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Summer is the season for the foods I love the most, primarily because they remind me of my grandparents’ home in the Shenandoah: corn on the cob, peaches, and really good tomatoes. There are very few things that I’ve binged (as in, eaten until I either had to unbutton my pants or vomit) on in my life, but when I have, it’s either been on grilled corn on the cob or chocolate cake. I love summer.
But it’s already September, and while I’m going to miss the tomatoes, I’m not going to miss the humidity. I definitely hope DC does not get an Indian summer, because now that I’ve unboxed my sweaters I’m now officially ready for autumn food: apples, pumpkins, and anything with cinnamon in it. So let’s have one last hurrah of my end-of-summer cookery.
Peach turnovers
Peach turnovers, in an attempt to make Jay a fruity dessert with more pastry than fruit. The recipe comes from The Pie and Pastry Bible. I’d recommend dicing or cubing the peaches instead of slicing them, as I encountered problems with getting more than three peach slices in the bitty turnover crusts. Having a filling with a more jam-like consistency would also be reminiscent of the fried pies from Shirley’s Burnt Biscuit Bakery in Marathon, Texas (highly recommended, albeit hard to get to).
Summer cocktail shrimp
Ideally, these would have been grilled, but I live in a patio-less apartment, so they got the grill pan instead. Delicious, and so simple: toss raw shrimp with lime zest, garlic, a dab of cayenne, salt, and pepper. Grill. Serve with…
Fruit salsa
From the wonderful Sauces by James Peterson. Can be made using a variety of fresh tropical fruit, but mine was a combination of one mango, half a pineapple, and a quarter of a watermelon. Dice fruit finely, and toss with the juice of two limes, salt, and cayenne. You’ll get a nice contrast between the juicy, sweet fruit and the zippy flavor of the lime juice and cayenne. If you’ve ever spent a summer in southern California or Texas, this flavor is identical to the Mexican fruit stand chili/salt/lime combo. Delicious.
On a hot, stormy evening a few nights ago my boyfriend and I went to Restaurant Nora to celebrate my birthday. The restaurant sits on a quiet, brick-lined Dupont Circle corner. About 95% of the food served is organic, and much of it is locally grown. With the evening as hot as it was, I was looking forward to an icy glass of Restaurant Nora’s specially filtered drinking water; the last thing I was expected was to delight in the lack of extreme temperatures.
Being August, the seasonal, monthly menu was full of height-of-summer flavor: heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn, and summer squash. The cooking techniques for many of the dishes were also part of the seasonal design: chilled corn, poblano, and scallop soup, and an appetizer of grilled eggplant with heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, balsamic reduction and basil emulsion. The entire dinner was simply divine, of course, but what interested me most about the night’s menu was how Chef Nora was able to not only use seasonal ingredients, but seasonal cooking temperatures to make dishes that retained the elegance and sophistication that is just not often found at backyard barbeques or in winter soup pots.
The chilled soup was silky, soft, with a near-broth texture that was enriched by coconut milk and the natural juices from the scallops. The temperature of the soup was suited well to the delicacy of the flavors: it was not chilled, so much as cool. Too often, chilled soups are served biting cold, fresh from the refrigerator. This soup was served slightly cooler than room temperature.
Similarly, the subtle variations in temperature existed between the layers of heirloom tomato, grilled eggplant, and fresh mozzarella in one of the appetizers I tasted. As expected, the eggplant was slightly warmer and the mozzarella slightly colder; the two were separated by the tomato.
On such a hot night, in the dark cool of the restaurant’s stone interior, the delight shifts in temperature as well as flavor were easily noticeable. The variations in heat demonstrated the superior quality of product picked at its peak as well as the superior skill of Chef Nora. The subtle temperature of each dish was a practice in cooking for any season.
As this blog begins, I want to welcome my readers with the clearest, most straightforward explanation of my intentions with Proust’s Madeleine. It is my hope that these goals will affect and inspire my readers to think about and explore food as an outlet for pleasure in their own lives.
Apple pie for finals week in grad school
The goals:
1. To eat well, and inspire others to eat well.
2. For me, as a writer, to develop a style, cache, and philosophy about food writing.
3. To write about food and cooking as an integral part of life; meaning, there will be no recipes without an accompanying story, and no personal ramblings without a direct correlation to some cooking/food concept. I hope to help readers answer the question: what is the story behind what you’re eating? Did an Irish immigrant mother whip it together in her Brooklyn kitchen? Was it the one form of sustenance that got you through your senior year of college? Did your kid brother eat it with Cheez-Wiz and Ritz crackers when you were growing up in Orange County?
This merging of food and stories comes from a strong belief in comfort foods and the idea that taste is enhanced by extrasensual experiences. I want to consider food in many different variations and genres, thus encouraging more original and analytical writing. This is not a what-I-ate-today newsstream or a vegetarian’s diary; it is a collection of writing about food and how it relates to travel, literature, agriculture, politics, health, and personal relationships (including my dog—she eats too).
Today is my birthday. Instead of working, as I have done in years past, I had the luxury this year of putting some time into a project I’ve wanted to begin for a long time: this blog. Welcome to Proust’s Madeleine, a blog about food and the stories that come with it. I look forward to meeting you and sharing my foodie adventures with you!
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