heirloom tomatoes and burrata

The dreaded summer heat has finally quelled here in sunny Southern California, the days are milder and the nights cooler. Though I highly doubt we’ve seen the end of the hot spells, as it’s common for another warm blast or two to sneak in before fall finally stakes its claim. The tomato plants however, are definitely over the hill, with few fruit remaining on the vines. Therefore I figured it would be nice to capture a few more photos with the available supply.

I made a beautiful dish of tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella and garden herbs and flowers this past weekend to share with some friends, and didn’t have a chance to snap up a good photo. So I recreated the dish, this time with a less colorful array (used up all the yellow and dark red tomatoes already) and with creamy burrata in place of standard mozzarella. The tomatoes and cheese were dressed simply with Maldon sea salt and cracked black pepper, with a good glug of extra virgin olive oil and a few flecks of dried red chili. Young tender leaves of basil and its flowers were plucked from the garden, along with some oregano, peppery arugula, and their respective blooms. I’ll definitely miss the tomatoes when they’re gone, but that’s the beauty of seasonality: the excitement and anticipation of the return.