The Perfect Salty, Crunchy Bite: Feta Herb Stuffed Olives

Because time has no meaning when it comes to making fiddly, amusing appetizers for my guests!  via Ask Mary Rd

Darlings!

Well, whether you like it or not, the Silly Season is upon us.  And to La Diva, that means PARTIES PARTIES PARTIES!  I'll be throwing them and most certainly attending them.  And of course, when one has a generous spirit and loves to entertain like La Diva does, it's always a good idea as a "hostess with the most-est" to have ingredients on hand to create a lovely little dish for those little last minute soirees.  You know, things that one can "whip up quickly" when a throng of hungry drunks decides to descend upon your abode after a night of merry-making at one of the season's myriad events.

So, for the final Creative Cooking Challenge of the year, I've been given the following instructions: 

"You're invited to a Thanksgiving dinner party.  Bring an appetizer (hors d'oeuvre, amuse bouche, pickle) for guests to have with a cocktail before dinner."

It seems simple enough, especially since I make my living by teaching people how to throw a cocktail party at my "small bites, BIG DRINKS" cooking and cocktail class!  

But here's the thing with appetizers:  While it's nice to make lovely little morsels that are gorgeous and perfect, the reality is that it's much harder than one thinks.

For example, an appetizer idea that "seems" like it's easy enough to execute:  watermelon squares with feta cheese.  No matter how carefully I cut the watermelon, invariably there are pieces with holes from the small "seeds" that do not allow for sharp, clean corners. (yes, there are seeds in "seedless" watermelon, none the less)  Likewise, I find the feta to be crumbly and its almost impossible to cut it to get that nice, even line.  

This simple appetizer is the bane of my culinary existence!  Via Vanessa M. on Yelp.com

You see, when you are making appetizers with vegetables, fruits, fish or food from the natural world, they don't come in pretty, perfect packages (unless you live in Japan.)  So, to make that perfectly stuffed cucumber, you will most likely not use the smaller ends of the cucumber and that creates a lot of waste.  Which is one of the reasons why perfect, little appetizers at a catered party are so expensive.

Oh those kooky, crazy Japanese and their square melons!  via BeingAlison

I can just see Martha Stewart shaking her head at me in disgust.  For Martha Stewart is the QUEEN of making things harder than they have to be.  Here's a prime example:

Jerk chicken rests between the perfectly cut and fried green plantain and tied with a blanched chive.  Um, okay.  

Especially for me when I'm making multiple appetizers and dinner courses including dessert.  Nor do I have the patience!  But, despair not, darling, for I'm going to show you a perfect little bite that is so easy to make, you'll keep it as an appetizer staple for years to come.

Savory, fried, feta and herb stuffed olives

Simply take a large queen olive, remove the pimento and stuff with a mixture of feta and minced Italian parsley.  The stuffing is the most fiddly part but you can do that a few days ahead of the event.  And make sure you DO buy a large olive like a queen olive otherwise, it will take you all day to stuff the little buggers.

Then, bread the olives in three steps using plain, white flour, beaten egg and then Japanese panko breadcrumbs.  I find this goes very quickly doing 3-4 at once using breading trays.  You can refrigerate them for a few hours to fry just before your guests arrive.

I fry my olives in vegetable oil in about an inch of oil, turning them over when brown.  You may deep fry them as well.  After frying, I drain them on paper towels and then set them out in small bowls or a compact serving dish just before guests arrive.  Dispose of the oil after frying and spray the house to get rid of any lingering oil smell.

*A WORD OF WARNING:  Part of the success of this dish is based on the fact that feta cheese has a high melting point.  If you choose to use a softer cheese, like blue cheese, I suggest freezing the olives, sans breading, and then quickly breading and frying them while still frozen.  When I fried olives I'd stuffed with blue cheese, all of the cheese oozed out into the oil and my time was wasted and so were the olives.  Unsure of how quickly your cheese of choice melts?  Then use this handy Cheese Melt Meter by Sargento!

Crunchy, salty, tasty, creamy, more-ish!  These go perfectly with an ice cold martini or with my pomegranate mint martinis.  Because queen olives are so large, these are really two bite appetizers.  I allow 3 per person, as they can be quite filling.

The feta stuffed, fried olives are a great appetizer because they are fairly quick to make (especially if you've stuffed some ahead of time and frozen them), are easy to prepare  and I usually have all of these ingredients on hand.

Darlings, what are YOUR favorite "go-to" appetizers for the holiday season?  Do tell La Diva all about it!  THE ROUND UP IS LIVE, CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE ENTRIES AND GET SOME FABU HOLIDAY APPETIZER IDEAS!

Ciao for now and Enjoy the Season!