Today’s Stone Fruit and Port Galette recipe symbolizes the seasonal transition when late summer succumbs, just a bit, to the approaching fall. It’s the unofficial end of summer. School starts next week, much to the chagrin of two certain children, the peach trees are bearing less fruit, and we’ve spied early pumpkins on the vine at our local farm. Last night’s temperature hovered in the low 50s and the kids asked for hot cocoa, I was happy to oblige. It was the perfect night for a backyard movie with warm sweaters and cozy socks to stave off the chill. Autumn is certainly in the air!
-
-
There’s always room at my summer table for Jersey tomatoes. Today I’m sharing a family favorite tomato recipe loaded with shallots and quality extra virgin olive oil for a seasonal recipe that’s so incredibly simple to prepare. This dish serves as the perfect no-fuss side to our favorite meals, and quite often as a stand-alone snack.
-
This part of New Jersey is home to one of the best fishmongers in the state. I’m thinking local blue claw crabs, snapper fish, clams and mussels. Seeing as though we have access to quality farm markets and butchers, I’m also thinking sweet corn, potatoes and sausage. To complete this feast, I’ll snip herbs from my kitchen garden and serve Jersey ale, being sure to fragrance the stock with some too. Last, but not least, I’ll add in good company and a hot August evening and we’ll have ourselves a Low-Country Boil. You might also know this as Frogmore Stew, Beaufort Stew, or simply seafood stew. Call it what you…
-
If you are looking to up-the-ante and give traditional corn a flavorful kick-in-the-cob, look no further than this Summer Corn with Chili-Lime Mayo. For me, corn on the cob will always conjure up nostalgic memories of summer. We’d gather and grill in my grandmother’s small concrete backyard of her 4-story apartment building in urban New Jersey, eating and talking outside amidst the low hum of the window air conditioning units, while the summer heat made our bare legs stick to the plastic fold-away lounge chairs (it was the 1980s). My grandmother would secure our buttery corn cobs with little yellow plastic picks, the ones that resembled mini corn, so…
-
The orchards in and around town are ripe with plump, juicy peaches and sweet raspberries. The kids and I spent a few mornings during the week picking and plucking fruit that beckoned to be used right away. My most favorite way to enjoy our hand-picked summer harvest is to nestle the sweet fruit in the belly of a giant, puffy Dutch Baby. Since every baby needs a name, let’s call this one a Dutch Baby with Peaches & Raspberries. For anyone unfamiliar with a Dutch Baby, I’m not referring to a sweet cherub-faced infant from the Netherlands, although that conjures up warm, comforting thoughts as well. This Dutch Baby is a…