Let me extend an olive branch.....

My friend Paige, during one of our food outings mentioned that she wanted to go to Queen Creek Olive Mill.  I was like "Uh...ok.  What for?"  She laughed at me and then started to tell me what she knew about the place.  She told me that it's an olive mill that has an olive orchard and has a tour, wine tastings and food.  SOLD!!

Those of you that have read my previous blogs know that I just recently started liking olives.  I'm still not a HUGE fan.....BUT....I have found a few that I like.  Still working my way through figuring out which ones I like...lol



We drove what seems forever out in the middle of nowhere (or so it seemed) to finally arrive at Queen Creek Olive Mill.  Paige and I were the first two to arrive and then Karen.

At the entrance they have a cute fresh herb garden. They use the herbs from their garden for dishes on the menu at their restaurant del Piero ~ which has Tuscan inspired food.

The three of us walked-in to kinda get the lay of the land, if you will.  The first thing we noticed was they had a wine tasting taking place.  So we wandered over to check it out.

To the left, they were featuring South American and local wines. And to the right, they were featuring Italian and Spanish wines.

The tasting was complimentary and they had some really nice wines that they were featuring.

The best ones that I like from the local and South American selection was the Ritual Sauvignon Blanc, Luigi Bosca Reserva Malbec and the Queen Creek Peach sparkling grape wine.












From the Italian and Spain selection of wines I liked

was the Ugarte Cosecha and the Dogajolo Toscano.















By the time we were half way through the wine tasting ,Chrisie (my pea) and Jo-girl arrived. Woohoo!! Girls are all here!!  Let the fun times begin!  Was so excited that my pea and Jo-girl were able to come out for this.  I usually do things with Paige and my friend Sherry or with Chrisie and Jo-girl so was nice that all of us were able to spend a day together.  (Sherry sadly was unable to join us :(  ....)  Next time girl!

The girls had about 15 minutes before we started our olive tour, enough for a couple of tasting of wines.

I'm not sure how the others felt or what they expected but for me ~ the tour was not what I expected.  I envisioned more an orchard/vineyard tour~being showed the different species and trees ~BUT ~ it was fun and very informational.

We started underneath an olive tree.  We learned that Queen Creek Olive Mill has about 100 trees where the store and tasting takes place and there is an orchard across the field that has over 2000 trees and more are planted each year.

We learned that the trees are drip irrigated and that the trees do not require pesticides since there are no issues with olive flies or olive tree molds.

Two important facts about producing high quality olive oil are the harvest date and the varietal character.

Depending on which stage the fruit is harvested can completely change the flavor ~ green stage (early harvest) or purple stage (late harvest).

Olives harvested and pressed in their green stage will have a grassy, bitter and peppery taste, where the purple stage will be buttery and fruity.






The ideal harvest time is very short ~ only a two to three week window.

The important factors to a high quality EVOO is
1) never use fallen olives
2) olives are pressed within 24hrs of harvest and they only harvest what they intended to press and no more
3) does not use heat or solvents ~ cold press baby!
4) the "free acidity" of the oleic oil (or acid) must be .8% or lower to be called Extra Virgin Olive Oil. (EVOO)





This very scary contraption (called a hammer mill) is what grinds the olives, crushing the pits, seeds and skin into a paste (otherwise know as "poo" ~lol...not kidding)

The paste is then blended very slowly, this process is called malaxation ~ it allows the small oil drops to combine and turn into bigger ones.

The next steps are to gently extract the oil from the olive. A centrifugal decanter spins the olive paste at a high speed to separate the heavier parts and water from the oil.




Then it's on to decanting.  The oil is transferred to an oxygen-free stainless steel storage decanter with a cone shaped bottom that allows the oil and water to naturally separate.

Once all that is complete it's time for the Master Blender to put his signature on the blend.  When that's complete the mixture is then placed in a stainless steel oxygen-free tank, where it is stored and kept fresh until it needs to be bottled.



Once the tour was over we were given four different olives to sample ~ Maytag Blue Cheese, Mesquite Smoked Almond, Vermouth Garlic and lastly Jalapeno Mexican Lime.

 

My favorite was the blue cheese and the smoked almond.  The garlic one was alight and the jalapeno one was a bit too salty for my taste. But was awesome to try things I've never tried before.

After the tour we were ready to grab a bite to eat and then do some shopping.  Now a tough choice...what to have for lunch!  SO many options to choose from!

So, a tip for those of you who have never been out to Queen Creek Olive Mill before, especially if you go with a group of friend or families.  You need to have one person that camps out for a place to sit, while the rest of the group go order food, otherwise you may not be able to sit together.

