My husband and I just returned from a trip to San Francisco and Napa Valley. Being the foodie that I am, I drug our asses all over the city, hitting up as many restaurants, bars, wineries and markets as possible. There was some pretty amazing and inspiring food in the Bay Area; I was in heaven! If I could sum up the Bay Area food-scene in a few words it would be “fresh and innovative yet simple and stylish”. Just my style! We stopped off at a few wineries in Napa Valley and I must say, my favorite was Robert Sinskey (pictured below), hands down! We went on a “Farm to Table” tour and learned all about their bio-dynamic farm, toured the wine caves, and sat down for a beautiful wine and food pairing: pizza made right in front of us, various cheeses, farm-fresh rhubarb jam, mini quiches and salmon gravlax. I even learned how to prepare beet-cured salmon (that’s a separate blog post entirely!).
While in San Francisco, we stopped by the Ferry Building farmers market on Saturday morning. It’s quite rare that my husband gets excited about food. However, the one time I love going grocery shopping with him is at Farmers Markets: he jumps from booth to booth, checking out each little box of treasures from the local farmers. “Look at these tomatoes!”, “We gotta get some of these apricots!”. I love to see the joy of food light up in his face as it does for me on a daily basis. Not only does it get him excited about food, it gets me excited to bring home our finds and get creative in the kitchen.
We arrived at the Ferry Building farmers market and there he went…packing his back-pack with snacks for the day: fresh summer peas, juicy peaches and any other treats he could find from local purveyors. We even stopped for brunch: smoked salmon tartines with cream cheese, golden beets and walnuts and a fresh mint tea.
So with the plethora of amazing fresh fruits and vegetables coupled with all the wine and cheese we devoured over the five days in San Francisco and Napa, it is no surprise my first blog post upon return is centered around these items: local burrata cheese with raw, shaved asparagus, basil, and grilled peaches in a white balsamic vinaigrette…and we can’t forget the wine!
Sometimes you have to throw the rules out the window, sit back, and enjoy a glass of vino…hopefully with some good cheese!
- 8 asparagus spears, ends trimmed
- 2 peaches; free stone peaches preferred - nectarines work well too
- coconut oil for brushing
- 1 large piece of burrata
- large handful of basil, divided
- Extra virgin olive oil, to garnish
- sea salt, to garnish
- 7 Tablespoons extra virgin oil
- 3 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon
- 1/2 Tablespoon honey
- pinch of salt
- Heat grill to medium heat.
- Chiffonade half the basil. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine all vinaigrette ingredients and the chiffonaded basil. Shake vigorously and set aside.
- Shave the asparagus with a peeler. Toss with some of the vinaigrette and set aside. (You may not need all the vinaigrette).
- Cut peaches in half and brush the peaches with the coconut oil. Place the peaches on the grill, cut side down. Grill for approximately 3-4 minutes until lightly charred.
- Place the asparagus, burrata and peaches on a plate. Garnish with the remaining basil and drizzle the burrata with the extra virgin olive oil and a bit of salt. Drizzle with a bit more of the vinaigrette if needed.
Lenka - Mhmmmm, this looks so good and so much like summer! Just today I bought the first peaches of the season, but they are a little hard still, I suppose while they ripening I should get a burrata and some green asparagus to try your tempting new recipe!
Love & Garnish - Your exactly right, Lenka! Summer on a plate! How can you go wrong with fruit and cheese?!