Your Guests Deserve Warm Olives
A bowl of olive bars is a good snack for your friends, especially if you have different colors, sizes, and medications (oil-cured wrinkled guys are my current favorites). No one will be angry with a bowl of room temperature olives, but if you want your guests to feel loved, caring and especially attentive, warm the olives just before serving.
Reheating the olives before placing them on the table is a very simple and quick extra step that will make your appetizer more thoughtful. When combined with warm, golden olive oil with fresh herbs and other aromatic ingredients, olives become an aromatic and luxurious treat. There is no real recipe, you just need a bunch of your favorite olives, some olive oil, fresh herbs (my favorite here is thyme) and a couple of strips of lemon or orange peel. You can add chunks of hot feta and red pepper flakes if you like. (However, you will want to add feta just before serving. Unless you want fully melted feta, which I guess would not be the worst.)
Remove the olives from the oil or brine they are packed in and place them in the saucepan. Add enough olive oil to cover it and add four or five sprigs of fresh herbs, at least four strips of citrus zest and a couple of pinches of red pepper flakes, or one Calabrian chili (if you dare). Add a couple of cloves of minced garlic, if you have one. Bring everything to a sizzle over high heat, then reduce to medium-low and cook until olives are warm and flavorful, about five minutes. Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle with feta if this is the route, and serve with crispy bread and a small pitcher bowl.