Rach, Elizabeth, and I visited Asheville last winter and we took a food tour where we got to visit lots of stores and restaurants and eat our way through downtown Asheville (http://www.ashevillefoodtours.com/). It was so much fun and we got a ton of food! My kind of tour.
One of the restaurants we visited did a demo where he showed us all the ingredients and how he cooked everything. So this was my attempt at recreating the best dish on the tour. I definitely don't have it down. Everything tasted good except for the radicchio which I thought was too bitter and I can't figure out what I did differently. Maybe Rach has a better memory and has some suggestions for how to fix it :) Also, on the tour they gave us this really amazing burrata mozzarella cheese but I can't find it here. I did however find an Italian market (ironically located right next to my gym) and they had really amazing fresh mozzarella. Here is my imprecise and made up recipe. I think next time I try it I might cook the radicchio longer because it is supposed to be less bitter when you cook it.
Olive Oil
1 pear - sliced
1/3 head of radicchio- cut into strips
Balsamic Vinegar
Fresh Mozzarella
Prosciutto- chopped into small pieces
Reduce the balsamic to make a balsamic reduction. Just put it in a pan and simmer it over med heat. I added a little sugar (b/c I was cheap and bought the off brand balsamic). It takes a while to reduce it (like 20-40 mins) and you have to stir it almost constantly, otherwise it will burn on the bottom of the pan. I reduced mine about halfway and then let it cool and put it back in the balsamic bottle so I can use it on other things.
Heat Olive Oil in skillet over med-high heat
Add the radicchio and cook for about 2-3 mins
Then add prosciutto and pears. I just cooked for a while until it looked done.
When I plated it, I put a little more olive oil on it, and the balsamic vinegar.
Below is the picture we took from the food tour. As you can see, they are practically identical.
That actually does look really similar! I'm impressed. You know...I remember him saying the radicchio is bitter, and to take care of that he.... Yeah, I can't retrieve the end of that sentence. Memory fail! I think I'm going to the special market on Tuesday...I will check for burrata there!
ReplyDeleteThey have fun food tours in Seattle....
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think my ration of radicchio is too high too... more cheese!
ReplyDelete