Things that I love - Thursday

Please listen very carefully or should I say read this very carefully  

I.LOVE.CHEESE!

Oh yes – I am a cheeseaholic!

As a result of my journey to find the best of the best recipes with cheese as the primary ingredient – I think that I have found one that will rate up there with Southern Cheese straws.  Now if you haven’t had real Southern cheese straws – what are you waiting for?  They are a staple of every Southern gathering!  Oh wait – I digress.  The topic today is not about cheese straws but about cheese olivettes.  WHAT?  OLIVES?   Yes indeed dear readers.  I am here to introduce you to a delicacy that might surpass good Southern Cheese straws…maybe?  

Along with cheese – I also love green olives.  You can read more about my love of olives 

 Here

So this past week-end I was craving some cheese olives and voila I had all the ingredients in my kitchen to make these delicious gems.  My favorite recipe follows:

8 ounces – grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 stick soft butter (trust me here – use butter!)

Dash of garlic salt (I use garlic powder so not to have a very salty end product)

1 ½ cups of flour (I only had self-rising in my pantry)

½ teaspoon of Tabasco sauce (I may have used twice or three times the amount called for in this recipe – I do like spicy!)

Jar of green olives drained.

I tossed the shredded cheese and the softened butter into my trusty mixer and let it do the work.

Once it formed a nice doughy ball I began to add the flour – a bit at a time.

I then proceeded to add the garlic powder and tabasco.

At this point if the dough is too dry – add a bit (just a bit of water)  

THEN – once the dough is prepared – it is time to roll about a teaspoon and a half around a green olive and place on a cooking sheet.  Of course the amount of cheese mixture that you use will depend on the size of your olives.  I had small olives this day.

Once you have “wrapped” all the olives in the cheese dough – place in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the bottom of the olivette has a nice brown crust.

After removing them from the oven I may or may not have had a handful of these delicious morsels.  Well – I did have to confirm that they tasted okay…you know?

If you are like me and love cheese and green olives – you owe it to yourself to try this recipe.  TRUST ME…you will love it!