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Simple and delicious recipe: Bresaola with Persimmons

With the entertaining season upon us, it’s handy to have an arsenal of appetizers that you can whip up in minutes. This one is so simple that you could start it when the door bell rings and have it ready by the time your guests have taken off their coats. The ingredients are delicately beautiful together on the plate, and the subtle sweetness of the persimmon plays well with the rich, smoky-salty flavor of Bresaola.

Bresaola is an air-dried beef – sort of like a Prosciutto but much leaner. The one we carry at Foster & Dobbs is organic, and cured with salt, garlic, black pepper, coriander, cinnamon & clove. Choose Fuyu Persimmons that are richly orange and just beginning to give to the touch – like a slightly underripe peach. (Avoid using the Hachiya persimmons that have to be very, very soft to be edible.) Use your best balsamic vinegar and olive oil to bring these simple ingredients together for a lavish party of flavor.

Bresaola & Persimmons with Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar*

For about 4 servings:

1 medium Fuyu persimmon
5 to 6 ounces thinly sliced Bresaola
3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 to 3 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar
1 fennel bulb, trimmed (optional)

Carve out the stem end of the persimmon. Slice a thin wedge of the fruit and taste it. If you like the texture of the skin, leave as is; if not, peel the fruit. Cut the persimmon into very thin wedges, removing any larger seeds (if there are any).

Spread the meat and persimmon on a platter or plates, somewhat overlapping. Drizzle with oil and then finish with balsamic. If you are using the fennel, cut crosswise and then into thin sickles and scatter them over the plate. Don’t feel that you need to use the entire bulb.

A delicate sprinkling of fleur de sel and a couple of grinds of fresh black pepper will help all the flavors pop.

Enjoy!

* This recipe is another from one of our favorite cookbooks, Judy Rogers’ The Zuni Café Cookbook, published in 2002 by W.W. Norton & Company.