6 Summer Cooking Tips: Secrets from Star Chefs
By Lynn Schwartz
For delicious, light and healthy meals, take advantage of summer’s fresh produce. To inspire your menu, learn how six culinary experts from across the country embrace this season’s bounty.
Bart Vandaele
Owner and Executive Chef, Belga Café, Washington, D.C.
Philosophy: It is important to take the time to sit down together at the table—eat, drink, talk, love, and be happy. You will want to relax and enjoy your summer party. So don’t try new recipes; make dishes that you know. Don’t use paper plates.
Favorite Summer Food: Herbs
My favorite summer herb is basil. Basil works with everything— appetizers, meat, fish, pasta, side dishes, and even desserts. Try salad or grilled asparagus and tomatoes with Parmesan cheese and red basil. Fresh figs grilled with balsamic vinegar and fresh basil make a tasty dessert. I also like herbs from the old school of robust flavors—rosemary, thyme, sage, and garlic.
Tip: Decorate your summer table with herb pots or candles, make big family platters, and place a bucket of Belgian beers on the table (the lighter and more crisp flavors, such as those of Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, or Hommel, are perfect).
Carla Hall
Owner, Alchemy Caterers, Washington, D.C.
Bravo’s Top Chef New York Finalist, Season 5
Philosophy: Be sure to include the kids in the planning and preparation of summer meals.
Favorite Summer Food: Tomatoes
I like a mix of heirloom tomatoes (open-pollinated cultivars of tomato whose seeds have been nurtured and handed down from generation to generation). Heirloom tomatoes come in a variety of colors and shapes and are bred for superior flavor.
Tip: I love small pasta shapes with fresh tomatoes, garlic, and a hint of spice. Cut up two to four tomatoes (depending on size), sprinkle them with salt, and drain them in a colander. Reserve the drained liquid. Toss the intense-flavored tomatoes with minced garlic, chili flakes, red wine vinegar, and lukewarm pasta. The kids will love to help with the tomato tossing. Use the drained tomato water to loosen the pasta or to make a vinaigrette or other dressing or consommé.
Matt Weingarten
Executive Chef, Inside Park at St. Bart’s, New York City
Weingarten is known for his artisanal approach to cooking and his passion for the lost culinary arts.
Philosophy: Keep it easy. Grill really good meat and focus on the vegetable bounty of summer.
Favorite Summer Food: Brochette of Many Birds
This is a classic dish from historic buffets. You can use one quail, split in half, two duck breasts, and two chicken breasts. This will serve four people. Cut the birds into equal chunks (keep the skin on) and marinate with orange peel, garlic, citrus juice, and white wine. You can make the marinade several days in advance. Alternate the marinated chunks of bird with eggplant or zucchini, baby onions, and chunk dense tomatoes (these tomatoes don’t have much water content, which makes them better for grilling).
Tip: Heat up the grill with the lid closed. If your grill has two sides, shut off one side and place the brochettes there or place between the flame lines. Do not cook the brochettes on a direct flame.
Ariane Duarte
Chef and Owner, CulinAriane, Montclair, New Jersey
Bravo’s Top Chef New York Contestant, Season 5
Philosophy: Summer is all about fresh ingredients. Let the natural flavors heighten the taste of the dish.
Favorite Summer Food: Corn
The peak season for fresh corn is May through September. Corn is best right after it is picked. Grilled corn is wonderful. Soak the corn in its husk and then grill. When it is close to done pull the husk down and grill a little more. The natural sweetness of the corn is great with salt, so be sure to serve with butter and sea salt. To spice things up add a bit of chili powder or crushed red pepper flakes to the butter or sprinkle them directly on the corn.
Tip: Corn is versatile and everything on the corn plant can be used—the kernels for all kinds of dishes, the husks for tamales, and the silk for medicinal tea. If you have leftover grilled corn, scrape the kernels off the cob and make a salad with corn, black beans, tomatoes, and avocados. Add a little lime juice, cilantro, and olive oil. You can serve this same corn mixture with chips or as a side dish with fish. You can also make soup stock from the corncob. Chilled corn soup can be made by adding cream to the reduced corn stock—perfect for a summer menu.
Timothy Dean
Executive Chef and Owner, T.D. Lounge, Baltimore, Maryland, and Timothy Dean Bistro, National Harbor, Prince George’s County, Maryland
Philosophy: Cook with in-season ingredients. Summer is the time of year that makes me happy because you easily find good, fresh food. Go to the farms for fresh produce; catch fresh crabs and fish from the Chesapeake Bay.
Favorite Summer Food: Ramp
This “wild leek” grows from Canada to the Carolinas. It resembles a scallion with broad leaves and has a garlicky-onion flavor. Ramp can be found growing wild or in produce markets in spring and summer. Choose those that are firm and have bright-colored greenery. The ramp is slightly stronger than the leek, scallion, or onion and can be used raw or cooked.
Tip: Leave the ramp whole, wash, and then sauté quickly with grape seed oil and a knob of butter for enhanced flavor and a glistening sheen. Ramps are spectacular with soft-shell crab, hanger steak, or fish. Chesapeake Bay locals will like to pair with John Dory or rockfish, but ramps are also delicious with salmon or sea bass.
Barbara Fairchild
Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appétit magazine and enthusiastic home cook; Author of The Bon Appétit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook and the bestselling Bon Appétit Cookbook
Philosophy: Let friends contribute. I’m not shy about asking guests who like to bake to bring cookies or bread. Serve nice wines with light food. Prosecco is wonderful in summer.
Favorite Summer Food: Pasta Salads
Orzo with Everything (found at www.BonAppetit.com) is a great recipe. Cook the orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, in boiling salted water and drain well. Transfer to large bowl and add sun-dried tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and Kalamata olives and toss to blend. Mix chopped radicchio, pine nuts, chopped fresh basil, Parmesan cheese, and minced garlic into orzo mixture. This recipe is flexible; you can add all kinds of ingredients to suit your taste, such as herbs, red pepper, and feta cheese. Try this pasta with grilled veal chops or Cornish game hens.
Tip: Keep your appetizers simple, such as a hummus dip (try Parsley Hummus with Cauliflower Crudités from Fast Easy Fresh) and add personal culinary flair, such as a favorite dish discovered on a Tuscan vacation—pitted, sweet, red cherries rolled up in thin slices of salami. Don’t forget a light dessert. I like two kinds of fresh berries with ice cream or sorbet, and No-fail Chocolate Chippers are always welcome.
*Visit all of these culinary experts at The Food & Wine Festival at National Harbor, June 6 & 7, 2009 (www.foodandwinenh.com).
No-fail Chocolate Chippers from The Bon Appétit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2008.
Makes about 2 dozen. Almost any combination of nuts and chocolate chips would be good in this simple recipe. Two to try: pecans and semisweet chocolate chips or macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips.
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 11½-ounce package (about 2 cups) milk chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Finely grind oats in processor. Add flour, baking soda, and salt; blend five seconds.
Beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Mix in walnuts and chocolate chips.
For each cookie form two rounded tablespoons of dough into a ball and place on ungreased baking sheet; flatten slightly. Bake until cookies are golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets five minutes. Transfer to racks; cool completely.
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