Elote!

           

“You can do anything with local food.” –Corbin Evans

One of the better parts of working in restaurants is the people who cross your path. Very often they move on and you lose track of them but thanks to the Internet, you can find them again.

Corbin Evans is one of those people. Corbin and I worked together in a Philadelphia restaurant years ago. Corbin left to open his own place but closed it due to landlord problems. He moved on, down south, landing in New Orleans. A chef of great talent, his career has experienced highs (recognition from national press) and lows (Hurricane Katrina). After taking a soul -crushing job in institutional cooking to get back on his feet after the hurricane (“Use only these vendors. No local food”), he struck a deal with the owner of the Lyric Theatre in downtown Oxford, Mississippi. Carving out a tiny kitchen from an unused closet (literally) he opened Oxford Canteen, a place where he can cook as he pleases and follow his philosophy of sourcing food locally.

It has worked. Oxford Canteen celebrated its first birthday in March. Corbin is not a person of many words (his own admission) but you can get an idea of the man through his food. The Canteen may be miles away from where you are right now but  if you are ever planning to pass through Oxford, (Ole Miss) you should make it a stop. It’s tucked down an alley but I would imagine anyone you ask would know where it is. You can check out the website below.

Having built up Corbin and his food, this is not his recipe. Sorry. But I feel it’s in his spirit, that of taking good fresh, local ingredients, borrowing an idea from somewhere (in this case, elote, Mexican corn on the cob) and making it into something “new” and delicious.

Elote is Mexican street food: grilled corn on the cob slathered with mayo or crema, ancho chile powder, lime juice, and cotija cheese. For this recipe, the corn is first grilled then cut of the cob. The corn is mixed with greens and some seasonal vegetables then tossed in a dressing made up from flavors you would find in elote. A sprinkle of some cotija cheese finishes the salad. It’s open to possibilities of course. There is no correct way to make this salad. Just don’t skimp on the corn. Plan on one ear person, but why not grill extra corn and have it on hand for when you want to make the salad again later in the week.

If you don’t have a grill you can do what I do. Place the corn, one ear at a time, over a gas flame and rotate until the corn is charred. No grill or gas? I haven’t tried this method but I am certain you could roast the corn-on-the-cob in a 400 degree oven until nicely browned.

The dressing makes a small quantity that can be kept in a container in the refrigerator. It may “break” but a few quick shakes will pull it back together.

Elote Salad

For two servings

Plan one ear per person but while you’re at it, grill several and keep the extra on hand to use later

2 ears corn on the cob

3 Tablespoons lime juice

8 Tablespoons oil (I used3 T. canola oil and 5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil)

salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon ancho chile powder (or other chile powder)

pinch of sugar

¼ cup mayonnaise, sour cream, or Mexican crema (or a combination)

2 or 3 Tablespoons crumbled cotija cheese (freshly grated Parmesan will work, too)

salad greens of your choice

cherry tomatoes

sliced radishes

(plus whatever else you’d like to add, such as sliced avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds/ pepitas, etc).

1. Husk the corn and remove the corn silk. Place the corn on a hot grill and cook until evenly charred. Remove the corn from the grill and let cool. To cut the corn off the cob, stand the corn in a medium-sized bowl and cut down the cob, slicing off the kernels. Discard the cobs. Transfer the corn to another bowl, cover, and refrigerate until needed.

To assemble the salad, place two handfuls of mixed greens into a bowl. Add the corn, radishes, and tomatoes (and other ingredients of your choosing) to the bowl. Mix the dressing together if it has separated. Spoon about 2 tablespoons (or so) of the dressing into the bowl and toss to evenly distribute. Add the cheese and mix the cheese into the salad. Divide the salad between two plates and serve.

As Corbin says, “Eat like you mean it.”

Oxford Canteen: http://oxfordcanteen.com/

Slow Cooked Zucchini

The other day I saw a recipe for slow cooked green beans and I thought that it could easily be applied  for zucchini. Because it’s that time of summer again--the attack of the killer zucchini. You know the type, the giant, overgrown monsters from your Great Aunt Tessie’s garden. They arrive on your front door steps in the dark of night like orphaned children, your well-meaning friends either overwhelmed by their abundance of summer squash or simply out of ideas of what to do.

