San Luis Obispo Tribune Logo

Templeton olives star in high-end products | San Luis Obispo Tribune

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Contact Us
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Submit an Event
    • Buy Photos
    • News in Education
    • FAQ
    • Activate Digital Subscription
    • Manage Account
    • Newsletters

    • News
    • Local
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Investigations
    • California
    • California Weed
    • Nation & World
    • Lottery
    • Weather
    • Weird News
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Columns
    • Photos from the Vault
    • Weather Watch
    • Joetopia
    • That's SLO Weird
    • Sports
    • Outdoors
    • High School
    • Cal Poly
    • MLB
    • MLB Scores & Stats
    • NBA
    • NBA Scores & Stats
    • NFL
    • NFL Scores & Stats
    • Politics
    • The California Influencer Series
  • Business
    • Living
    • Food & Drink
    • Wine & Beer
    • Home & Garden
    • Travel
    • Columns
    • Linda Lewis Griffith
    • Pet Tales
    • Entertainment
    • Arts & Culture
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Horoscopes
    • Restaurants
    • Events Calendar
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Viewpoints
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • Columnists
    • Tom Fulks
    • Andrea Seastrand
  • Obituaries
  • The Cambrian

  • Contests
  • Today's Circulars
  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
    • Homes
    • Real Estate Weekly
  • Place An Ad

  • About Us
  • Work For Us
  • Mobile & Apps

Living

Templeton olives star in high-end products

By Katy Budge - Special to The Tribune

    ORDER REPRINT →

August 08, 2006 12:00 AM

Thanks to his vineyard management business, most people probably associate Lee Alegre with grapes, but lately he’s teamed up with close family friends Art and Norma Ornelas and business partner Adriana Marquez to branch out into the world of olives.

In 2000, Alegre was approached by the Ornelases "to plant something on their (Templeton) property that would stay green year round." Alegre thought of olives, perhaps a no-brainer these days, but at the time "we were one of the first orchards to go in."

The 4000 trees are all Tuscan varietals, and the resulting oil proved to be "true Tuscan oil with a peppery finish, though we harvest a little later, so it’s a little mellower."

With the oil showing well at events such as the Paso Robles Olive Festival, Alegre realized he needed to take things to the next level. A couple of years ago, he asked Marquez to help out with sales and marketing efforts. The bonus was that she could also bring another product to the lineup — Adriana’s Gourmet Olive Tapenade.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Tribune

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

"I’d been ‘testing’ it on my family for 10 years," said

Marquez, and the tapenade proved a big hit at family gatherings and dinner parties. "It’s handmade with all fresh ingredients, with nothing processed, but it can keep up to six months unopened in your pantry."

The fresh, handcrafted theme carries through the rest of the Alegre olive products (which also include cured olives). With the help of family and friends, Alegre and Marquez do almost everything themselves except for the actual pressing — though they’re on site throughout that process as well — including hand- bottling and hand-labeling the Tuscan-inspired, amphora-shaped bottles imported from Italy.

"We want to keep everything handcrafted and keep the high quality," said Marquez. "It’s fun to do, and if we sent it out to be mass produced, it would change

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING."

Find out more

Alegre Olive Oil and Adriana’s Gourmet Tapenade are available at the Templeton Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, and at select wineries and retail locations such as We Olive in Paso Robles. For more information or to order products, call 434-1740, e-mail olivebiz@charternet.com, or write to P.O. Box 158, Templeton, CA 93465.

Adriana’s Olive Marinated Greek Lamb with Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

Adriana Marquez said this Mediterranean dish is "full of flavor and heady aromas that fill the air and make any gathering a memorable one. It’s also an excellent dish for the upcoming Easter season.

"You can make this roast with a whole leg of lamb or a lamb roast cut to order at your local butcher shop. Before roasting, let your lamb come to room temperature for about an hour or so; the longer your roast sits in the olive and olive oil marinade, the more flavorful it will be."

She also recommends putting some red wine and beef stock into the roasting pan with the lamb, which "along with the roast drippings will make an excellent au jus to be served with your roast."

Makes: 8 servings

Adriana’s Olive Marinade (recipe follows)

Leg of lamb or lamb roast

5 potatoes

5 carrots

Kosher salt

Ground pepper

1/4 cup red wine

1/4 cup beef stock

Trim fat from lamb. Place lamb in roasting pan and rub olive marinade over it, then let sit covered at room temperature for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut potatoes and carrots into chunks, toss with salt and pepper, and place them in the roasting pan.

Add red wine and beef stock to pan, and cover roast with foil.

Roast lamb for 20 minutes per pound or until internal temperature reaches 130 degrees F (for medium rare).

Remove from oven and let roast rest under foil for about 20 minutes before carving.

Adriana’s Olive Marinade

1 cup pitted olives

2 large garlic cloves, peeled

2 teaspoons capers

1 teaspoon fresh oregano

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 cup Alegre olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Lots of fresh ground pepper

Dash of kosher salt

Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth.

Katy Budge is a freelance writer from Atascadero. If you have a favorite "Local Flavor" you’d like to see featured, e-mail your suggestions to ktbudge@sbcglobal.net.

  Comments  

Videos

Pet Tales: Meet Buddy, a friendly dog ready for his forever home

Take an aerial tour of former Centrally Grown property in Cambria

View More Video

Trending Stories

‘There is a wall of gum. Just FYI’: Dwight from ‘The Office’ stops by Bubblegum Alley

February 18, 2019 11:13 AM

Wet weather returns (again) this week, along with ... sun?

February 18, 2019 02:15 PM

The legend returns: Willie Nelson is coming to Paso Robles

February 19, 2019 11:31 AM

2 arrested in connection with armed robbery, attempted carjacking at Pirate’s Cove

February 19, 2019 07:32 AM

Police: More than a dozen people rescued from SeaWorld ride

February 18, 2019 11:53 PM

Read Next

Living

Elizabeth Wellington: All this blackface makes me want to cancel high fashion

By ELIZABETH WELLINGTON The Philadelphia Inquirer

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 19, 2019 12:00 AM

I've watched in horror over the last few months as some the world's most prestigious fashion brands, such as Gucci and Prada, and as of last week, the very basic Katy Perry, repeatedly put their foot in it by putting blackface on it.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Tribune

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE LIVING

Family

Ex-etiquette: Father texts daughter too much

February 19, 2019 12:00 AM

Family

Are teens getting high on social media? The surprising study seeking the pot-Instagram link

February 19, 2019 12:00 AM

Family

Ana Veciana-Suarez: Politicians scramble to explain bad behavior in old yearbooks, while I reminisce about the resiliency to improve my life

February 19, 2019 12:00 AM

Family

Lori Borgman: We said, –I do,– – they said we didn’t

February 19, 2019 12:00 AM
Living with Children: Common parenting mistakes

Family

Living with Children: Common parenting mistakes

February 19, 2019 12:00 AM

Family

Ask Mr. Dad: We all have emotions – men and women just express them differently

February 19, 2019 12:00 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

San Luis Obispo Tribune App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Place a Classified Ad
  • Advertise with Us
  • Local Deals
  • Public Notices
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story