Olive orange tapenade

• 1 cup black olives, such as Nicoise or Nyons
• 1 small garlic clove, peeled
• 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and pressed dry between towels
• 2 salt-packed anchovy fillets (optional)
• 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon anise-flavored liqueur, such as Pernod or Ricard or ouzo (optional)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Drain and rinse the olives. Roll them dry between clean towels, then pound lightly with a mallet, meat pounder or heavy saucepan. Pick out and discard the pits. You should get about three-fourths cup. (If you buy pitted olives, just drain, rinse and roll dry.)

Slice the garlic, then pound it in a mortar. By hand or in a processor, chop and combine the olives, garlic, capers and anchovy until you have a crumbly paste. Transfer it to a bowl.

Grate and work in about one-half teaspoon orange zest. Add the pastis or ouzo and the olive oil to taste.

Squeeze a few drops of orange juice into the tapenade just before serving. (Keeps well for a week or so refrigerated.) Makes about three-fourths cup.

Each tablespoon: 23 calories; 0 protein; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 2 grams fat; 0 saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 105 milligrams sodium.

Honolulu's own chef George Mavrothalassitis often serves extraordinary mashed potatoes made with olive oil. With milk in which herbs have been steeped and with good Provencal olive oil, the texture of these mashed potatoes is luxuriously silky and very soft — they don't sit up at all. Salty capers are added for a last layer of flavor.

Here's his technique — he doesn't have a written recipe.

Mavro on mashed potatoes

First, the rules. Never peel the potatoes. Never cut up the potatoes. Start them in cold water and do not boil, but just cook them slowly at a low simmer. Do not leave the potatoes sitting in the water after they are done (easily pierced with a fork — about 45 minutes). All this is to keep the potato from absorbing water and losing its starch; the starch is necessary for that desirable silky texture.

Use half russet potatoes and half Yukon gold, about one potato per person. When the potato is done, peel while still hot and use a ricer or vegetable mill to purée the potato. Place in a large bowl.

For four potatoes, bring 3 cups milk to a boil, drop in 4 sprigs rosemary for about 45 seconds, then pour through a strainer to remove herbs. (If you leave the herbs in, the milk becomes bitter very rapidly.) Combine milk with puréed potatoes.

Chef Mavro jokes that "for four potatoes, I would say a ton of olive oil." He doesn't use quite that much, but he does use a lot of it. He recommends buying the best olive oil you can afford.

Slowly, using a whisk, incorporate 1 cup of fine French olive oil into the mixture. It will be very soft; a purée, not a paste. Never use a food processor or electric mixer for making mashed potatoes; they will become gluey.

Taste and season with salt and white pepper as desired. Finally, incorporate 3 tablespoons rinsed capers.

Keep mashed potatoes hot by placing the bowl in a baine marie — a large, deep pan of hot (NOT boiling) water. This can be placed on top of the stove if you're holding the mashed potatoes for a long time. If it's a short period, a pan of hot water on the counter is fine.

Follow all his strictures "and you have the best mashed potatoes in the world!" said Mavro.

For those who need a recipe, here's one developed by Simon Hopkinson for his book, "Roast Chicken and Other Stories."

Olive Oil Mash

• 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup full-fat milk
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 1 thyme sprig
• 1 cup mild-flavored olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon light green, very fruity olive oil
• Cracked black pepper

Boil the potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Meanwhile, put the milk, garlic, rosemary and thyme in a small saucepan, bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse.

Drain and mash the potatoes using a potato ricer if you have one. Put in a bowl and keep warm.

Strain herbs from milk and mix into mashed potatoes. Whisk in 1 cup mild-flavored olive oil. Season with salt and white pepper. Garnish with the light green olive oil and sprinkle with cracked black pepper. Serves 4 to 6.

Each of 6 servings: 463 calories; 3 grams protein; 27 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 39 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 3 milligrams cholesterol; 209 milligrams sodium.

Baking with olive oil instead of butter or generic vegetable oil may seem an odd undertaking, but it has a long history. Here in Hawai'i, Big Island Candies makes a delicious plain sugar cookie, Bien Vivente ("good life"), and also versions with ginger and lavender. These light-tasting, crisp cookies will put to rest any doubts you have about the wisdom of baking with olive oil.

Here are some light pudding-type cakes that Nancy Silverton of La Brea Bakery created for La Terza restaurant. She serves them with an ice cream made from olive oil, but you can use a good quality vanilla ice cream.

Olive oil cakes

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour
• 11/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 large eggs
• 11/2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 3 tablespoons very finely grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
• Vanilla ice cream

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder into a large bowl. Make a deep well in the center. Combine the eggs, milk and 1 1/2 cups olive oil in the well. Whisk the wet ingredients, then gradually start whisking in the dry ingredients. Each time, beat until smooth, then pull in more dry ingredients. When the batter is smooth without any lumps of flour, stir in the lemon zest.

Grease one-fourth cup size brioche molds or muffin tins. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the remaining olive oil into each mold or cup. Brush all of the sides and let the residual oil pool in the bottom of each mold or cup.

Fill each mold three-fourths full. You will see olive oil sitting around the batter. This is OK. Sprinkle each top with one-fourth teaspoon rosemary. Place the individual molds on a baking sheet or put the muffin tin on a rack in the center of the oven. Bake until dark golden, about 35 minutes.

The cakes are easier to unmold when warm. Let the molds cool a little. Give the bottoms a hard bump with a knuckle protected with a towel. Use a small offset spatula or knife to loosen the cakes.

For each serving, allow 1› cakes. Place 1 cake on the plate with rounded side up. Cut another cake in half, then in half again, making quarters. Place 2 quarters beside the whole cake, lying on their side. Place one scoop of ice cream on top of the 2 quarters. Makes 24 small cakes.

• Per serving (with ice cream): 420 calories; 4 grams protein; 32 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 32 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 96 milligrams cholesterol; 117 milligrams sodium.