But this technique isn’t for those monsters. They’ve grown too large, their seeds too big, the skins too tough. Those often end up stuffed and baked. Or made into zucchini bread. At our local farmer’s market they are everywhere, too, in all sizes spilling out of bushel baskets.  It’s been that kind of year.

I like to select smaller-sized ones, about 5 to 7 inches in length. I combine them with onion, garlic, tomatoes, basil and olive oil and let them cook low and slow. It’s that simple. After about twenty minutes, they yield easily to the point of a knife. A sprinkle of cheese is all you need to finish them. Serve them in a bowl with the cooking liquid along with your favorite protein and dinner is ready.

I have to go. More zucchini just walked in the front door.

Slow Cooked Summer Squash

While Mediterranean in inspiration, you could also season the squash with some chile powder, omit the basil and use chopped cilantro for a recipe that leans a little south-of-the-border.

For two servings

2 medium-sized zucchini or summer squash (about 5 to 7 inches each)

½ cup sliced onion

1 or 2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 medium tomato, chopped (1 cup) or 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes

6 to 8 fresh basil leaves

salt and ground black pepper

olive oil, for cooking

¼ cup water

few tablespoons cheese (I used queso fresco because I had some leftover in the 'fridge. Goat cheese or

             another crumbling cheese or even Parmesan or Romano would work)

1. Wash the zucchini. Cut off the top and bottom ends from the squash. Slice the squash in half, lengthwise, then in half again. Carefully run your knife the length of each piece to remove the softer, seed-bearing part. Set aside.

2. Place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When hot, swirl in 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion and cook until the onion begins to soften, about 2 to 3 minutes; do not brown the onions. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomato; season with salt and ground black pepper and stir together. Let tomatoes cook for two to three minutes to soften and begin to give off juice. Lay the zucchini into the pan skin side down. Season the squash with a little salt and pepper. Tear and scatter the basil into the pan. Add the water. Cover the pan and lower the heat. Let the zucchini simmer gently until completely tender, about twenty minutes or so depending on the size of the squash. Before serving, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Scatter the cheese over the squash. Carefully remove the zucchini from the pan and serve with the cooking liquid. 

Strawberry, Apricot & Bluebery Pie

Cook with what the farm is giving you.

And after a lazy, cool start in the spring followed by a quick warm up, the choices at our local farmer’s market are staggering. I cannot recall a season when, at one stand alone, you can find strawberries, blueberries, black raspberries, raspberries, apricots, cherries, peaches, and the first plums available at the same time. Which is how I arrived at the combination for this pie. I like the combination of strawberry and apricot (see archives: 6/3/12) and added blueberries.

No complicated thought process there.

For the beginning of pie night this year, I decided to use an all-butter pie crust. I’ve never been a fan. I’ll stick with vegetable shortening for the flakiness; lard is best but people run screaming from the room at the mention of that word. To be honest, when one of my nephews was little the mention of the word “lard” would reduce him to laughter. Some kids laugh at the word “underwear,” his was “lard.” And “blender.”

All-butter pie crusts usually include a little vinegar. You don’t taste the vinegar; it helps with the flaky quality of the finished crust.

None of this is complicated unless you have to work around a dog, a very big golden retriever who feels his presence will assure great results, even if it means he plants himself underfoot. Welcome to our life.

Strawberry, Apricot, and Blueberry Pie   

1 pint strawberries (2 cups)

1 pint apricots (2 cups)

1 pint blueberries (2 cups)

½ cup sugar

5 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Pie Crust

For one 9” double crust pie

The crust can be mixed by hand, or using a pastry blender, in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a food processor. If you use a food processor, take care not to over mix the dough.

If you want to skip the butter, use an equivalent amount of vegetable shortening and omit the vinegar. Or use half butter and half shortening. Whichever you prefer.

