I would like to share with you my recent work made for the owners of “The Ancient Olive” stores in Florida, Jeffrey Schrader & Bryan Behling – still life composition with olive oils, vinegar, olives, exotic fruits, and Italian vegetables. This was a very exciting project and I had a great time shooting for “The Ancient Olive”. Here is one of the versions of my composition which I feel passes the true spirit of these exquisite stores.

Jeffrey and Bryan mailed me some of their products for the shooting, and I decided to make a succulent appetizer using extra virgin olive oil and fig balsamic vinegar.

Melted red peppers with black olives top crostini perfectly, but also they are a colorful marker on the antipasto platter.

Red Peppers Melted with Fig Balsamic Vinegar Crostini
Ingredients
- 2-3 red peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup black olives, pitted, diced
- 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
- 1/4 cup fig balsamic vinegar, plus more if needed
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 7-10 slices of bread for crostini
Instructions
In a large skillet on lowest heat, cook the peppers and olives, uncovered, with olive oil and fig balsamic vinegar until the peppers are soft, about 30-40 minutes.
Stir occasionally, add more olive oil and balsamic vinegar if they look dry.
Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon peppers with olives onto crostini and serve warm with fresh dill (optional).
Notes
For crostini, cut a long skinny loaf into slices about 1/3 inch thick. Toast them with butter.

6 Comments
Rosa's Yummy Yums
November 13, 2013 at 6:59 amBeautiful still life and wonderful recipe!
Cheers,
Rosa
La Table De Nana
November 13, 2013 at 1:55 pmI pinned your "canvas" right away..
Magnifique..
You have created a masterpiece for the products Yelena.
HEAVEN CAN WAIT
November 13, 2013 at 11:03 pmSomething went wrong the first time…
Wonderful recipe, Yelena. But I would like to say something else since your post started with such an amazing still life tableau. When I first saw your still life art I had to think about the great masters who used canvas and paint. I also thought about the joy that one experiences when one looks at the paintings of Boris Kustodiev. The opulence is simply mesmerizing!
Te de Ternura
November 14, 2013 at 4:50 amOhhhh… Me he quedado sin palabras YELENA!!!
Que PRECIOSO BODEGÓN y que DELICIOSA RECETA!!!
FELICIDADES, eres ÚNICA!!! :)))
Marina
November 17, 2013 at 6:59 pmI need to try this recipe, sounds delicious! Beautiful photo. Congratulations on your well done art work for the client!
Meli
November 19, 2013 at 7:05 pmI love the still life you created! Inspired by the Dutch artists, isn't it? I will definitely try to follow your steps in this kind of photography, congratulations!