So no surprise here when I say it was impossible finding olives as we know them! I did however manage to order a black olive paste online, which who knows how, arrived on time! And green candied olives which I thought were strange mini plums initially- well I learnt something new! China loves to candy every type of fruit and vegetable so why should olives me excluded from the candying process?!
Thank goodness I have easy access to extra virgin olive oil!

I would like to thank @progressivechef for once again arranging such a great competition that brings all of us Steemian foodies together- if you love food and are a Steemian then come on board for SIC 2018!

So what did I decide to make for this week with my limited supply of olives?...

Olive oil panna cotta; Olive biscuit crumbles; Olive paste flatbread; Green olive, chilli and coriander chutney

Olive oil panna cotta

For the panna cotta, I heated 600ml milk, 3g agar powder, zest of 1 lemon and a pinch of both salt and sugar (was stuck on whether to go for sweet or salty so thought I'd make it a neutral flavour by mixing it up a little!) and waited until the agar had fully dissolved. I then waited for the mixture to cool slightly before adding 50ml extra virgin olive oil to get as much flavour from the oil as possible. The mix was then poured into moulds and refrigerated for a minimum of 2 hours.

Olive paste flatbread

So I could only get hold of this moderately salty black paste and I thought a nice stable little cracker would be a perfect way to utilise this ingredient.

So I made a dough kneading together 200g brown wheat flour, 10ml water, 1tbsp of the black olive paste and 3tbsp olive oil. I then rolled out thinkly, cut into lengthy strips and baked at 220C for 10 minutes (flipping over halfway through) until the crackers were crisp and dark golden brown in colour.

Green olive, chilli and coriander chutney

My gran always used to make this 'chutney' when I was a child and I still remember the strong taste of fresh green chilli and coriander. It was used more as a dip rather than in the sense of a chutney, but I can't call it anything else, blame her! She also used to blend in some apples from her garden to add a wonderfully sweet undertone and it was at this point that I thought, ah, maybe these candied olives might work in here. The texture of the candied olives was a tad too firm so I softened them first in boiling water before adding them to a blender with a handful of fresh coriander, 10 fresh green chillies (yes I was very used to my gran's spicy food!), salt and a smidgen of yoghurt to give it that bit of creaminess.

Once blitzed, it's ready- best served chilled in my opinion.

Olive biscuit crumbles

For these soft, golden, cookie-type biscuits, I combined 10g plain flour, 1 egg, 50ml extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt to make a soft dough, which I then rolled out, sliced with a cookie cutter and baked at 180C for 15 minutes until golden. I then crushed into crumbs using a wine bottle!