Southern-inspired dinner

Tiffany Broadbent Beker — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 14:03:43 +0000

When we decided to try out Sean Brock’s slow cooked pork shoulder recipe from the Heritage cookbook we concluded the rest of the meal should be Southern-themed as well. I had made some pimento cheese earlier and that seemed a perfect appetizer option. We also had some Virginia peanuts from our CSA that we had roasted and were sitting in the fridge and Jeremy decided to take some inspiration from the “Bar Peanuts” we had a the Rogue Gentleman in Richmond and sautéed them in butter with a generous amount of fresh cracked black pepper and Maldon salt.

Dinner came together perfectly with the pork, tomato gravy, potato gratin and roasted brussel sprouts with pancetta (provided by our dinner guests). Definitely need to go “Southern-inspired” for dinner more often. Simple ingredients, un-fussy recipes, and a good bottle(s) of wine? A recipe for success.

The wonders of burrata cheese

Tiffany Broadbent Beker — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 15:19:39 +0000

Burrata with fresh tomatoes

I first really fell in love with soft, creamy, salty burrata cheese this August in California when I was served it over fresh heirloom tomatoes with a simple drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of salt and pepper (similar to this). Since then I’ve encountered it on many a restaurant menu and (almost) every time have ordered it and enjoyed it immensely.

Summer vegetable salad with burrata cheese croquette, part of lunch at Mondavi

I looked into how to make burrata cheese, as cheesemaking has been in the queue of “cooking techniques to learn” for quite a while, but I think I may start with a simpler cheese for my first cheesemaking endeavor (perhaps ricotta, especially since we got a Thermapen for Christmas so temperature monitoring will be vastly simpler).

So deep fried or fresh, if you encounter burrata in the grocery store or on a restaurant menu, I highly encourage you to try it!

cheese – TLB Entries

Southern-inspired dinner

The wonders of burrata cheese