Texas Olive Ranch

These nice folks showed up at my Cedar Park Farms to Market and I’m glad they did. Up til now, I’d never done an olive oil tasting. I have to admit I was a little nervous about drinking straight oil, but they only serve a little sipper taste in what looks like a communion cup. Yes, I do know what one looks like. Anyway, these folks make mostly a Spanish style olive oil, which apparently is more conducive to Texas growing weather, but we also got to compare that with their Greek variety as well. Quelle difference! Who knew they could be so unique? We also sampled the mesquite flavored oil and promptly purchased that for meat rubbin.
They also had a variety of flavored vinegars. The blackberry balsamic oddly enough, paired well with the mesquite oil. I could spend some time here sampling a bunch if I wasn’t a little fearful of my greased up digestive tract.
See if you can find these folks at your farmers market! I think if they served this stuff at communion and maybe replaced that nasty unsalted cracker with, say, some rosemary flatbread, I could be persuaded to darken a church’s doors again!

I’m doing my best to be a local man, and this olive oil maker helps my cause. They are the first producers of Olive Oil in Texas. Olive Oil already lasts a long time, so this place does a number of grocery stores as their olive oils are made about a mere month before distribution. And at $ 15 for a 16 oz. bottle, their oils are more affordable than many of those in stores, and a huge deal fresher.
On top of being reasonably priced, they offer some hefty variety in terms of types and flavorings. I personally like their Mesquite and Garlic ones. The garlic one gives a really slight hint of garlic, so its perfect for hearty bread. The Mesquite has a really interesting smokiness that doesn’t really overpower anything, so it is great for vegetables.
I’m not a olive oil connoisseur, so go try it yourself and see what you like.

If you are one of those people who «thinks» you do no like olive oil you need to try the oils at Texas Olive Ranch. TOR oils are made a mere 3 weeks before you can purchase them at a local farmers market as apposed to a year or more for what you find at your chain grocers. Olive oil does not age well and you can really taste the difference in freshly made evoo!