The Power Of Summer Produce

Summer came and the rules became lax regarding the lockdown.After months of fortifying ourselves on good home cooked food, we went wild when restrictions were lifted. We're going back to our old habits of eating junk and overly processed food. Yet that's not good. We still have Covid-19. We still need to eat healthy to be healthy and reduce our risks.

One of the best ways to eat healthy is to take advantage of summer's bounty. This is tomato season and these gems can provide us with Vitamins C and K and a good dose of needed potassium. They're also versatile.Roasted tomatoes are delicious on flatbread  drizzled with another good for you ingredient  olive oil. They can be a great extra in all kinds of sandwiches and great on their own in a tomato sandwich.Make salsa cruda with them,a pasta sauce that is cooked  when it's mixed with freshly boiled pasta.  Another great summer dish featuring fresh produce is the French Provencale ratatouille. This is a delicious mix of tomatoes, eggplant , peppers and onion sauteed in olive oil and garlic. Different herbs such as basil and thyme are added for extra flavor. Cucumbers are another summertime fave that are also a must eat. They can keep you hydrated due to their high water content as well as lowering blood sugar and weight. Think about slicing them and serving them with a mix of Greek yogurt, chopped dill and olive oil as a side salad. You can also turn them into all sorts of variations on dill pickles.

Keep in mind to eat the fruits of the season too. Blueberries are big right now. Have a bowl of them for breakfast or dessert for a sweet treat. They are also the source of the most powerful antioxidants in the plant world. Again, they high in vitamins C and K as well as manganese, the last good for improving bone health and lowering blood sugar. Don't miss out on strawberries either. They too are loaded in nutrients, especially folates. They aid in heart health as well. If you're craving a chocolate treat then think about chilled strawberries dipped in dark chocolate for a decadent snack or dessert. They're also good sliced and blended into a smoothie with  bananas. Don't forget any berry is good added to a salad. Blackberries are also in abundance right now. These ebony gems are rife in Vitamin A and good for brain functioning. A lovely dessert is a cup of them drizzled with raw honey. They're also tasty in Greek yogurt that's been sweetened with maple syrup or  honey. Peaches are a summertime favorite too. They're great for preventing certain kinds of cancer as well as aiding the skin and digestion. Just slice one up for a healthy snack.

Take advantage of the bounty of the season. Eat right and healthfully for better immunity.  It's easy to do with  so many tasty fruits and veggies out there now.

Duke's Mayonnaise Cookbook Mayo With Everything

Mayonnaise is a Southern must have and Southern cooks must have Duke's Mayo. This Southern staple has now been incorporated into a cookbook that features everything from breakfast to dessert. It can be used in a variety of different dishes from around the globe. It's an amazing ingredient for a wide range of recipes.

The Duke's Mayonnaise Cookbook : 75 Recipes Celebrating the Perfect Condiment (Grand Central Publishing 2020) celebrates this century old Southern classic. Ashley Strickland Freeman who has also written Southern Living's Ultimate Book Of BBQ  and 28 Days Of Clean Eating.  Chef Strickland Freeman is also a chef who uses the famed mayo in all of her dishes. The mayonnaise has been around since 1917 , invented by North Carolingian Eugenia Thomas Duke, known for her delicious sandwiches  enhanced with her homemade emulsion of eggs and oil.Of course adding mayo to dishes is a Southern thing but Chef Strickland Freeman uses it in such diverse dishes as Chicken Parmesan , Pork Banh Mi and lamb kabobs. What is fun is the input from other chefs such as the famed Nathalie Dupree and TV personality and chef Carla Hall. The book is not as large as other cookbooks. The sections are Breakfast And Brunch, Lunch, Dinner , Sides and Snacks and Desserts. Extra advice is only two pages long and they include lists on what kind of tools to have to create the dishes along with a small group of tips on greasing and flouring pans and how to measure dry and wet ingredients.

