restaurant reviewer in Key West. Yay, Lucy!




AND

Congrats to our very own Peg Cochran, who as Meg London, has a new book out, also as of yesterday, MURDER UNMENTIONABLE. A Sweet Nothings Mystery.  Oooh, la, la. 


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This weekend, I had guests over and wanted something easy but fun to serve with a cheese platter. We were barbecuing. You all know I love to barbecue. Well, my husband received a new cookbook because of travel miles, go figure -- Food and WineAnnual Cookbook 2012.  He flipped through it and said, “Gee, honey, there are some pretty things in here.”

Because my new series focuses on cookbooks, I’ve been spending a lot of time paying attention to cookbooks lately (standing in bookstores and watching people browse – lots of fun) and I’ve noticed that the cookbooks with good photographs seem to interest most people. They flip to the pictures. Maybe this is why Pinterest has become so popular. 

So I took the Food and Wine cookbook from my husband and browsed. Lo and behold, I found a number of things that I tagged, most with photographs!  LOL

So I’m sharing one that was super easy, perfect for Labor Day or any day, and pretty. I even mimicked the pretty multi-glass display. 

Enjoy!


AIOLI WITH ANCHOVIES andOLIVES
and CRUDITES
(from Food and Wine Annual Cookbook 2012)


Ingredients

1 garlic clove, smashed
6 plump oil-packed anchovies, chopped
½ cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup finely chopped pitted green olives
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon lemon zest
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ pounds mixed vegetables like string beans, carrots, celery etc.

Directions:

On a cutting board, mash the garlic. Add the anchovies and mash to a paste. Scrape the paté into a bowl and stir in the mayonnaise, olives, lemon juice. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Cover the aioli with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.

*** I tweaked the above a bit. I didn’t add lemon zest, and I used “jarred” garlic clove. It’s so easy and keeps for a long time. Also, I changed out the crudités they suggested. [The recipe called for all beans, many sorts and shapes and colors…I couldn’t find more than two.] The recipe also says to blanch the vegetables, but I didn’t. I served them raw. Delish.

So easy!!!



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* * * * *
The 4th in A Cheese Shop Mystery series: 
TO BRIE OR NOT TO BRIE.  

You can pre-order the book HERE. 

You can learn more about me, Avery, by clicking this link.

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Also, you probably know about my alter ego.
DARYL WOOD GERBER... 
Daryl's new series: A COOKBOOK NOOK MYSTERY series
debuts July 2013

"Like" Daryl's page on Facebook and "follow" Daryl on Twitter.
"She" doesn't say all the same things "Avery" does. Promise.


LAST BUT NOT LEAST...okay, maybe least...:)

I'm pleased to announce that my short story, PALACE ON THE LAKE, 
in Fish Tales: A Guppy Anthology has been nominated for both
the Anthony Award and Macavity Award. 
Go Sisters in Crime Guppies! 
Without the Guppies, my career would not be on the right track.
The group support is invaluable!
You can read PALACE ON THE LAKE by clicking on the title above. :)



Say cheese!

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12 comments:

  1. I'll admit I'm a sucker for pretty food pictures. I remember poring over James Beard's Barbecue Cookbook when I was in high school--and we didn't even have a barbecue at the time! But the cookbooks certainly serve as inspiration, and anything that gets us to experiment with food and cooking is good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sheila, I agree. Anything that gets us to experiment. I'm not usually an anchovie girl, but this recipe, because of all the garlic and olives, really worked. My husband (who is an anchovie guy) LOVED it!! Btw, had leftovers of the dip as a little side swish on broccoli last night. Delish.

      Daryl aka Avery

      Delete
  2. Thanks for the congrats Avery!

    Your research looking at cookbooks has to be the cleverest idea ever:). I'm not a big fan of anchovies but this looks yummy and the presentation is so pretty!

    Cooking is good! Eating even better:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lucy, I just talked about the anchovies in my response to Sheila. I'm not an anchovie person, but they worked in this. It was the blend. Not too-too. You can certainly keep them out.

      ~Avery

      Delete
  3. My mom recently sent me a big vegan cookbook primarily because of the pretty pictures. They *are* pretty, but most of the recipes are so complex I don't know how I'll fit them into my busy schedule. That doesn't stop me from browsing, though. :)

    This does sound delicious. I wonder if I could simply leave the anchovies out? I would think the olives and lemon would give it that salty/tart zing. Maybe add some capers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wendy, I'm starting to laugh because I'm answering the same thing on each. You don't have to use the anchovies, but they are subtle here. But if that's not vegan, yes, remove. Maybe add a little extra salt then? Capers would be fabulous.

      I'm all for simple recipes. In fact I'm now browsing cookbooks that have 5 ingredients or less. I'll start sharing some of those.

      ~Avery aka Daryl

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  4. It's so true about pictures in cookbooks. However, I have to say that two of my favorite and most reliable cookbooks have no pictures.

    This looks like a lovely, light way to get the party started. Six kinds of string beans? Really?

    ~ Krista

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Krista, which cookbooks? I'm always looking for suggestions and people's favorites!!!

      And yes, six string beans. In the picture they had a speckled string bean, a purple one, etc. I thought of Sheila's colorful veggies from last week's post!

      Avery aka Daryl

      Delete
  5. Krista, some of my faves don't have pictures either--Joy of Cooking (for how to cook absolutely anything,) an old James Beard with great classic recipes,etc. I do have a super fancy, coffee-table-sized French cookbook that I've never cooked anything from but the pictures! They are drool worthy!

    I love anchovies so I'll probably love this dip. Going to make it for wine tasting on Saturdaynight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, Peg, a wine tasting? Which wines? I adore wine tastings. Did I tell you the Cheese Shop #5 is all about wine (and cheese, of course).

      ~Avery aka Daryl

      Delete
  6. Lovely end-of-summer post, Avery/Daryl. The weather in NYC is just awful right now -- oppressively humid and sticky. This dip with cool, crisp veggies would be perfect (and Marc and I would both be adding those anchovies, lol).

    Congrats again to Lucy and Meg/Peg on their releases and to you for your Anthony nom. for short story. Bouchercon is just a month away, right? You must be excited!

    ~ Cleo

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was looking for olive dip recipes, and this one sounds great. I was wondering if you think switching out the mayo for a goat cheese and a bit of olive oil would enhance the flavor?

    ReplyDelete