THAT'S ALOTTA BURRATA!
Happy Thursday! If you’re someone who lives for a luscious, creamy, and luxurious bite, you’re in luck. This week we’re dishin’ up two recipes that feature Burrata as the star ingredient! The cream-and-straciatella-filled mozzarella pairs well with just about anything (we’d eat it on shoe leather), but it really shines with this week’s dishes… to the recipes!
CUCUMBER & BURRATA SALAD WITH GREEN GODDESS
EK: A few weeks ago, I went to one of my favorite restaurants (Vern’s) in Charleston. As an aside, if you are planning a trip to the Holy City and are looking for a small restaurant with exceptional food, put Vern’s on your list.
They used to have the best brunch in town, but have recently stopped serving brunch to focus solely on dinner. Everything that we ate was ‘spot on’ so maybe that was the right decision, but I will miss the seasonal Benne pancakes forever.
The menu is small and eclectic. I was intrigued by a pairing on the menu that I had never seen before. Under appetizers, it said ”Cucumbers, Burrata, Arugula, Lemon Balm.” We were sitting at the bar, so I asked the bartender about the dish…I mentioned casually that I was skeptical because both Burrata and cucumbers are delicate in flavor and don’t have any real punch or acidity.
But, he said it was one of his favorite things on the menu, and I am nothing if not food adventurous, so I ordered it. It was definitely a combination that I would never have put together, otherwise.
AU: I have to admit, it raised my eyebrows when you mentioned it… But I was like, “Well, she knows what she likes, so it must be good!” hahaha
EK: When the dish arrived, all I could see was arugula. I assumed the cucumbers and Burrata were under all those spiny green leaves. We ordered the grilled bread to go with it, and, I don’t think that should be optional, it should be mandatory.
I took a forkful of what I hoped were all of the ingredients, put it on a torn piece of the grilled sourdough and took a bite. I was pleasantly surprised!
It was a perfect balance of creamy Burrata, crisp, fresh cucumbers, and bitter arugula…with an explosion of herbaceous Green Goddess dressing. I didn’t taste any lemon balm, but I didn’t miss it either!
Both the menu and the bartender left out the Green Goddess part and that is what makes this combination make sense and infinitely crave-able.
EK: If you’ve been a reader for at least six weeks, you’ll remember that Anthony created a Green Goddess dip using cottage cheese as the base. I hope you’ve made that dip (which can also be used as a dressing). I have fallen in love with it. I made it while Anthony was developing it, and I’ve made it a couple of times since. I don’t just use it for a dip—I use it as a sandwich spread, and a dressing, too!
AU: Who knew that cottage cheese and some herbs could be so many things?!? I do love it for all of those uses. It’s also a great marinade for chicken.
EK: Because I had that Dip/Dressing in my back-pocket, it’s no surprise that I couldn’t stop thinking about making the cucumbers and Burrata with Anthony’s Green Goddess dip/dressing. A few days after I had eaten my dinner at Vern’s, I decided to see if I could replicate the salad at home. Turns out it was easy to make, and once you make the Green Goddess, it’s really more of an assemblage than cooking.
AU: But it looks so impressive!! Like a real fine dining dish! It would definitely be impressive to guests at your table.
EK: I am not going to go over making the Green Goddess, because you can refer to the archives for all the green goodness. But I suggest you make the dip/dressing the day before so all the flavors can get cozy with each other.
EK: When you are ready to serve the salad, you want to build it in four layers. The presentation is a little fussier than most of my food, but it is very satisfying to do and looks very pretty on the plate.
You will want to use an English cucumber with few to no seeds, and slice it thinly using a slicer or mandolin. I have owned many Mandolins and the original French Mandolin is not very smooth and takes up a lot of room. These days I prefer a nifty OXO grater/slicer with a catch tray or a Benriner. You have to be careful with both, because neither have a very good guard. I always wear a Nitrile glove and stop slicing the moment I think, “I can get one more slice out of it”—that rule has saved many a finger!
