Olives Tapenade with Martini and Margarita PairingWhat happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Except sometimes the sociable bartender reaches behind the bar, slips a piece of paper across the polished wood and sends me home with a special house recipe. It wasn’t a recipe for the incredible Roast Beef Sliders or Espresso Martini that I stopped in for twice during a three day weekend. It was a recipe for their signature Olives Tapenade.

They serve this fantastic basket of flatbreads and various yeast breads with a plate of assorted olives and black and green olive tapenades. The complimentary basket would be enough to satisfy any reasonable appetite, but the bar and lunch menu really is too good to pass. Trust me. I think I hurt myself the first day I stopped in just trying to finish all the good food and drink set before me.

{Perfect Pairing: Martini with Bleu Cheese or Gorgonzola stuffed olives. The Pearl Margarita with jalapeno stuffed olives would go down rather nicely with this as well.}

My only regret; no photo. I had a camera on me, but sometimes I really just want to enjoy my food and drink at a bar without thinking about documenting my time there. I just lucked out that the bartender was nice enough to offer the recipe below. Make it. Enjoy it. Stop in at an OLIVES sometime. A link to their site is below.

OLIVES Tapenade Recipe

OLIVES TapenadeTodd English’s Olives

1 – 32 ounce jar Green Pitted Olives

1 tablespoon Capers – drained

1 tablespoon Minced Garlic

Zest of Half an Orange

1 cup Fresh Mint – chopped

3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 tablespoon Black Pepper

Combine ingredients in bowl. Mix well with food processor or blender.

Black Tapenade: Substitute 1 cup parsley for mint. Add 1 tablespoon minced anchovies.

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Olives Tapenade