Prime seating of course is inside with the air conditioning.
There is quite a bit of seating inside.


There are places to sit outside on the patio but there aren't ceiling fans, so unless there is a light breeze or unless you go in the early spring or in the fall....you may want to sit inside.

There are also picnic tables where you can enjoy sitting under an olive tree and have lunch.


I did see a few people with blankets that were sitting under the tree enjoying their lunch and the wine from the wine tasting.

There was a light breeze the day we went so we opted to sit on the patio and enjoy our lunch.

Another tip - you can order breakfast until 200pm.  This makes figuring out what you want to eat that much more difficult!!!

After Paige and Karen ordered their lunch and got their lunch, they went to find seating for us on the patio.

Then the rest of us placed our lunch order and found the other two after we received our order.

I think we were all pretty hungry due to the semi-silence at the table until we had taken in a few bites.  And we all seemed to enjoy our food.

Paige ordered the Italian chopped salad with a vinaigrette dressing to go with her bruschetta board of ~ burnt mozzarella and pesto, caramelized red onion and fig tapenade with shaved parmesan and a caprese.





























Jo-girl had the Sevi Sandwich ~ a tequila-lime marinated chicken salad with red onion, capers, cranberries pecans, fresh herbs, greens and Mexican lime EVOO, aiolo on a ciabatta.





Chrisie had the del Piero antipasto plate ~ a variety of grilled veggies, artisan cheese, cured meats, marcona almonds, del Piero olive mix, dark chocolate and grilled ciabatta bread.

Karen had the side greek salad, with a bruschetta board ~   burnt mozzarella, mascarpone and peach caponatina tapenade and a caprese.

Jo-girl and I had a wonderful fruity sangria.  Don't let the small glass fool you, cause this little fruity drink packs a pretty good punch.  :)

       
I had the Sicilian panini frittata ~ sweet Sicilian pork sausage with an egg frittata and provolone cheese that was accompanied with a side of fresh fruit and Italian seasoned smashed potato.

Yes peeps, I said smashed ~not mashed and it was the best smashed potato I've had!

I also had a bruschetta board ~ chardonnay herb mascarpone and green apple, mascarpone and peach caponatina tapenade and a caprese.

And to finish out the meal ~ cannoli - chocolate, hazelnut and pistachio, drizzled in chocolate.  

Yes, these girls are not afraid of carbs.....well....we don't make a habit of it but we don't avoid it either!!!

Now that we were all happy and fed, time to shop!!  WARNING!!!!  You could go broke shopping here.  

But first you may want to get some coffee to help get you out of the food coma you may be in. ~ lol.

There are so many different flavors of olive oils to choose from like ~ bacon, vanilla bean, chili, Mexican lime and blood orange to name just a few.

There's a tasting station that has all the different oils and dipping sauce for you to sample so you can choose what you like.

You can also sample and purchase different types of dipping oils and balsamic vinegars.

If making martini's are more your style or bloody mary's ~ you can choose from spicy beans, parmesan romano stuffed olives, oregano feta stuffed olives and wasabi ginger sake stuffed olives to name just a few.

Herbs, spices, tapenade, pasta, crackers, bread and the list goes on and on.... Oh...did I mention that the bread is baked fresh on site and brought out as soon as they are done baking.  Mmmm...nothing like fresh baked bread! 

There's a station that has the various olives, beans and other goodies you can try, so you can figure out which one or ones you like.

They have various gift boxes and sampler gift boxes for the chef in your life or heck for you!

Food isn't the only thing you'll find here.  You'll also find olive oil body products.  You'll find something for just about everyone in your life.

The one thing that I liked is they also have a rack of complimentary recipes to go with the oils so you can learn how to cook with them.

So if you're a passionate cook, a connoisseur or a novice, there is surely something you can find to inspire you.

I was inspired by their Lemon Chicken with Rosemary and their Penne alla Vodka recipe.

My splurge from Queen Creek Olive Mill ~ 

dipping oil, meyer lemon olive oil, peach sparkling grape wine and a couple of french baguettes.

Sadly, I have not made the lemon chicken with rosemary yet but will let you know how it turns out when I do.  I had to get ready for my trip to Texas!

The girls and I can't wait to go back in the fall for their Hallowine Festival in October.

I leave you with some olive tidbits.....

Did you know :

Spain is the world's largest producer of olive oil

Greece is the world's largest producer of extra-virgin olive oil

Christopher Columbus introduced olive oil to the Americas in 1492.

Hippocrates called olive oil "the great therapeutic."

and lastly, the olive tree is native to the Mediterranean, where olive oil has been an important part of life for a thousand years.

If music be the food of love, play on.  ~ William Shakespeare