Last Call: 6 Things to Enjoy Before Summer’s Over
While you can’t bottle those blink-and-you-miss-them summer moments for when the sun stops setting at 9 p.m. and your favorite ice cream stand has “gone fishing” for another season, you can make the most of them while there’s still time. For us, that particularly applies to cooking with all of the in-season produce we can get our hands on. Here are six must-make recipes to add to your end-of-summer list before it’s too late.
A Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes
Ina Garten combines bright, bursting-with-flavor heirloom tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil leaves for the best no-lettuce salad (pictured above) you’ll have all summer. Once you’ve arranged your ingredients on a serving plate, drizzle them with olive oil, then season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Perfection.
Veggies on the Grill
Sick of giving everything grill marks yet? Good, neither are we. Marinate slices of fresh zucchini and squash in a mix of olive oil, lemon juice, white wine vinegar and fresh herbs up to a day ahead of time, then toss them on the grill whenever you’re ready for an easy crowd-pleasing side.
RELATED: The Best Healthy Summer Recipes
A Refreshing, Fruity Cocktail
Giada De Laurentiis gives your favorite summer beer a shandy-style twist by mixing it with peach nectar, homemade ginger simple syrup and a few slices of perfectly juicy peaches. Late-summer happy hour never looked so good.
RELATED: The Fruit Salad You Should Have Been Making All Summer
Your First Slab Pie
Don’t be intimidated by these big, beautiful freeform slab pies. Just stock up on peak produce, like nectarines and raspberries or peaches and blackberries, roll up those sleeves, and start baking. Use a star-shaped cookie cutter to give your pie an extra-patriotic look just in time for a Labor Day picnic, and don’t forget to preheat your baking sheet (or pizza stone) before sliding it into the oven for a crisp, flaky crust.
Ingredients
Dough:
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
½ teaspoon kosher salt
3 sticks (1 ½ cups) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch dice and kept very cold
1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
1/3 cup ice water, plus more if needed
Filling:
1 ¾ pounds ripe nectarines (about 6), peeled and cut into ½-inch wedges
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup raspberries
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, beaten
Directions
Special equipment: a large rimmed baking sheet and a pizza stone or 2 large rimmed baking sheets; a 1-inch star-shaped cookie cutter
For the dough: Combine the flour, granulated sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until mixed. Add about one third of the chilled butter and process until thoroughly combined (the mixture will be slightly yellow). Add the remaining chilled butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a very coarse meal with pea-size bits of butter. Add the vinegar in a single pulse. Gradually add the ice water through the feed tube, pulsing just until evenly combined. Squeeze a handful of the dough together, it should just hold its shape and be a little crumbly. If still very powdery, pulse again, adding up to 2 tablespoons ice water.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and press it together by hand. Divide the dough in half; wrap each piece in a large piece of plastic wrap, pressing each firmly into a ½-inch-thick rectangle. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
Adjust an oven rack to the bottom position of the oven and put a pizza stone or large baking sheet on it. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
For the filling: Toss together the nectarines, brown sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, vanilla and salt in a large bowl until the cornstarch dissolves. Add the raspberries and gently toss to combine.
To assemble the pie: Let the dough stand at room temperature for a few minutes until slightly softened to make rolling easier. Place one piece of dough between two large pieces of floured parchment. Roll into a rough 14-by-12 inch rectangle (if the dough gets too soft, pop it in the fridge to firm up, then continue rolling). Repeat rolling with the second piece of dough.
Pile the nectarine-raspberry filling into the center of one piece of dough and spread evenly, leaving at least a 1-inch border. Dot the filling with the butter.
With a 1-inch star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 4 to 5 stars from the second piece of dough (reserve the cut-outs for decorating). To transport the dough to the pie, roll it up onto the rolling pin and then unroll it over the filling, lining up the edges with the bottom piece of dough as best you can. Pinch the edges together, then fold and crimp to create a tight seal. Brush the top and edges of the crust with the egg; decorate the top crust with the star cut-outs and brush them with egg too. Generously sprinkle the pie with granulated sugar. Using the bottom piece of parchment paper, slide the pie onto another rimmed baking sheet (trim the parchment if there’s any overhang).
Put the baking sheet with the pie directly on the preheated pizza stone or baking sheet (this helps make the bottom crust crisp and flaky). Bake the pie until the crust is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbly, 45 to 50 minutes. (If the crust browns too quickly during baking, cover the pie loosely with foil. Some of the filling may bubble from the vents onto the parchment paper; don’t fret-just embrace the rustic charm.)
Let cool. Slice into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
From Food Network Kitchen
RELATED: 5 Summer Slab Pies
A New Style of Slaw
Add in-season bell peppers to a classic cookout slaw for an extra bit of brightness and some snap. Pick your favorite color, or add a mix of red, orange and yellow peppers (cut into thin strips), for a side from Food Network Magazine that’s as good-looking as it is delicious.
Something (Anything!) with Fresh Berries
By this point, you should be picking up what we’re putting down, but if you aren’t, we’ll leave you with this: Get your fill of fresh berries while you still can. Top your morning yogurt with them, bake them into pies, pop them into your mouth fresh from the colander and definitely find ways to mix them into drinks — you won’t regret it. Ree Drummond uses blueberries to make a simple syrup that’s a refreshing, family-friendly addition to lemonade. If you’re feeling boozy, Bobby Flay kicks up his homemade blackberry tea with a shot of bourbon and some fresh mint.
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