AUSTIN,TX  June 28, 2010—Texas Hill Country Olive Company is teaming up with Austin based Greenling Delivery to retail their locally grown, organic olive oil and increase awareness of where and why to buy locally and sustainably produced products.  Texas Hill Country Olive Company’s premium blends of extra virgin olive oil are now available through the Greenling website and can be delivered along with Greenling’s full line of delicious, organic and local offerings.

“We share many beliefs with Greenling, particularly in the value of quality locally grown foods that are important to our overall health,” said John Gambini, co-owner of Texas Hill Country Olive Company. “Buying locally grown food whenever possible helps preserve the environment and strengthens our local economy.”

Texas Hill Country Olive Company is the only local olive orchard that uses sustainable methods to grow, cultivate and harvest their fruit.  The orchard utilizes low density planting methods so that the soil stays fertile and the environment is not depleted of resources.  No genetically modified trees or chemicals are used so the fruit and oil produced remains pure and simple. 

“Olives and olive oil have incredible health benefits,” said Mason Arnold, CEO, Greenling Organic Delivery.  “Finding local sources for these products is especially important to Greenling. We’re happy to work with Texas Hill Country Olive Company as we grow our offering of healthy products to the Central Texas area.”

Texas Hill Country Olive Company has gained recognition for their sustainable business practices and spends a considerable amount of time on educating the public.  Greenling was founded on the principles of sustainability and determination and has been a fixture in the Austin sustainability scene since their inception in 2004.  Shared business principles and a concern for the greater good give Gambini and Arnold assurance that this partnership is going to make a significant difference in moving Central Texas forward.

Built from the ground up around the simple idea that people needed a way to get fresh, nutritious food and it needed to be done in a way that did not damage our environment.  The award-winning combination of a high-tech business centered around one of the basics of our lives, our food, quickly grew into a thriving community of people supporting this simple, but amazing idea. We hope you find the food Greenling brings you as inspirational as we do and we welcome you to the family. 

Orders can be placed at www.greenling.com.

Texas Hill Country Olive Company is a family run artisanal olive orchard that produces and sells high quality extra virgin olive oil.  Texas Hill Country Olive Company also has a unique program that allows consumers to adopt an olive tree.

Orchard patrons who adopt an olive tree for a year reap the rewards from that tree — high-quality, cold press, organically grown extra virgin olive oil, and have the option to have their olive oil bottles affixed with custom labels. Texas Hill Country Olive Company cultivates and mills olives and bottles the olive oil on-site at the orchard.  They have three specialty blends: Terra Verde, Texas Hill Country, and Sola Stella which are available to consumers as well as chefs, health and fitness professionals, high end culinary/specialty retailers and gift seekers.

Of the 22 olive growers currently in Texas, Texas Hill Country Olive Company is one of only four Texas olive growers producing olives.

Austin TX, June 10, 2010 Texas Hill Country Olive Company, known for being the premier provider of high-quality organic extra virgin olive oil in Central Texas, is expanding their product line to include balsamic vinegars. Due to the large volume of requests from customers and retailers, the company will carry one traditional and five flavored vinegars including peach, fig, blueberry, red apple and the ever popular wild cherry – all of which are available now for purchase and shipping.

“For centuries, balsamic vinegar has been used in to create vinaigrettes for salad dressings and to add additional seasoning and flavor enhancement with staples such as tomatoes and other vegetables,” said John Gambini, co-owner of Texas Hill Country Olive Company. “The combination of a high quality olive oil and balsamic, such as ours, can’t be beat for enhancing any type salad.  My favorite flavor is the peach.  It’s incredibly light and refreshing!”

Aged in wooden barrels for periods ranging from six months to several years gourmet balsamic vinegar is thick, sweet smelling vinegar made from the pure and unfermented juice of a grape called the "must." Like olive oil, high quality balsamic vinegar contains antioxidants which help boost the immune system.

Co-owner Rick Mensik commented, “We’re really proud to be able to offer a line of barrel aged gourmet vinegars that compliment the high-quality olive oils that we produce at our family run artisanal olive orchard.  We’re very much looking forward to introducing them to the public.”

Balsamic Chicken

Recipe Courtesy of Sara Moulton, Chef, Cookbook Author and TV Personality

Makes 4 servings
Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Total preparation time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
4 chicken breast halves with the skin but no bone (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
4 plum tomatoes, (about 1 pound) chopped
1/4 cup traditional balsamic vinegar
1 cup canned chicken broth or Chicken Stock (page 000)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat until hot; reduce the heat to medium-high and add the chicken breasts, skin side down. Sauté for 6 minutes or until the skin is nicely browned. Turn the chicken over and sauté for 12 to 14 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. Transfer with tongs or a slotted spoon to a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Reduce the heat to medium; add the onion to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook until softened slightly, about 3 minutes.

Add the vinegar and broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Add any juices from the chicken plate to the pan and the butter and heat just until the butter is melted. Transfer the chicken, skin side up, to each of 4 plates and top each serving with some of the sauce.

Texas Hill Country Olive Company is a family run artisanal olive orchard that produces and sells high quality extra virgin olive oil.  Texas Hill Country Olive Company also has a unique program that allows consumers to adopt an olive tree.

Orchard patrons who adopt an olive tree for a year reap the rewards from that tree — high-quality, cold press, organically grown extra virgin olive oil, and have the option to have their olive oil bottles affixed with custom labels. Texas Hill Country Olive Company cultivates and mills olives and bottles the olive oil on-site at the orchard.  They have three specialty blends: Terra Verde, Master Miller’s Blend and Sola Stella which are available to consumers as well as chefs, health and fitness professionals, high end culinary/specialty retailers and gift seekers.

Of the 22 olive growers currently in Texas, Texas Hill Country Olive Company is one of only four Texas olive growers producing olives.

For additional information, visit www.texashillcountryoliveco.com.