Summer

cornfritters.jpgIf there’s one thing I learned about food while living in North Carolina, it’s that anything can be battered and fried: steak, okra, pickles. Heck, even butter, as Paula Deen, proved, can be battered and fried.

It’s not just Southerners though. Americans love battering and frying all types of foods. New Englanders have fried clams. Midwesternerns have fried pork. Southwesterners have fried chiles. Texans have fried Coca-Cola. Seriously.

Yet, of all these devilishly fried, crispy treats, corn fritters may just be the best. Tender sweet corn is encased in a pillow of sweet batter and fried until doubled in size and tantalizingly golden and crunchy.

With sweet corn season upon us, there is no better time to make Crispy Corn Fritters with Chipotle Cream Cheese Dipping Sauce. They’re impossibly simple to make and impossible to resist.

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stuffedtomatoes.jpgAlthough we certainly are carnivores in my family, I love to eat meatless meals and try to eat about three dinners a week without any meat. For those interested in the health and environmental benefits of eating less meat, you can read books by Mark Bittman and Michael Pollan, who both still enjoy an occasional steak. On our weekly pizza night, I always fix a vegetarian pizza for myself (with maybe some good anchovies). I try to fix at least one or two seafood/fish dinners a week and I love to make meatless pasta dishes. But one of the best meals you can fix for dinner involves that super food: beans.

It's a high quality protein that is very cheap with no animal fat and lots of fiber. I get my beans these days mostly from Rancho Gordo, that wonderful farm out in Napa Valley run by Steve Sando. He grows the most high quality, fresh beans you will ever taste. You certainly can used canned beans and they are fine, but try buying some great quality dried beans sometime. They are still so much cheaper than buying meat. He has some wonderful varieties that you will never find in the grocery store. For this recipe, I used cellini. You really can use any bean you like.

A lot of people are confused about how to cook dried beans and are scared to try. It's so easy. You just soak and simmer. Sometimes I just throw the beans in a pot and cover with cold water to soak before I go to bed. If I don't do that, I just go ahead and throw them in some water in the morning and let them soak all day. There is no exact science to it. After they soak you just need to give yourself a couple of hours to cook them, depending on what kind of bean you have and how long they have soaked. I just put mine on to simmer with some aromatics and start tasting them after an hour and keep tasting them until they are the texture I like. That's it.

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zucchininoodlesandfreshtomatosauceMy love of pasta is no secret, but I’m cutting back. An article in the New York Times covering the latest research about the benefit of low carbohydrate diets has me rethinking my noodle consumption. I won’t give them up completely but now and again I can see trying something different. Something like zucchini noodles.

For a long time I’ve wanted one of those spiralizer type tools. But they are rather expensive and I just wasn’t sure how much use I’d get out of them. There is actually an easy way to make “noodles” out of zucchini or other vegetables using a box grater. You just lay the grater on its side like a mandoline! But I’ve just recently tried out the Microplane spiral cutter and it’s an even better option. At $14.95 it’s a lot less expensive than some of the other tools and takes up very little space. It also has two sizes so you can shred larger or smaller vegetables.

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drumsticksWhen summer roles around, I am in need of a much needed break from my daily routine. With that said, I do love routine; I meal plan, time manage my days, and don’t really like when a wrench is thrown into my day.

Summer is an opportunity for me to relax a little. Dinners are way more causal and the occasional “do-it yourself” sandwich bar may show up on the kitchen counter leaving everyone to fend for themselves.

The barbecue becomes my favorite household appliance and eating al fresco is a nightly affair. During the summer months, I do everything on the barbecue; roasted salsa, pizza, potatoes, fish, stone fruit, and the usual suspects of chicken, beef, sausage, and fish.

BBQ drumsticks are an easy meal. Paired with roasted “garlic bread” broccoli (the first time I made this, the kids named it), and some sliced melon, no one leaves the table hungry. Plus, clean-up is a breeze!

Hint: make extras, leftovers are a must!

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Strawberry-Banana-Crumble-from-Noble-Pig-the-perfect-dessert-with-ice-creamIt's strawberry season and the markets are filled with this seasonal gorgeous red fruit. Just a great reminder that it's spring and summer is right around the corner.

One of my favorite fruit combinations is strawberry-banana. It's perfect for smoothies, yogurt and even ice cream. I figured why not put these two together and make it into an irresistible crumble. What a good idea that was. It is delicious. And the topping...I could eat it by the bowlful.

I washed my strawberries, hulled them and cut in to quarters lengthwise. This keeps them mostly intact as they bubble away in the oven. I decided to use my smallest cast iron skillet for this rustic dessert. I love the way it heats up and keeps things warm once removed from the oven. My whole family loved this dessert. I think it's the perfect ending to a summery meal. Next time I'm going to serve it with this fried chicken.

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