While in New York last month, I had a spinach, apricot and burrata salad at a restaurant in Chelsea Market.  It sounded way better than it actually was.  The apricots were not fully ripe and the spinach was “undressed”.   I knew I could make the salad that I thought I was going to be getting that day!  With a few apricots from the farmers market, arugula from the garden, a “splurge” of a big ball of fresh burrata and a recently received bottle of Balsamic Glaze, from American Roland Foods, I was ready to build the perfect summer salad.  I thought it went beautifully with the smoked pork shoulder Dave worked on all day!

Ingredients

5 fresh, ripe apricots –  cut in half, grilled lightly

Fruity Olive oil, I like California Olive Ranch Arbequina

Salt and Pepper

Handful of fresh arugula or other salad greens

Ball of Burrata cheese

Balsamic Glaze

Since the grill was on to finish up Dave’s smoked pork shoulder, I placed the apricot halves on a very hot grill, cut side down, about 3 minutes.  This greatly increased the sweetness and intensity of the apricot.  I then put them in the refrigerator to stop the cooking and cool down.   Before plating, I cut each half into thirds.

Toss the arugula in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Move the greens to a serving dish.

Place the burrata in the middle of the greens.  Add the apricots.  Drizzle with Balsamic Glaze.

Smoked Pork Shoulder

Dave finally got around to firing up his smoker for the first time this summer.  He spent the whole day tending to a pork roast.  He gave the roast a rub down with secret grilling spices the night before.  He brought the roast to room temperature, before placing it in the smoker.  The roast smoked about 8 hours.