Tapenade

Lulu's tapenade Total time: 15 minutes Servings: 6 to 8 Note: This recipe is adapted from "Lulu's Provencal Table" by Richard Olney. 1/2 pound large Greek-style black olives, pitted 2 salted anchovies, rinsed and filleted, or 4 fillets 3 tablespoons capers 1 garlic clove, peeled and pounded to a paste with a pinch of coarse salt Small pinch of cayenne 1 teaspoon tender young savory leaves, finely chopped, or a pinch of crumbled dry savory leaves 1/4 cup olive oil In a food processor, reduce the olives, anchovies, capers, garlic, cayenne and savory to a coarse puree.

Whether your New Year's festivities include planning a big cocktail party or hosting a simple dinner, odds are you'll want something to feed your guests over the hours as they count down to 2012. Here are 25 easy-to-make little dishes to choose from - they're not recipes really, but ideas you can adapt to make your own. No matter whether you're planning fancy hors d'oeuvres or are looking for some simple nibbles to keep the natives from getting restless as the clock winds down, we should have you covered.Many can be prepared hours - even a day or two - in advance.

In today's Food Section, two articles of great charm and utility came to our attention. One was a wonderful piece of writing regarding the wise and ancient Pellegrini; an awfully well written essay that I have clipped for future re-reacting. Another was the discourse on the variety and multidunious uses of olives; a rather neglected condiment in our cultural cuisine except for garnishing a Martini or a wayward salad. The contention is (or are) the two recipes for tapenade. One uses a 4.5 ounce can of tuna in oil, while the other in the You Asked About portion of the Food Section did not. Will the true tapenade please stand up?

Lulu's tapenade Total time: 15 minutes Servings: 6 to 8 Note: This recipe is adapted from "Lulu's Provencal Table" by Richard Olney. 1/2 pound large Greek-style black olives, pitted 2 salted anchovies, rinsed and filleted, or 4 fillets 3 tablespoons capers 1 garlic clove, peeled and pounded to a paste with a pinch of coarse salt Small pinch of cayenne 1 teaspoon tender young savory leaves, finely chopped, or a pinch of crumbled dry savory leaves 1/4 cup olive oil In a food processor, reduce the olives, anchovies, capers, garlic, cayenne and savory to a coarse puree.

Times Test Kitchen Director Donna Deane discovered this terrific vegetable sandwich at Zinc Cafe & Market in Laguna Beach. "I loved it for its freshness," she says. "The flavor is very light, but it's substantial." Spread with aioli and tapenade, rustic bread is layered with vegetables, a sliced hard-boiled egg, arugula and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It's perfect for lunch after a farmers market morning. Zinc Cafe mixed vegetable sandwich Total time: 40 minutes Servings: 4 Note: You can store tapenade and aioli in the refrigerator several days.

As life gets ever more hectic, I rely more and more on the civilized custom of a before-dinner apéritif. Sometimes it's all I can do to make it to that magical hour when I'm handed a Campari and soda or a glass of rosé and take a first bite of dusky olive tapenade on toast. This is nothing like the urge "Mad Men"-era dads, mine included, felt to grab that first glass of Scotch the minute they walked in the door. It's more of a gentle, insistent yearning, not so much for the alcohol but for the pause that marks the end of the workday and the beginning of the evening.

Whether your New Year's festivities include planning a big cocktail party or hosting a simple dinner, odds are you'll want something to feed your guests over the hours as they count down to 2012. Here are 25 easy-to-make little dishes to choose from - they're not recipes really, but ideas you can adapt to make your own. No matter whether you're planning fancy hors d'oeuvres or are looking for some simple nibbles to keep the natives from getting restless as the clock winds down, we should have you covered.Many can be prepared hours - even a day or two - in advance.

Keep these tapenades on hand when you need a quick appetizer. Tasters in The Times' Test Kitchen suggested serving the fig and roasted shallot with Sherry tapenade with goat cheese and a fresh baguette. Or serve them alongside meat, chicken and fish. Other flavors are Mediterranean with olives, capers and Merlot; and shiitake mushroom with Asian spices. Tulogay's tapenades, 9-ounce jars, $7.

Question: Growing up in Chicago I recall grocery-shopping with my mother and purchasing something called olive butter. It was salty, spreadable and good on toast or crackers. Would you have any idea what the recipe might be? Those of us with blenders and food processors could probably make this if it is no longer available commercially. Answer: Perhaps you are referring to the earthy olive spread from southern France, tapenade.

