Last week, we cozied up with Cocktail Academy and Summerland Farm to Frontdoor for a little culinary ‘research.’ Inside Cocktail Academy’s little gem of a downtown event space, Apartment A, we felt as though we’d stepped out of time into a Los Angeles of another era.
Ambiance aside, the evening was truly about local, farm-fresh food and cocktails. Together with Kitchensurfing chef Jennie Trinh, Summerland served up peaches from local California farm Burkart Organics in a few forms – each more delicious than the next.
We loved this peach and burrata crostini because, well, it’s a peach and burrata crostini – enough said. (We’ve mentioned our love of all things toast.) The peachy number that Cocktail Academy concocted to accompany Chef Trinh’s crostinis was a summery blend of bittersweet citrus that didn’t disappoint.
It was an altogether dreamy pre-summer evening that we invite you to recreate at home on your own. Kitchensurfing’s private chef offerings are a fun, easy, and surprisingly affordable way to stir things up inside your own abode, but if you’d rather do the dirty work in the kitchen yourself, try these recipes below to get things cooking!
Pendennis Club
Ingredients
2 oz blanco tequila
1 oz lime juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
2 slices of peach
3 dashes of Peychaud bitters
2 dashes of cracked pepper
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin, muddle peaches, add ice, shake and strain into a cocktail coupe.
Recipe from Cocktail Academy.
Peach and Burrata Crostini
Ingredients
For the toast:
1 loaf ciabatta, sliced thinly about 1/4″ thick. (we used La Brea Bakery)
1/4 cup California Extra Virgin Olive Oil (we love this olive oil, it is very floral)
1 garlic clove, grated
For the peaches:
3 ea yellow peach (Summerland)
2 ea white peach (Summerland)
1/4 cup California Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 garlic clove, grated
salt and pepper
For final assembly:
prosciutto, sliced (we used San Daniele)
burrata cheese (we used Di Stefano’s)
arugula
balsamic vinegar
Maldon salt
pepper
Directions
For the toast:
Place bread on a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil, garlic and a pinch of salt. Bake at 350F until light golden brown and crispy.
For the peaches:
Toss the yellow peaches with olive oil and garlic for about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Grill the yellow peaches until you have nice grill marks. Let it cool down, then cut into small dices. Mix the grilled yellow peaches with fresh white peaches. Season to taste and drizzle with more olive oil.
For final assembly:
Take the crostini, top with the mixed peaches, arugula, prosciutto and burrata. Season the burrata with Maldon salt and black pepper. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!
Recipe from Kitchensurfing Chef Jennie Trinh.