The recipes are truly varied. For those who though mayo was just reserved for lunch  time sandwiches think again. Also Duke's is the recommended mayo but you can use any kind or brand.Mayo is a great sub for butter and it makes for crispy grilled cheese sandwiches in Chef Strickland Freeman's recipe. For a creamier scrambled egg , try her scrambled egg recipe that calls for  a quarter cup of Duke's. Adding it to any batter, makes for a much tender crumb. Biscuit enthusiasts will love the recipe for buttermilk biscuits and Earl Grey scones. It also does wonders to cake mixes as seen in the dessert recipes strawberry rhubarb layer cake and scratch ones such as plum upside down cake and peppermint brownies. The condiment is perfect in locking in moisture for meat which makes it excellent for marinating. Try the herb roasted chicken recipe which promises tender, juicy meat or the rosemary-Dijon pork chops. Of course there are salad and dressing recipes along with the Southern classic - deviled eggs. This comes with three variations that include pesto and bacon.  There is German potato salad that has two kinds of mustard as well and different types of aioli. The tomato one goes with the grilled okra but it would be perfect with the rosemary fries. For a cool treat make up the seafood pasta salad that combines calamari and shrimp. Want hearty? Then whip up the  steak salad with the buttermilk herb dressing. It 's also great in hush puppies too if you want a tasty snack.

The Duke's Mayonnaise Cookbook : 75 Recipes Celebrating The Perfect Condiment is the must have cookbook for Duke's Mayonnaise lovers. They can create all sorts of recipes for brunch and dinner, lunch and snacks along with desserts. It's a taste of the South that you can use everywhere.

Duke's Mayonnaise can be bought on Amazon if you can't find it in your local grocery.

Enlightening The Heartland

The American heartland has strong , almost cement like roots. Yet there are chefs and bakers who are bringing diversity to these small towns, bringing good food and good ideas to residents there. Hopefully gone will be the days of nativist thinking and the cooking that comes with it.

 Three times James Beard award winner Brett Anderson, a regular contributor and restaurant critic explored this in today's New York Times Food section. He interviewed restaurant and bakery owners Mateo Mackbee and his girlfriend, Erin Lucas. They started the restaurant, Krewe and the artisan bakery Flour and Flower in the small, predominantly white town of Saint Joseph , Minnesota. It's known mainly for being the home of the Catholic college of Saint Benedict and around seventy miles northwest of the more metropolitan Minneapolis - Saint Paul. Here Mr. Mackbee brings his mother's cooking , recipes from her native New Orleans. Both Mr. Mackbee and Ms. Lucas became bored with the still mostly white chef culture in the Twin Cities. They also wanted to bring awareness of racial inequalities to rural communities and to find an alternative to the limited career options available to them. Luckily in Saint Joseph offered Chef Mackbee, an African-American a chance for ownership that he never received in the city, despite his culinary degree and nearly a decade of experience in some of the area's most respected eateries.

Their restaurant also has a diversified staff. Three members of Krewe's four person kitchen staff are people of color. There hopefully will be more restaurants owned by African-Americans and immigrants in this strongly Scandinavian -American area of the country. Stearns County, where Saint Joseph is located is  surprisingly home to some of the largest immigrant communities. Agriculture and food processing jobs have drawn workers from East Africa and Latin America for decades. One is Jennie-O Turkey , a popular brand of frozen food. Unfortunately this has sparked a rise in nativist politics and xenophobia. George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis has reached the small towns. The nearby town of St. Cloud  had their police use tear gas on a crowd of protesters three weeks after Mr. Floyd's murder. Yet. Chef Mackbee persists , and that determination along with encouragement from his friend,  Pastor , Mark Kopka , of the Nordland Lutheran Church. Both bonded over Chef Mackbee's dream of starting a farm where he could bring black students who otherwise didn't have access to nature. He also ran for the City Council in nearby New London. yet it's cooking his mother's beloved recipes that is his passion. His mother,served as principal at St. Paul's Central High for twenty six years and a former student, Melvin Carter III became St. Paul's first African-American mayor.

The heartland, and even the big cities need chefs like Mateo Mackbee and Erin Lucas. They will show how diversity brings variety and harmony to eateries. It's a way of opening up the minds of locals, with good food and good ideas.

