Bruschetta with Heirloom Tomatoes and Burrata

An Inspired Easy Delicious Appetizer

I remember a lesson learned in a business class may years ago:

• Fast
• Cheap
• High Quality

Pick 2 - you can never have all three. I found it was pretty true in business and I have found that same principle often applies to food.

• You can have cheap and delicious but it will take some time - like my favorite cooking method - braising.
• You can have fast and cheap - like instant ramen - but it's not the best thing you've eaten (although I must admit I do like the extra salty noodles and I have also been known to enjoy boxed macaroni and cheese and cheep frozen pizza but they are not the BEST bites I've had).
• Today's recipe falls into the third category - It is incredibly delicious and incredibly fast but the ingredients won't win you any cheap recipe contests.

Browsing for Inspiration

I was wandering the produce aisle of one of my local gourmet grocery stores - a thing I love to do - and they had heirloom tomatoes in all their beautiful glory.

The tomatoes reminded me of a delicious appetizer I had with my dear friend Annie last summer for her birthday at Chateau Marmont.

Bruschetta with Heirloom Tomatoes & Burrata

I quickly left the produce aisle and went to the specialty cheese section, but to my dismay I didn't see any burrata. The cheese lady must have seen my disappontment and asked me what I was looking for -"I don't suppose you have any burrata?" I asked tentatively and she took me to a different section and there it was - seeing it actually made me feel giddy - I even think I giggled with glee.

Burrata - what is burrata you ask - only one of the best bites you may ever have!!

Burrata is a specialty of the Apulia region of Italy - the southeast coast of Italy or the “heel of the boot.”

Burrata, which means “buttery” in Italian, is a hollow ball of mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) filled with panna (cream) and mozzarella bits. Cut into the ball and the cream oozes out. The cheese bits make the panna both buttery and creamy, although not overly rich, since this is still a fresh cheese.

It was first made in the 1920's, became more readily available in the 1950's and now there are a limited number of U.S. burrata makers.

For more information on Burrata visit The Nibble.

I have found Burrata at two places, a specialty cheese store near my home and Whole Foods. But be warned you can never plan on it being there. If I know I need it I order it. On this lucky day there it was - oh the lovely beautiful delicious burrata.

The rest was easy - bread, olive oil, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and basil.

Bruschetta with Heirloom Tomatoes and Burrata

Ingredients

• 1 crusty baguette loaf
• 2-3 heirloom tomatoes - pick different colors for a beautiful look
• 1/3 cup fresh basil
• kosher or sea salt to taste
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh olive oil
• 1 ball fresh burrata

Directions

Preheat broiler. Slice the baguette on a slight diagonal into 1 inch pieces. Broil until golden brown.

Meanwhile - shred basil gently. Core tomatoes and cut into 1/4 inch pieces. In medium bowl combine tomatoes, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

When bread is toasted, cut garlic clove in half and rub with a bit of pressure on toasted bread. Brush generously with a very good quality olive oil - don't skimp on the oil. Spread each bread toast with a bit of burrata and top with tomato basil mixture.

Open up a cold crisp white summer wine like an italian pino grigio and enjoy. This will be one of the best bites you've ever had made very quickly but not particulary cheap - but hey - life is short Mangia Mangia!!

A Bit of History on Bruschetta

(I couldn't resist)

The word bruschetta pronounced "brusketta" comes from the verb bruscare meaning to "roast over coals." Some food historians believe it originated with the Roman practice of using bread to taste newly pressed olive oil, some say it was developed in Tuscany to show off the new season's olive oil and yet other's say it was a way to use bread that was no longer fresh.

No matter the source, bruschetta is simply grilled bread rubbed with a clove of garlic and topped with extra virgin olive oil.

In more modern times toppings have been added to make it a more substantial snack and Americans typically use the word to refer to the topping - the most popular being tomatoes and basil - but bruschetta is actually the toasted bread used as a vehicle for olive oil.