Once you have sliced the cucumber, it’s time to build the salad in four layers
Puddle of Green Goddess
Cover the Green Goddess with a Circle of Overlapping Cucumbers
Place the Whole Burrata in the Center of the Cucumbers—do not cut
Scatter Arugula and Fleur de Sel over the Top
Don’t forget to serve with grilled or toasted bread!
~ ABOUT US ~
Anthony is an Emmy-Award-winning TV Producer who produced everything from breaking news to lifestyle content at Good Morning America for 10 years, and was part of the original team that created The Chew, an award-winning cooking and talk show on ABC.
Elizabeth is a PR maven, chef, food writer, and food and beverage consultant who has worked as a spokesperson and logged many hours on TV. She is also the original “Grill Girl” and the author of 4 grilling cookbooks.
Together, they are the creative team that produce the What’s 4 Dinner? newsletter, culinary productions, partnerships, infomercials, and creative content.
GRILLED CHICKEN WITH PEACHES & BURRATA
*Enjoy this recipe from the W4D archives!
AU: So if you haven’t yet noticed, I’m a lazy cook. I don’t like to dirty a bunch of dishes, and don’t even come near me with an ingredient list that’s ten miles long. Am I alone here?
EK: A bunch of dishes are the worst. Probably one of the reasons that I gravitated to the grill—virtually no clean up! And, I put everything but my knives in the dishwasher, so I am extra lazy!
AU: Well, that’s exactly why I love a platter dinner. “What in the world is a platter dinner?” you might ask. Well, it’s essentially a full meal on one plate to which dining companions can help themselves. It’s easier on you, the host, and it always elicits a wow-factor gasp from the people who are about to enjoy it. A win-win for everyone involved!
EK: Mark my words, Anthony’s Platter Dinners are the new Sheet Pan Suppers—you saw it here first, folks!
AU: Peaches are hittin’ hard right now at the green markets, so pick some up! Eat one over the sink with the juice dripping down your arm, because that’s what you’re supposed to do in the Summer. Then you should obvi make some kind of cake or peach ice cream. The next thing I’m going to say can be quite polarizing: use some peaches in a savory setting.
Quite a few people I know, take a very hard stance on the “no-fruit in my meat” issue. I don’t typically love a fruit-based entree (like, keep the strawberries out of my friggin’ salad, thanks!)… but I do enjoy a GRILLED fruit, and if the accompanying savory dish is crafted to bolster the fruit flavor, instead of using it as an afterthought, I’m all for it!
AU: Grilling your peaches can take a “meh” peach and turn it into a YOWZA peach. Because fruit is full of natural sugars, you get amazing caramelization in no time at all. And lucky for you, Elizabeth shared the best method to grill fruit—it’s so easy!
Grill peaches over medium direct heat (we don’t want them to burn) until you get some nice grill marks (about a minute), then flip them and move them to indirect heat to finish cooking. You’ll know they’re done when the skin starts to peel away from the flesh. The result is something between a fresh raw peach and a fully-cooked peach… which to me, is peach perfection.
AU: I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, but you could use breasts if that’s your thing. Another bonus of using thighs: if you overcook them a smidge, they’re still good and juicy, thanks to having a little more fat than their busty brethren.
You can season the thighs simply with salt and pepper, but I was feeling a little extra (shocking, I know), so I made a quick rub of ground coriander, granulated garlic, chili pepper, and toasted-then-crushed fennel seeds. I think it really compliments the bright, tart-sweet flavor of the grilled peaches.
Once you’ve grilled the peaches and chicken, it’s just about piling all the goodness onto a platter (or cutting board! or sheet pan!) and setting it out for your guests to devour. I like to serve things like this on a bed of lightly dressed greens (arugula in this case), so that it feels like you have a side dish built right in. Then dot everything with ribbons of silky, salty prosciutto, some creamy, dreamy burrata or fresh buffalo mozzarella, a generous drizzle of hot honey, and some fragrant, freshly torn basil. This one will be on repeat for the rest of the Summer!
