How to Air Fried Olives You Love
Anyone can put a bowl of olives on as part of a butcher’s board or as a snack, but serving a platter of warm olives is a professional move. You can gently heat them in a luxurious bath of warm olive oil, or blow them up in the hot, gusting wind of a deep fat fryer. Both options are fine, but at the moment I like the last one the most.
Like heating olives in oil, deep-frying olives makes them flavorful and luxurious, but air-frying has the added benefit of giving them a deeper nutty flavor through a little browning. The flesh becomes soft, elastic and – due to the small amount of evaporation that occurs during frying – a little fleshy and very spicy. They are still olives, but they are concentrated olives. I really can’t say anything bad about them.
These small, savory fruits require very little preparation. All you need to do is soak off excess brine or oil from the olives before tossing them into the 400 degree deep fryer for 10 minutes. They will sizzle and sizzle a little while blistering and blistering on their delicate skin, but they will calm down after a few minutes. If you fry olives stuffed with cheese, some of the cheese will slip out and grill, turning into small crunchy fricos. If you roast whole pitted olives, you will be surprised how clean the flesh slides off the pits. I haven’t air-fried olives with garlic yet, but I bet it will be good.
Deep-fried olives require no garnish, but topping them off with a pinch of Parmesan, a little citrus zest, or a little fresh herbs will make this little snack all the more special. Serve with tender cheese, cold cuts and / or very cold martini.