"The most important ingredient in bruschetta is not garlic but olive oil." The garlic on bruschetta is rubbed on, so that you inhale the fresh garlic perfume as a backdrop to the olive oil, rather than eating great lumps of it. The origin of bruschetta was probably the ancient Roman practice of tasting newly pressed olive oil on a piece of bread, with or without garlic -- a practice that has continued in the oil-producing areas of Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio. The name derives from bruscare, meaning "to roast over coals".
---"Toast of the Tiber ," Bee Wilson and Frances Stonor Saunders, New Statesman, 04/24/2000 (p. 50).

So when you buy "bruschetta" in a tub in the grocery store you are buying bruschetta topping. I wish the history of a dish wasn't lost through mass marketing.

Heirloom Tomatoes

photo courtesy of wikimedia commons

Normal or hybrid tomatoes as they are called are often preferred by farmers and grocers for their yield, resistence to disease, and shelf life which allows them to be shipped long distances. The can be delicious and I am a big fan.

However, heirloom tomatoes are magnificant. Heirloom tomatoes are known for their diversity of color, shape, and flavor and come from plant seeds that are at least 50 years old and are often affiliated with a particular family. They are all open cultivated and not bread for yield or transport and often - in my experience - are more beautiful and sweet then their uniform looking hybrid cousins.

You could easily make this recipe with less expensive hybrid tomatoes and it would be delicious - especially if you are using tomatoes ripe from the garden - but I prefer the heirloom tomatoes for their sweetness and bright color variety.

Happy Cooking

And Remember Take Time to

Enjoy a Little Gourmet Everyday!!

Lemon Cookie Sandwiches with Blueberry Almond Cream Frosting

I thought I had made my last submission for the Blueberry Councils Make-It-Blog It-Win It!! Recipe contest. I was wrong. I needed a quick treat for an impromptu going away party for my very dear friends. If you've visited my blog before you know my go to is my lemon cookies - I always have all the ingredients. I also had on hand a bountiful supply of delicious dynamo bluberries for all these wonderful blueberry recipes.

Be sure to visit the Blueberry Council Website for great information and recipes for the little dynamo blueberry:

Blueberry Council Website

My creative juices started flowing - Cookie sandwiches are a huge summer hit and one of the best flavor combinations in my mind is lemon and blueberries so I whipped up some Lemon Sandwich cookies with blueberry almond cream frosting. They were a huge hit at the party and so easy to make.

Blueberry Syrup

Ingredients

2 cups blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

Directions

Puree blueberries in a food processor.

Combine with sugar in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 15 minutes.

Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool. The good news is you will have a bit of this dynamo blueberry syrup leftover for pancakes or waffles or to drizzle over ice-cream. Yummy!!

Lemon Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 2 1/4 cool whip
• 1 egg
• 1 cup confectioners sugar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl 0f a stand mixer combine cake mix, cool whip and egg. (If you don't have a stand mixer it can easily be done with a hand mixer.)
• Mix until incorporated - about 1 minute. Dough will be very dense and thick.
• Line cookie sheets with a silpat or parchment paper. Put 1 cup powdered sugar into a bowl. Scoop out balls of cookie dough, roll into a smooth ball and coat with powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheet leaving enough room for cookies to spread a bit.
• Bake for ten minutes. Cookies will be puffy. Allow cookies to cool and deflate.

Blueberry Almond Cream Frosting

Ingredients

1/3 cup shortening

5 cups sifted powdered sugar

2 tasblespoons milk

8 tablespoons blueberry syrup

1/8 teaspoon almond flavoring

Directions

Beat together shortening and powdered sugar. Mix in water and almond flavoring. Add blueberry syrup and blend until well combined. Add additional sifted flour if you need a thicker consistency.

Assembly

Match up cookies in pairs of like size.

Pipe frosting on one-half and allow to set for about ten minutes.

Place top on cookie and enjoy these beautiful summertime treats!!

Happy Cooking and

Remember to Take Time to Enjoy a

Little Gourmet Everyday!!

Pork Loin Stuffed With Blueberries, Spinach,

Pecans, and Goat Cheese

Be sure to visit the Blueberry Council Website for great information and recipes on this wonderful nutritional dynamo:

Blueberry Council

I love pork with fruit - to me it is a perfect combination so why not pork and blueberries? With summertime I also love grilling and a grilled stuffed tenderloin on the grill is a beautiful thing. I prepared this at home then took it to a friends to grill and forgot the camera - :( . I apologize for not having a picture of the final product but I have to tell you it was beautiful!!! I hope you enjoy!!!