The Les Delices du Luberon artisanal tapenades Shulman saw being sold in Provence are available at several stores in Southern California, including Fishland, 9150 W. Olympic Blvd., (310) 271-2553; The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, 419 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, (800) 547-1515; The Wine House, 2311 Cotner Ave.

As life gets ever more hectic, I rely more and more on the civilized custom of a before-dinner apéritif. Sometimes it's all I can do to make it to that magical hour when I'm handed a Campari and soda or a glass of rosé and take a first bite of dusky olive tapenade on toast. This is nothing like the urge "Mad Men"-era dads, mine included, felt to grab that first glass of Scotch the minute they walked in the door. It's more of a gentle, insistent yearning, not so much for the alcohol but for the pause that marks the end of the workday and the beginning of the evening.

  Grilled butterflied leg of lamb with olive-fennel tapenade Total time: 55 minutes, plus 2 hours marinating time Servings: 6 to 8 Note: Use wine cask chips for this, or oak or cherry. Prepare the tapenade while the meat is marinating. Grilled leg of lamb 1 (2 1/2-pound) butterflied leg of lamb 3 to 4 cloves garlic 1 teaspoon kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 3/4 cup red wine 1. If the lamb has been tied into a roll, untie it and lay it flat, skin-side down.

Times Test Kitchen Director Donna Deane discovered this terrific vegetable sandwich at Zinc Cafe & Market in Laguna Beach. "I loved it for its freshness," she says. "The flavor is very light, but it's substantial." Spread with aioli and tapenade, rustic bread is layered with vegetables, a sliced hard-boiled egg, arugula and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It's perfect for lunch after a farmers market morning. Zinc Cafe mixed vegetable sandwich Total time: 40 minutes Servings: 4 Note: You can store tapenade and aioli in the refrigerator several days.

Keep these tapenades on hand when you need a quick appetizer. Tasters in The Times' Test Kitchen suggested serving the fig and roasted shallot with Sherry tapenade with goat cheese and a fresh baguette. Or serve them alongside meat, chicken and fish. Other flavors are Mediterranean with olives, capers and Merlot; and shiitake mushroom with Asian spices. Tulogay's tapenades, 9-ounce jars, $7.

The Les Delices du Luberon artisanal tapenades Shulman saw being sold in Provence are available at several stores in Southern California, including Fishland, 9150 W. Olympic Blvd., (310) 271-2553; The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, 419 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, (800) 547-1515; The Wine House, 2311 Cotner Ave.

I am sitting in my office on this hot, still, Los Angeles afternoon, listening to the mockingbirds and thinking about the fact that in one week I'll be in Provence. In many ways, this dry summer day is much like a day in the Luberon, the part of Provence that I know best. The sky is cloudless, bees are buzzing around the lavender that is blooming in my garden and in others up and down my street. And I have tapenade in my refrigerator.

I am sitting in my office on this hot, still, Los Angeles afternoon, listening to the mockingbirds and thinking about the fact that in one week I'll be in Provence. In many ways, this dry summer day is much like a day in the Luberon, the part of Provence that I know best. The sky is cloudless, bees are buzzing around the lavender that is blooming in my garden and in others up and down my street. And I have tapenade in my refrigerator.

What goes around comes around: Claude Koeberle is back at Tapenade, the restaurant at Rancho Santa Fe, the tony tennis resort in Rancho Valencia. Koeberle, who consulted on the menu three years ago, replaces executive chef Salvatore Petrolino, who replaced Claude Segal just six months ago. Why has the independently run restaurant been playing a game of musical chefs?

What goes around comes around: Claude Koeberle is back at Tapenade, the restaurant at Rancho Santa Fe, the tony tennis resort in Rancho Valencia. Koeberle, who consulted on the menu three years ago, replaces executive chef Salvatore Petrolino, who replaced Claude Segal just six months ago. Why has the independently run restaurant been playing a game of musical chefs?

Various organisms and organizations run on their own clocks, and it happens that every fall, when we turn the clocks back an hour and adjust to Standard Time, North County's plush Rancho Valencia Resort hires a new chef. Last year the new man in the kitchen was Claude Segal, a Frenchman of some renown who didn't quite make the magic happen for the dining room of this luxurious, tennis-oriented hideaway in the hills near Fairbanks Ranch.