The Best Summer Cookbook Ever

This is the season of easy and tasty cooking. Even though the temps can be tropical at times, it's still fun to get into the kitchen and create something tasty. Now there's a great new cookbook that celebrates the best of grilling and farming. It''s definitely going to be the go to for any hot weather recipe.

The Complete Summer Cookbook: Beat The Heat With 500 Recipes That Make The Most Of Summer's Bounty (America's Test Kitchen 2020) is by the cooks and chefs at America's Test Kitchen, that great PBS TV show. As with any of the America's Test Kitchen cookbook it has great advice, suggestions and tips scattered throughout. It starts with how to cook, drink and eat when the weather gets steamy along with a complete pictorial of summertime cooking equipment.  Everything from strawberry hullers to grill gloves. A plus, and hallmark of the show is the different menus you can choose from. Overworked home chefs can try the No Cook Light Dinner which has absolutely no cooking in it whatsoever to Kebabs On The Grill for those who love a dinner out in the backyard. Again, as with their other books the editors don't have definitive chapters. There are Small Bites for those who want nibbles and Keep Cool with Countertop Cooking where the food is cooked in either a slow cooker or electric pressure cooker.Of course there are also desserts, namely Summer Fruit Desserts that feature the season's best bounty and Icebox and Frozen Treats which even features a sundae bar with homemade toppings. Anyone want a frosty drink will enjoy the chapter on drinks. An unusual one is all about canning and preserving along with one on Farmer's Markets and the bounty it offers.All the recipes are broken down into calories  and carbs along with sodium and cholesterol amounts.

I love this book and plan on making many of the recipes. Their gazpacho recipe is intriguing because it has tomato juice and hot sauce added in. There's also a variation with avocado and crab. The summer vegetable gratin , a casserole loaded with all kinds of veggies, from zucchini to tomatoes and topped with herbed white bread and Parmesan cheese is perfect for those rainy days inside. There is even a recipe for the perfect tomato sandwich that everyone should try. Barbecue enthusiasts will love the recipes for barbecued baby back ribs and grilled Mojo marinated skirt steaks. For those who love using their smokers , there is the smoked London Broil which would go well with any of the salads or foolproof boiled corn. The pickle and canning recipes are definitely worth trying especially the chow chow and tomatoes.The drink recipes are must tries also. want the perfect ice tea. Then try theirs, made with room temperature instead of boiling hot water. America's Test Kitchen offers variations such as mint and fruit flavored ones. Of course there is old fashioned lemonade but there's also agua fresca made with watermelon and lime along with the centuries old switchel , drunk by Amish farmers. There's also the boozy aperol made with the fizzy Italian wine Prosecco olives and orange peels.There is baking from on the grill pizza to a tomato galette that just might replace it. Fruit galettes and cobblers are also part of the sweet treats. Yet it is the homemade vegan and dairy ice creams that really catch the eye.I also want to try their dark chocolate avocado pudding , a perfect end to an outdoor Sunday lunch.

The Complete Summer Cookbook :Beat The Heat With 500 Recipes That Make The Most of Summer's Harvest is the book to have this summer. There's a wide variety of different recipes perfect for the grill or the kitchen. Best of all they're a snap to make and bake, especially during these hot days.

Cleaning The Freezer

As much as we want to jump into the freezer right now, it's really good time to clean it out. We may have overbought during lock down and the top of our fridges may be bursting. It's time to clean out and see what we can do with those frozen meats and veggies.

Many bought burgers during the pandemic, and kept them there as restrictions eased and our favorite restaurants opened. Now is the perfect time to grill them for family barbecues. They can also go into the air fryer for a few minutes if you don't want to stand in 90 degree heat. One thing about hamburgers is that they are versatile so you can make them a variety of different ways. Try them as Salisbury steaks served with a sauce made from mushroom gravy or mushroom soup over precooked noodles or rice. You can also break them up and add them to crockpot chili or Bolognese sauce. The same can be done with veggie burgers such as Gardein's or Boca too. What is a fun meal is taking those frozen fries and making a sheet pan dinner with them and the patties. It's an easy way of having a summer classic without too much fuss. The same can be done with those chicken patties that have been hanging out by the ice cream. Add some pasta  sauce and top with Parmesan cheese. You can even serve these with a side of just plain spaghetti and let everyone mix the sauce on their plates.

