PW: Cheesy Olive Bread

Okay, so here's the deal.  I love olives.

I love, Love, LOVE olives.

I don't need to be pregnant, and I will drink olive juice.  (Yes, really.)

I.

Love.

Olives.

So the idea of cheesy olive bread?  Sign me up.  Hook up an IV and tell me where to go.

Olive Cheese Bread

Verdict:  Oh, so yummy.  So cheesy.  So olivey.  So ... salty?  Might need to rinse the green olives first.
Cook it again: Tonight, kiddos.  Tonight.
Cost factor:  Two jars of olives, some bread, scallions, and a pound of Monterrey Jack.  Less than $10. 

Once again, I just want to point out my awesomely sparkly oven racks.  I know.  I know.  Hold your applause.

I originally read this recipe on the Pioneer Woman blog.  I had to print a few blog-only recipes this month, and when I went to make this yesterday, I realized I hadn't printed this recipe out, which meant that it was in the cookbook.  I noticed last night (and not for the first time), that sometimes quantities change between the blog and the cookbooks, so as a note if you're cooking along -- watch for that.  For example, the blog called for 3/4 pound of Monterrey Jack cheese, but the cookbook called for a full pound.  For what it's worth, I'd say either would work.

Another thing in general about PW recipes -- if you're making something you've never made before and want more details, it's definitely worth cooking along with the iPad and scrolling the photos on the blog instead of printing the recipe.  PW throws in lots of little sarcastic and hilarious comments which make it entertaining to do it that way, but she also throws in little nuggets to help you cook (or taste) that you might not otherwise get.

Last night's example:  how to flash freeze this, and how it makes a wonderful cracker spread.

Back to the recipe.  It's simple.  A can of black olives, a small jar (6 ounces) of pimento-stuffed green olives, a stick of butter, a half cup of mayo, and between 3/4 and a pound of Monterrey Jack.  Oh, and two scallions. Thank goodness, because now I have them back on my counter in their little ball jar, and they will stay there smelling delicious in perpetuity (or until we go out of town and kill them, whichever comes first).

Note on the cheese:  my friend Kristin got herself a nice new food processor last week and her Facebook discussion talked about how wonderful it is for grating cheese.  I have a glorious food processor of my own and was mortified that I'd not ever tried grating cheese with it.  What was I thinking?!  So I used it to grate the Monterrey Jack last night.  Holy awesome sauce, Batman, it was uh-maze-ing.  I'd like to say it was life changing and I will never again buy pre-shredded cheese, but that would be a lie. But suffice it to say that I am now retiring my rotary grater back to hard cheeses for spaghetti only, as it should have been to begin with.  Wow.  If you've never used a food processor to grate cheese, you're missing out.  I can now attest to that fact.

There was only one glitch with this recipe, and it was my fault:  it called for French bread, and I would have bet my life it called for Italian bread, so I bought Italian.  Because I used the Italian bread, it wasn't as crusty or dense as if we'd used French bread.  Tonight I put it back in the oven to crisp it up and brown the top, and it was good, even for Round Two.

--Jen

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