Tuna Tapenade

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            FOOD FUNNY
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Here's one I received a few minutes ago from our friend Alan Withee, and
I wanted to publish it here before you see it somewhere else.

This fellow who had spent his whole life in the desert comes to visit a
friend. He'd never seen a train or the tracks they run on. While standing in
the middle of the railroad tracks one day, he hears the whistle, "Whooee
Whoee!" but doesn't know what it is. Predictably, he's hit -- but only a
glancing blow -- and is thrown, to the side of the tracks, with some minor
internal injuries, a few broken bones, and some bruises.

After weeks in the hospital recovering, he's at his friend's house attending
a party one evening. While in the kitchen, he suddenly hears the tea kettle
whistling. He grabs a baseball bat from the nearby closet and proceeds
to batter and bash the tea kettle into an unrecognizable lump of metal. His
friend, hearing the ruckus, rushes into the kitchen, sees what's happened,
and asks the man from the desert, "Why did you ruin my good tea kettle?"

The desert man replies, "Man, you gotta kill these things when they're little!"

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            TODAY'S RECIPE
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This week I feature a collection of small dishes from around the world.
I have treated them all as "starters" in order to fit into our
standard format,
but you could easily make a meal out of two or three of these dishes, and
all of them would make an extraordinary dinner buffet or a prize-winning
assortment of cocktail snacks. Here is the lineup:

(Recipes in brackets are in the PLUS Edition only.)

Monday's Starter
Tuna Tapenade
[Chinese Pickled Vegetables]

Tuesday's Starter
Herbed Laban
[Fennel with Prosciutto]

Wednesday's Starter
Marinated Mozzarella
[Shrimp Tostadas]

Thursday's Starter
Japanese Beef Rolls
[North African Lamb Kebabs]

Friday's Starter
Scandinavian Herring and Potato Salad
[Russian Garlic Cheese]

You can use whatever you have on hand for this quick and easy dish,
but imported Italian tuna packed in olive oil and good quality green olives
such as nicoise or picholine will be well worth the small investment.

Tuna Tapenade

1 can (6 oz, 170 g) tuna, drained
4 Tbs (60 ml) butter, softened
1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped green olives
2 Tbs (30 ml) chopped capers
2 Tbs (30 ml) chopped fresh basil
2 Tbs (30 ml) lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well, mashing with a
fork. Serve at room temperature with crackers, pita bread, or thinly
sliced French bread. Serves 4 to 6.
Received on Mon Oct 10 09:15:23 2005