Your freezer probably has a ton of frozen veggies too. Luckily these can be made into the perfect summer side - salads. It's easy to steam broccoli or green beans in the microwave and then toss with a vinaigrette. Chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving. Salads don't have to be limited to just those veggies. You can make a pea salad using frozen peas and mint leaves. Add some feta to make it a bit more substantial. Mixed frozen veggies can be added to stir fries or used in sheet pan recipes.  The last is just tossing them in olive oil and laying flat on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper.  They can also be added to various stocks to create minestrone soup. Frozen corn can be turned into a chowder or added to a potato soup for color and flavor. As for those bags of frozen fruit. Thaw them out for all sorts of toppings for ice cream sundaes or parfaits. They can also be added to smoothies for more flavor and chill. Save them for breakfast where they'll be perfect with waffles or French toast.

It's time to clean out that bursting freezer.Let it have a rest from all that pandemic buying.  Empty it to create tasty meals and desserts.

July Fourth Wishes

Have a good July Fourth , whether you celebrate with a socially distanced barbecue or eating outdoors at your favorite diner or restaurant.

Keep in mind that America, like its' cuisine, is  multi ethnic with all sorts of flavors adding to the mix. Like squash , corn and beans we have the Indigenous Peoples who were first here, like the Europeans who brought hamburgers and fries, hot dogs and ice cream, like the African Americans who brought yams and peanuts and like the Asians who brought noodles and soy, we are diversified. 

 Our table is varied.

Sit down together and celebrate it. Enjoy this unique Fourth. Stay safe and full.

A Different July Fourth

This is by far the strangest July Fourth weekend any of us have experienced. As the past few months have taught us anything is that we need to care for our families and others. How do we do that? By offering good food, whether homemade or restaurant bought.

Families can still have barbecues even if they're socially distanced.It can be done. Even if it's just the immediate family there's still can be hot dogs and hamburgers, graced with sides of macaroni and potato salads. If more people are coming then check out Melissa Clark's article in Wednesday's New York Times Food section about a barbecue in the age of Covid 19, There won't be shared ribs or s'mores but you can have delicious grilled chicken that everyone can take off the grill themselves, along with bags of chips and homemade  no bake butterscotch custard. You can still have beach and park picnics if you're six feet apart from everyone. Some snack bars may be closed yet there may be food trucks offering everything from burgers to taco in the beach and park parking lots. If not, then get out the cooler and stuff it with picnic classics. Think hero sandwiches, chock full of such treats as mortadella and prosciutto , graced with tomatoes lettuce and some kind of dressing. For a more sophisticated vibe try pan bagnat the Provencal classic that has everything in it from hard boiled eggs to anchovies in it along with tomatoes and Dijon mustard. Have bottles of sparkling mineral water to wash it down along with flavored seltzers.

If that's not your style, then eat out. Many restaurants and even diners are now offering outdoor dining, perfect for the evenings. Event tents are popping up in their parking lots , protecting tables and customers. They're worth visiting (although if it looks too crowded, think about ordering the food and bringing it home). There's something about dressing up after three months of lock down wearing ratty clothes and actually eating something you personally haven't slaved over. It's time to get that shrimp cocktail with the giant shrimps or the filet mignon with pomme frites. Better yet it's ordering all the fun food like pot stickers or mozzarella sticks , washing them down with fancy drinks or large refreshing glasses of iced tea. For those who love the different ethnic cuisines, it's spending a warm night enjoying pasta under the stars or chicken curry amidst balmy breezes. Take advantage of the coffee shops and bakeries too.  Some also have tables and chairs set up on their sidewalks too. Meet friends for iced coffee and cupcakes and catch up on what's been going on.

Yes, this will be a July Fourth for the books. Make the most of it. Use it as a template for the holidays to come. Just remember to care for family and friends. Offer them good food, whether from your grill or your favorite restaurant,