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces, chilled

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 cup cold water (you won’t need all of it)

1. Place the flour and the salt into a bowl and mix to combine. Add half of the cold butter and mix until the butter forms a sandy texture with the flour. Add the rest of the butter to the bowl and continue mixing, leaving bigger pieces of butter in the flour.

2. Pour the vinegar into a measuring cup. Add enough water to make ¾ cup liquid. Add the water to the dough in small amounts mixing until the dough comes together and forms a ball. If the dough appears too dry, add a little additional water. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide in half. Shape each piece of dough into a flat disk. Wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 20 to 30 minutes or overnight.

3. Rinse the strawberries under cold water. Remove the stems and cut the berries in half lengthwise. If the berries are large, you might have to cut them into quarters. Place the strawberries into a bowl. Wash the apricots. Run a knife around the apricot, cutting down from the top. Separate the halves and remove the pits. Quarter the apricots and place them into the bowl. Rinse the blueberries under cold water. Pick out any stems, if necessary, then place them into the bowl with the other fruit. Add the sugar and mix together. Set aside for 20 minutes.

4. Roll out the bottom crust. Remove one dough disk from the refrigerator. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll the dough out away from you in one direction. Give the dough quarter turns in a circle and continue rolling out the dough dusting with additional flour as needed until the dough is 1/8” thick. Lift and place the dough into a 9” pie plate. Trim the excess dough from the edge, leaving about a ½” overhang. Place into the refrigerator.

5. Heat oven to 450 degrees. After the fruit has given off some of its juices, mix in the cornstarch until evenly blended. Set aside.

6. Roll out the top crust. Cut a circle into the center of the dough. Remove the bottom crust from the refrigerator. Place the fruit into an even layer in the pie pan. Brush the edge of the bottom crust with some of the egg wash. Lay the top crust over the fruit, pressing the edges together. Trim away excess dough. Press the edges of the crust to thin them out and turn them under onto the rim of the pie plate. Crimp the edges together around the outside of the crust. Brush the top of the crust with some of the egg wash; sprinkle the top crust with some sugar if you wish.

7. Place the pie onto a baking tray and then into the oven. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes; after ten minutes reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for an additional 40 to 45 minutes until the filling is bubbling. Remove from the oven. Resist all temptation to eat it until it cools completely. Serve alone, but c’mon, really? Break out the ice cream!

Shrimp with Tasso

Regionalism is shrinking. Once if you wanted a certain “regional” food, such as the many permutations of barbecue (Memphis. St. Louis, Texas, North Carolina, etc), or lobster rolls or even Buffalo wings, you had to travel to get it.

But now distances have been shortened.  Northerners now try their hand at being pit masters. Buffalo wings, or some sorry version, are everywhere. You can order Corky’s barbecue off of the TV.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this of course. But if it makes a great ingredient more easily obtainable, I’m there.

Tasso is spiced, smoked pork shoulder used in Southern Louisiana, Cajun/Creole in origin.

I have been lucky to find locally made tasso at our local farmer's market supplied by Freeland Market.

Freeland Market is a family-run business in Pottstown. They make a large variety of sausages and they also make a great version of  tasso. 

The uses of tasso are pretty limitless; think of where you might use bacon and tasso makes for a spicy, smoky alternative. Just slice off what you need and rewrap it. I keep it in the freezer and take it out as I need it.

This recipe for shrimp sautéed with tasso is very NOLA in origin. While shrimp broth is called for in the recipe, you can skip that and substitute with a little beer instead. I wouldn’t use a beer with too complex a flavor for it might get in the way, but I wouldn’t use some type of “light” beer either. The shrimp broth is easy to put together using the shells of the shrimp in the recipe. Peel the shrimp and make the stock while you do the rest of the prep. The stock should be ready when you are ready to cook. Shrimp stock, like most seafood stocks, cooks for only 20 minute or so. There’s always the option of using chicken broth, too. The recipe for shrimp stock follows at the end.

Serve the shrimp with some rice, cold beer, and you are all set. As the late, red suspendered Cajun chef Justin (“Joo-stan”) Wilson used to say, “It’s wondermus, I ghar-un-tee.”

