al fresco dining Archives - Proud Italian Cook

Grilling Sides!

BBQ season is now upon us, and eating Al fresco is one of the highlights of summer for me.
Simple and inexpensive vegetables can become delicious sides for your main course with just a little tweaking. Try these for your next cook out, your guests will be very happy and so will you!

Balsamic Glazed Onions

I like to use a sweet onion, like a Vadalia, cut it into about 1/2 inch disk, make your own balsamic vinaigrette. Take 1 or 2 wooden skewers and pierce through the onion so all layers stay in tact while flipping on the grill. Generously brush your onions on both sides with the vinaigrette, season with salt and pepper.

Corn Cobs with Parmesan Garlic Butter Crust

Cook your corn in salted water, drain and cool down. In a bowl melt butter, add 1 crushed garlic clove, a little olive oil, salt and pepper. In another bowl add a hand full of panko breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan cheese. Roll corn in butter, then breadcrumb mixture, and cook on a hot grill for about 10 minutes till golden brown.

Grilled Potato Disks

Cut your potatoes into round disks, I used red potatoes here but any kind would do. Toss them in olive oil, salt and pepper and add fresh snipped rosemary. Place on your grill and cook till fork tender, crusty and golden brown. You could even cheat a little and nuck them a little first in the microwave before you toss them in the oil till tender, and then throw them on the grill to crisp up.

I served these with your classic BBQ chicken, how can you go wrong with that!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Buon Appetito, and Happy grilling!

See the gate hubby built for the garden? Not bad huh?

BURRATA!

If You’re lucky enough to come across some Burrata cheese, please don’t hesitate to pick some up. Yes, it’s a little pricey, but worth every single penny! It’s a food experience you’re not likely to forget. I happen to be at the right place, at the right time, the other day when I saw a special display of Burrata set up over at Whole Foods.

Imported from Italy, this artisanal cheese has a very short shelf life of about 2 weeks because it is fresh and not aged at all. This is not something that Whole Foods has in stock all the time, they try to get it in on all the holidays though. Even they were surprised when they got this shipment in. They tell me when it does come in it sells out so fast, so that’s why I said I was there at the right time. Lucky me there was 3 left!

Don’t you just love the packaging!!

The best way to describe Burrata is think fresh mozzarella kicked up a couple hundred notches, with a luscious creamy-like center that’s filled with a mixture of heavy cream and stracciatella (little rags) or curds of mozzarella. When you burst open the center everything oozes out!

This must be eaten at room temperature for maximum flavor and creaminess.

I roasted some Campari tomatoes with olive oil and purchased some spicy olives to go along with it, and of course some warm crusty bread!

I can’t think of a better way to spend a relaxing Sunday afternoon, sipping on some cool crisp white wine to go along with our Burrata treat, al fresco style!

You can also cook with Burrata, you can put it on pizza or any number of things.