Olives with Bay and Rosemary

There are uncounted ways of preparing olives, and every specialty food shop offers them in variously cured or flavored guises. To make your own herb-seasoned olives, purchase some brined green olives, preferably cracked. If you can’t find cracked olives, buy those with pits and hit each one gently on one side with a rolling pin or a meat pounder, just hard enough to crack the flesh without expelling the pit.

Herbed olives last indefinitely and are a pleasure to have on hand as an im