Shrimp with Tasso

For two servings

½ to ¾ pound shrimp

½ cup diced tasso

2 or 3 spring onions (scallions), chopped (about ½ cup)

½ cup diced red bell pepper

1 rib celery, diced

2 or 3 cloves minced garlic

1 cup chopped (canned) plum tomatoes, along with some of their juice

shrimp stock (recipe below)

1 to 2 Tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, optional

salt and ground black pepper

olive oil, for cooking

1. Peel and devein the shrimp; reserve the shells for stock. Place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot, swirl in one to two tablespoons olive oil into the pan. Add the shrimp; you don’t want to cook the shrimp entirely at this point. Sear them off on one side, turn them and sear them on the other side, then transfer them to a plate.

2. Let the pan cool slightly then add the tasso, adding additional oil to the pan if necessary. Stir and let the tasso cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onions, bell pepper and celery, and continue cooking. Scrape the bottom of the sauté pan as the vegetables cook to loosen any “browned bits” that might have developed. Saute the vegetables until they begin to soften, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes and some of their juice; season with salt and black pepper. Ladle in about ½ cup shrimp stock (or some beer or chicken broth) to the pan and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Return the shrimp to the pan to finish cooking the shrimp. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed; stir in the parsley, the butter (if using) and remove the pan from the heat. Divide the rice between two bowls and divide the shrimp, tasso, vegetables, and sauce. Serve with cold beer.

Shrimp Stock

Reserved shrimp shells

3 cups cold water

½ teaspoon salt

½ onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

1. Place the shrimp shells and vegetables into a saucepot; add the water and salt. Place the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook the stock for twenty minutes. Remove from heat. Strain the stock through a colander or strainer, reserving the liquid. Discard the shells and vegetables.

There is also a recipe for corn and tasso “hash” in the archives 7/8/12

Seasonal Beet Salads

Beets. The line is clearly marked. It's either "yes" or "no". There is no "maybe" with beets.
I am the only person at this web address who will eat beets. If you don't like beets, don't run away just yet. This same idea could be used substituting roasted carrots for the beets (see archives: 9/24/14). What follows is less a recipe but more of a way to approach beet salads throughout the season.

Stick with me, you will understand.

Most beet salads you find in restaurants combine the beets with cheese, usually goat or blue cheese since it complements and off-sets the sweetness of the beets, along with some greens, and nuts.  Recently while out with youngest daughter I had a beet salad composed in this manner but the result was cloyingly sweet, using a balsamic vinegar glaze and candied nuts. Sweet upon sweet upon sweet. It was sweeter than some desserts.

So dodging the incredulous looks of my family members, I have been making roasted beet salads. I added some strawberries since they were also in season. I crumbled some blue cheese (gorgonzola dolce) onto the plate, added a few toasted walnuts and some locally grown pea shoots. As the season changes, the strawberries can be replaced with another seasonal berry. You can change the cheese (Birchrun Farms blue? A nice local goat cheese? What about cheddar or a jalapeno jack cheese?), the nuts (hazelnuts? pecans?), and the greens.

You get the idea. Own it.

Instead of boiling, roasting has become the preferred cooking method for beets. Cooking times will wary depending on the size of the beets.

To roast beets:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse the beets, trim the root ends and cut off the beet greens, if attached. (The beet greens can be sauteed as a replacement for spinach or another green.) Place the beets on a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle the beets with olive oil, season with salt and black pepper. You could also add a few springs of fresh thyme, too. Wrap the beets, place the beets onto a baking tray and roast the beets for about 45 minutes to one hour, depending on the size of the beets. The beets are done when they are easily pierced with the point of a knife. Remove from the oven. When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins (red beets can stain so you might choose to wear a pair of disposable food prep gloves), discard the skins, and store the beets in a covered container in the refrigerator until needed.

Before serving, dice the beets and toss them in a white balsamic vinaigrette (Follow the basic ratio of 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar mixed with 2 or 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; season with salt, ground black pepper, and a bit of sugar. Mix well and store until needed.)

