Buffalo Mozzarella

From Bobby Flay’s Book Boy Gets Grill (page 58) this is Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella with Red and Yellow Tomatoes and Basil Vinaigrette. I mixed together the vinaigrette with fresh basil leaves, olive oil, white wine vinegar, kosher salt and ground pepper. To get the basil leaves chopped and blended, I used the processor to make a great, green-yellow sauce that I then set aside a few hours. When the right time came, I sliced both the red and yellow tomatoes. Yellow tomatoes are relatively new to me, but I really like them. They just have a different, sweeter taste and I think I like them better than red tomatoes alone.

But the star of this show was the Mozzarella. Bobby warns us to use only the best, freshest Mozzarella possible or “leave it out!” I have been guilty of buying those shrink-wrapped white cheese globs before, but the difference between that and the real think is dramatic. The only flavor difference that is more dramatic that this, that I can think of, would be the difference between a chunk of pineapple from a can of fruit cocktail and a slice of pineapple cut right from the fruit whiling standing in the field where the pineapple grew. I grew up eating fruit cocktail from a can, so I never knew what pineapple was supposed to taste like until one day I had a slice while standing in a field on Oahu. Mozzarella is almost the same way. And this is not just Mozzarella. Mozzarella is sort of a generic name for Italian white cheese. No, this is Buffalo Mozzarella or Mozzarella di Bufala, made from domesticated water Buffalo milk. It is worth driving across town to get the real thing – which is what I did in this case.
After the tomatoes and Buffalo Mozzarella were placed together, I drizzled on the basil/olive oil/white wine vinegar sauce. This was a meal in itself! It was light, probably healthy, and quick to prepare. Give it a try yourself – but don’t you the shrink-wrap glob! Paul