New Orleans trip inspires a burrata salad

In early March, my husband and I took a trip to New Orleans. It was the week after Mardi Gras and the crowds were gone. We walked along wide, flat city streets under majestic oaks. Many front gates were still decorated with dozens of strands of colorful beads. The weather was balmy without being humid and there was live music playing every couple of blocks. Sounds like New Orleans, right?

What I didn’t expect though was how good the food was. In my experience, tourist spots don’t always have quality food. In the Bay Area, the bar is set high so I was surprised that the restaurants we went to night after night were serving super-fresh, local cuisine.

That is why I didn’t hesitate when I saw a burrata salad on a menu for dinner one night. If you haven’t tried it, burrata is a type of cheese originally from Southern Italy. It comes in a round pouch with a knot on top. If the cheese is fresh, a creamy, salty, buttery curd pours out from the center when you cut it open — perfect to scoop up with a piece of bread or spread over fresh greens.

If it is old though, nothing flows out of the middle and the texture is rubbery and sour tasting. Unfortunately, that was the case this time. (I’d forgotten to ask the waiter if the burrata was fresh.) You can find burrata at a well-stocked grocery store in a translucent bag or netting. The wow factor when you cut into the cheese at the table is worth the extra effort to make sure it’s fresh.

This dish is from the cooking section of the New York Times by David Tanis. I adapted it just slightly by adding blood oranges to the salad for a bittersweet flavor and a juicy texture. I also added a couple drops of maple syrup to the dressing (not too much, so that the dressing is sweet) to mellow the lemon juice a little.

I like to serve this in a big bowl on a bed of butter lettuce with lots of torn fresh herbs. Don’t forget the baguette!

Note: Look for shiny, hard fava bean pods as opposed to floppy ones. And it is a good idea to let the cheese come to room temperature for 30 minutes or so before you serve it.

Claudia Alexander has been happily cooking for family and friends for more than three decades. She has a weekly food blog, sweetbynurture.com. Contact her at sweetbynurture@gmail.com.

RECIPE

Fennel, Fava and Burrata Salad

Servings: 2 to 3

Salad:

3 pounds fava beans in their pods

¾ cup thinly shaved fennel

½ cup thinly sliced celery

3 cups butter lettuce, washed, dried and torn

1 blood orange, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds

¼ cup each of mint, basil and parsley

8 ounces fresh burrata

Dressing:

1/3 cup finely chopped shallots

3 tablespoons of lemon juice (approximately one Meyer lemon)

¼ cup olive oil

Pinch of salt and pepper

3 to 4 drops of maple syrup

Directions:

Bring a medium-sized pot of salted water to a boil. In the meantime, shell the fava beans. (Compost the empty bean pods if you can. I put mine in a food processor, grind them up and add them to the soil in my vegetable garden.) Boil the beans for two minutes and lift them out of the water with a slotted spoon and rinse them. Over a medium bowl, pinch the outer layer of the bean and the insides pop out into the bowl. Set aside. Next, wash and shave the fennel. A mandolin works well. Add the fennel to the bowl with the fava beans along with the sliced celery and torn herbs.

To make the dressing, add the shallots, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to a clean, dry jar with a lid. Screw on the lid and shake vigorously to blend. Taste and add a couple of drops of maple syrup. Shake and taste again and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Pour 1/3 of the dressing over the fava mixture and toss. In a large bowl, add the butter lettuce and spread the fava mixture over the top. Place the oranges on the top and the burrata in the middle. Serve alongside the remaining dressing. Mop up any leftovers with pieces of baguette.

— Adapted by David Tanis’ recipe