Pan Roasted Wild Salmon with Roasted Carrots and Carrot Risotto

We’ve been eating a lot of carrots recently, usually roasted and tossed together in a salad. The salad is a variation of a roasted carrot salad from last summer that you can find in the archives (9/24/14).

But with some leftover carrots hanging around I decided to roast them and serve them with some wild Sockeye salmon and a carrot risotto using carrot juice instead of a vegetable or chicken stock. Most stores have fresh carrot juice on hand.

Vegetarians can just make the risotto, chopping and folding the carrots into the risotto at the end.

You don’t even have to use salmon. It would work perfectly well with chicken or pork tenderloin.

For the carrots, I have found bunches of smaller-sized organic carrots (with tops attached) which work perfectly while we wait for locally grown carrots to appear at the farmer’s market. Use any carrot as long as they are cut to a uniform thickness to assure even cooking. I season the carrots with some ground coriander seed, which has a bright, lemony flavor. Ground cumin seed would work too.

The risotto technique may seem radical but it works perfectly and it cuts down on stirring. You still need to stir the rice occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan as well as to look to make sure the risotto is cooking at a gentle simmer. But in terms of standard risotto technique this is fairly low maintenance.

To strategize your cooking, roast the carrots first and set them aside. Prepare the risotto and set it aside unfinished. Cook the salmon. While the salmon is cooking, finish the risotto as directed. Warm the carrots in the oven when the salmon goes into the oven.

This makes for a very orange plate. Hail beta-carotene.

Pan Roasted Wild Salmon with Roasted Carrots and Carrot Risotto

For two servings

Two 4 to 6 ounce portions of salmon

Salt and ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

Juice of ½ lemon

Roasted Carrots

1 bunch of carrots (about 8 to 10 small-sized carrots or 4 or 5 regular-sized carrots.)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

salt and ground black pepper

2 to 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Clean the carrots under cold water and scrub them with a soft bristled brush; they don’t need to be peeled. If they have tops, remove tem and trim the bottom of the carrots. Slice the carrots in half lengthwise. If you are using larger carrots, halve them lengthwise. You might have to cut the carrot in half, crosswise.  If the top half of the carrot is thicker than the bottom half, slice the thicker part into quarters. You want to have 16 to 20 pieces of carrot when you are finished.

2. Place the carrots into a bowl. Drizzle them with olive oil and season with the ground coriander, sugar, salt, and ground black pepper. Toss the carrots together to distribute the seasonings. Lay the carrots in an even layer on a foil-lined baking tray. Place the carrots into the oven and roast for 16 minutes. Remove the carrots from the oven and carefully turn them over and return the carrots to the oven to roast for an additional 6- 8 minutes until the carrots are tender; a knife point should easily pierce the carrots. Using the aluminum foil on the tray, wrap the carrots and set aside.

Carrot Risotto
Usually white wine is the first liquid added to a risotto before the addition of stock. I omitted that step for this recipe. You could certainly use white wine. Just alter the first addition of liquid to be read “1/4 cup white wine, followed by ¾ cup carrot juice.” The white wine isn’t really necessary in this risotto. Since this technique will work for any risotto, you might find yourself wishing to include the wine when making a different risotto.
If you have a timer handy, it will help with monitoring the cooking time.

For 2 servings

½ cup Arborio rice

1 Tablespoon minced shallot

1 to 2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 cups carrot juice

2 to 3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 to 2 teaspoons minced chives

1. Place the carrot juice into a saucepan and warm it over medium high heat.  Place a second pan over medium-high heat. Swirl in the olive oil; add the shallots and sauté the shallots to soften, about a minute. Add the rice and stir the rice into the shallots and oil. Add 1 cup of the hot carrot juice to the rice and stir together. Season with some salt then cover the pot and lower the heat. The rice should simmer throughout cooking. Occasionally stir the rice to prevent it from sticking, looking to see that the risotto is cooking gently. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes until almost all of the carrot juice has been absorbed. (At this point the risotto can be put aside and finished later).

