Fried Olives from Balaboosta

Last Friday, we met for lunch on Mulberry for Tim's mother's birthday at a restaurant called Balaboosta.  The food was delicious and one of our favorite things we ate were the fried olives.  Tim bought the cookbook and made them for dinner, Sunday night.  They were delicious.  Despite the difference in panko quality - we have to try putting it through the blender to make it finer. It was delicious.  I am not fond of heat but the Harissa oil was really good.  Tim may switch now from Sciracha to Harissa because it's hotter.  Such a great appetizer!  I found the recipe online and reposted.

BALABOOSTA RECIPES

February 23, 2015

World’s Best Harissa — Recipe from Chef Einat

Makes about 2 ½ Cups

10 garlic cloves

1 large roasted red bell pepper, peeled, cored and seeded

1¼ cups canola oil

¼ cup tomato paste

½ cup ground cumin

⅓ cup cayenne

⅓ cup sweet Hungarian paprika

¼ cup ground caraway

2 tablespoons kosher salt

Directions-

Combine garlic, bell pepper, tomato paste and 3/4 of the oil in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is almost pureed.

Add cumin, cayenne, paprika, caraway and salt. Slowly drizzle in the remaining ¼ cup oil while the machine is running. Keep processing until the harissa is completely pureed and all ingredients are combined thoroughly.

Store the harissa in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Fried Olives with Labneh

Serves 2 to 4

Canola oil for deep frying

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs, beaten

3 cups fine panko

2 cups pitted Kalamata olives

Labneh — find recipe here

Harissa — see recipe above

Directions-

Line up three large bowls and fill one with flour, another with eggs and the third with panko.

Using a slotted spoon, throw handfuls of olives (no more than 8 to 10 at a time) into the flour. Take them out, shaking off excess flour and quickly dip them in the egg. Then place them in the panko and shake off any excess powder before dipping them in the egg mixture again. Move them back to the panko and shake them around to coat evenly. If you notice the panko getting gooey or chunky, strain it of any clumps. Remove excess crumbs with your slotted spoon and place in an airtight container until ready to use.  This can be done up to a day in advance as long as you keep the olives in the refrigerator.

Heat enough oil in a skillet or medium pot to deep-fry the olives. When the oil reaches about 375˚F, carefully place a handful of olives in the oil using your slotted spoon. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer the fried olives to paper towels to absorb excess oil.

To serve, dollop labne evenly across the bottom of a shallow serving bowl. Add olives in the middle. Carefully pour harissa oil around the circumference of the bowl.