Mediterranean Delicacies – Hummus

I have loved good Hummus for a few years now, even though I was a bit hesitant at first. The pale, creamy ‘paste’ didn’t seem like it would be something I would fall in love with at first taste, but that’s exactly what happened. I started eating it on/with anything and everything to the point that I could not look another bowl of hummus in the face. I hadn’t eaten hummus for about a year until Mediterranean Delicacies sent me a tub of their hummus and I wasn’t too excited to work with it, I have to be honest. I felt uninspired and didn’t know what to do with it, other than use it as a spread or a dip for crudite (which is what I normally used it for). When I opened the tub the smell of chickpeas, tahini and garlic hit me and as I tasted it, it felt as if a whole world unfolded in front of me. Unlike a few year’s ago when I was still slightly inexperienced when it came to recipe development, I now had a plethora of recipe ideas I could play with. The MD hummus has a lovely smooth texture and a subtle garlic taste which means that unlike some other brands, it’s not overpowering.

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Calamata Style Olives

From simply-delicious.co.za and mediterranean delicacies series

I have always loved olives. The salty, almost bitter-ness is something that I’ve never been able to resist. And thankfully for me, my husband and kids share that same love, with me. While shooting these olives, I would see little fingers creeping ever-closer to the bowl trying to snatch one. Luckily, my husband, Chris, uttered a “hey!!’ every now and then and I got to finish the shoot before they were all gobbled up! But once I packed the camera away, I’ve never seen olives dissapear so fast. Abigail & Aidan both grabbed handfulls of the olives and munched them as quickly as they could manage. A few yuuummmyyy’s and “this is delicious” (their favourite phrase) escaped through mouthfuls of olives and this is how I knew that Mediterranean Delicacies has fabulous olives. You see, before this, I had not tasted one because I wanted to shoot them first. I managed to grab a last one before they were finished and I share my children’s enthusiasm.

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Ostrich Kebabs with Feta & Herb Sauce

From simply-delicious.co.za and mediterranean delicacies series

When I received a tub of Mediterranean Delicacies’ Feta & Herb dip I knew it would go incredibly well with meat. And even though Ostrich isn’t necessarily ‘meat’ (it does come from a bird after all), it’s still very meaty in flavour, texture and appearance, reminding me of a mix between beef and venison. I know it might not be something that is easily obtainable in other countries but in South Africa we have great ostrich meat and the fact that it’s such a healthy meat alone is enough to get me to eat more of it. However, this recipe can also be made with beef and even lamb.

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Green Olive Salsa Verde with Linguini

From drizzleanddip.com and mediterranean delicacies series

This recipe is twist on an Italian salsa verde with the green olives adding a wonderful depth of flavour and meaty texture.

You can find similar permutations of this green sauce across a few countries cuisines.  The French do a sauce verte,  the Spanish a salsa verde , the Mexicans a salsa verde, the Germans a hessina green sauceand  the Argentinians a chimichurri . The origin is firmly Italian though, and its classic version is essentially made using parsley, garlic, capers, onions, anchovies, vinegar, mustard and olive oil.

More modern versions use a variety of fresh herbs and I simply love the simplicity of it and the huge flavour it delivers.  Its original use was as a dipping sauce or to add to meat or fish, but I love to use it like a pesto and stir it through pasta.

Now adding green olives presents a small, labour intensive challenge around the de-pipping.  Green olives are very hard to de-pip and unlike their black siblings, they don’t just pop out as easily when using a olive pipper.  I broke mine on the second olive, so decided to use the very fabulous ‘already de-pipped’ green olives stuffed with pimento from Mediterranean Delicacies.  The bits of chopped up pickled pimentos were delicious too.

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Chicken Escalopes with Olive, Caper & Tomato dressing

Simply Delicious has been running a range of recipes using our products. This week is a recipe that we highly recommend for days that might be a bit rushed and cooking for hours is just not possible. This recipe is delicious and can be created in only 10 minutes! It uses our Mediterranean Delicacies’ Calamata Style Olives.

Read the full recipe and let us know how it turns out.