2. Taste the rice for tenderness: If there are any “crunchy bits” in the center of the rice, it needs to cook longer. To finish the risotto, place the pot over medium-high heat. Add more carrot juice, stir and continue cooking until the rice is cooked through but is still has a toothsome bite to it. When the rice is al dente, taste for seasoning, adding additional salt if needed, some ground black pepper, the cheese, and butter plus the chives.  You can add some more stock depending on whether you like your risotto creamy or “tight.” Stir everything together. Turn off the heat, cover and let the risotto stand for about 2 minutes before serving.

Pan Roasted Wild Salmon

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Season the salmon with some salt and ground black pepper. Heat a non-stick sauté pan over high heat. When hot, swirl in a little olive oil. Carefully place the salmon into the pan, skin side up. Cook the salmon for about 3 to 4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish (a 1” thick fillet will take about 10 minutes total cooking time for well done, so adjust the cooking time to the thickness of your fish and your preferred degree of doneness). Turn the salmon and place it into the oven to finish cooking, about 3 to 4 minutes). Carefully remove the pan from the oven. Remove the salmon from the pan and place it skin-side up onto a paper towel lined plate. If the skin is on the fish and you wish to remove it, it will easily peel off the fillet.

To serve, divide the risotto between two plates. Top the risotto with some roasted carrots, then the salmon and the last of the carrots. Gloss the salmon with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

                                   

Burrata with Morels

                                                                      (No. It's burrata...)

With the opening of our local farmer’s market, spring has truly arrived. While it’s early in our growing season, there’s asparagus, plenty of greens, rhubarb, and the long awaited strawberries (fantastic so far this year) and wild mushrooms.

I paired sautéed morels with lightly warmed burrata cheese. Before you think this is a recipe for something you cannot get, remember that this is a template and you can use any mushrooms. The earthy flavor of the warm mushrooms paired with the lushness of burrata make for a great first course (or small plate, in restaurant speak).

Burrata is the mad genius-fever dream of some cheese maker who thought (and I translate freely from Italian), “How can I make mozzarella even better? I know. I’ll fill it with leftover scraps of mozzarella and some cream.” Genius. But more to the point it was no doubt a case of not wanting to waste anything which is so often the inspiration behind great food and cooking.

Burrata is easier to find nowadays thanks in part to the explosion in our love for all things lactic and the ever- expanding cheese selections in stores. The brand I found had two burrata per container and that meant two servings over two different days making it a little less expensive.

My apologies to the lactose intolerant (sorry, sweetie) but this is delicious. And easy.

Burrata with Morels

1 ball burrata cheese

4 ounces morels (or any other mushroom)

1 Tablespoon minced shallot

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

salt and ground black pepper

Baguette slices, brushed with olive oil and toasted

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees. Place the burrata into an oven-proof shallow dish and cut the burrata in the middle so the burrata opens. Season the burrata lightly with salt. Set aside.

2. Trim the bottoms off the mushrooms. Rinse them under cold water and slice the mushrooms in half lengthwise, depending on their size (this, of course, will vary depending on the mushrooms you use).

Place a medium-sized sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the butter and olive oil. After the butter has melted, add the shallots and sauté for a minute or two until the shallots have softened. Add the garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms to the pan, season with some salt and ground black pepper and cook the mushrooms until they are tender, about 5 minutes.

3. While the mushrooms are cooking, place the burrata into the oven to warm for a few minutes; watch so that the burrata doesn’t collapse (if it does, it will still be alright).

4. To serve, remove the burrata from the oven and spoon the cooked mushrooms and their liquid over the cheese. Add a little extra olive oil to the pan to rinse out any remaining shallots or garlic and pour this over the cheese; season with some additional ground black pepper. Serve the burrata/ mushroom mixture with the toasted baguette slices along with a knife and spoon. Make sure that nothing is left behind before calling it quits. Fondue never had it this good.

If you know me at all, there was no choice but to resort to the “Day the Earth Stood Still.”