Ingredients

For Stuffing

• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced thyme
• 1/4 cup goat cheese
• 1 cup Spinach

For Pork

• 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt + 1/8 teaspoon
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper = 1/8 teaspoon
• 1 pork tenderloin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Directions
2. Put blueberries, pecans, thyme, and garlic in a food processor and pulse to make a rough paste.
3. 
   Combine sugar, 1 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in bowl.
4. 
   Trim silver skin from tenderloin.
5. 
Stuffing the Pork


6. Heat grill to high. Cut tenderloin in half long wise and stop 1/2 inch away from edge so halves remain attached like a book binding. Open up tenderloin like a book and press down to flatten. Cover with plastic wrap and pound to 1/4-inch thickness. Trim any edges to create rectangle shape about 10 inches by 6 inches. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
7. Spread goat cheese on flattened pork tenderloin then spread then spread blueberry mixture over goat cheese.

1. 
   Top with spinach. Be sure to leave the edges free.
2. 
Roll away from you tightly to create a tube but not so tight that stuffing squeezes out. Turn tenderloin seam side down. Tie with 3-5 pieces of kitchen twine evenly spaced. Coat pork with oil and rub entire surface with brown sugar mixture.


Oil gill. Place pork on cooler side of grill, cover, and cook for about 25-30 minutes flipping halfway through. Center should register 140 degrees


3. Transfer pork to carving board, tent with foil, and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove twine, slice pork into 1/2-inch-thick slices, and serve. Enjoy!

Happy Cooking and

Remember to Take Time to Enjoy

a Little Gourmet Every Day!!

S'More Cherries Please

S'More Cherry and Nectarine Tarts

Follow the link below to check out the "Whole Story Blog"

for great information and recipes:

Whole Story Blog

While visiting the Whole Foods website I saw they were having a blog contest for a kid friendly cherry recipe. The recipe also had to use two other fruits or veggies and only 7 ingredients total. A visit to Whole Foods provided the perfect inspiration for my S'more Cherry and Nectarine Tarts.

The cherries at Whole Foods were beautiful.

I had been thinking about mangos to pair with the cherries - but these

mango nectarines really caught my eye.

I thought bananas would round out the tart perfectly.

So why s'more tarts? Every kid I know loves s'mores. These s'more cherry tarts were inspired by those yummy campfire desserts. A graham cracker crust spread with pureed banana and topped with beautiful summer sweet cherries and nectarines and finished - of course - with marshmellows and chocolate.

Kids love personal size portions so I made these in individual tart pans. This recipe makes 4 individual tarts.

Not only do these S'more tarts look like beautiful summer flowers, but they taste delicious and have lots of fresh fruit for the kiddos.

S'More Cherry and Nectarine Tart

Ingredients

• • 1/4 cup butter melted
• • 8 cinnamon graham crackers
• • 1 ripe banana
• • 3/4 cup pitted sweet cherries
• • 2 mango nectarines (or any type nectarine)
• • 4 large marshmellows
• • 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Puree graham crackers in food processor. Combine with melted butter and press into 4 individiual tart pans.

Bake for about ten minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Meanwhile, puree banana in a food processor, pit cherries, pit nectarines and slice thin, and cut marshmellows into small pieces. (scissors works better than a knife for cutting the marshmellows).

Remove crust from oven. Let cool slightly and spread with banana puree.

Put 1/4 cherries in the middle of each tart like the center of a flower and lay the nectarines down around the cherries like the petals of a flower. Sprinkle with marshmellow bits and chocolate chips.

Return tarts to oven for 7-10 minutes until fruit is slightly softened, chocolate is slightly melted and marshmellows are melted.

I didn't get any complaints from the kids as they ate their delicious S'more Cherry and Nectarine Tarts. I hope you enjoy!!

Happy Cooking

and Remember to Take Time

Enjoy a Little Gourmet Everyday!!