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Pear White Sangria
Sangria can be served long past summer’s end. With fresh pears available for months to come, this crisp and lightly sweet white sangria recipe is a batch drink to enjoy throughout the year. For now, the addition of elderflower liqueur brings out the most summery flavor of ripe pear slices. Once chillier days are upon us, it adds a bit of warmth to the crispness of pear. When making white sangria, I prefer to use sauvignon blanc, as it lends the herbaceous flavor that I love to each drink. Fruit and wine are a classic combination made even better with this additional note. I also skip the added sugar that…
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Overnight Quick Pickles with Ginger
A homemade touch makes a simple picnic or impromptu feast all the more tasty. Rather than reaching for a jar of pickles at the market, pick up some mini cucumbers and fresh ginger, then make your own quick pickles overnight in the refrigerator with the help of some pantry staples. The resultant flavor is fresh and vibrant, plus it doesn’t require any special canning equipment. Certainly you can allow these pickles to sit in the brine longer than overnight, but I love being able to make them one day and enjoy them the next. While I enjoy pickled vegetables, I have never had an interest in the canning process, and…
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Gold Summer Salad with Grilled Squash, Corn, Roasted Peppers, and Tomatoes
This may be the most cheerful salad my table has seen all summer. With golden shades of the season’s vegetables, it features roasted peppers, tiny sweet tomatoes, and grilled squash and corn. Dressed with vinaigrette and served with herbed ricotta, it’s bright in flavor and beautiful to serve. While the vegetables are monochromatic, their textures and flavors are anything but similar. Even the squash and corn, both cooked on a grill or in a grill pan, respond differently to the same application of heat. Where the squash softens, the corn becomes crisp-tender. The yellow peppers are roasted until their skins char and are removed before being sliced into ribbony pieces.…
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Strawberry Peach Galette
A galette in French, a crostata in Italian, use either name to refer to this rustic pocket of strawberries and peaches. Where tarts and pies assume the form of their pan, the galette takes shape as you pleat and fold thinly rolled dough around its filling. As it bakes in the oven, the crust will become flaky, the fruit will bubble, and some may even nestle into a buttery fold or spill over the side. Not to worry. Neither a galette nor a crostata will be ruined by a bit of bubbling strawberry juice that escapes. If you peek through the oven door, you might even catch these little eruptions.…
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Pork Chops with Cherry Sauce and Charred Scallions
A savory sauce made with fresh cherries and merlot tops tender boneless pork chops in this dish that comes together in one skillet. Even the scallions soften and char in the same pan, with their mild onion flavor being tempered by the same heat that gives the pork a golden crust. When abundant bunches of cherries are available at the market, scoop them up for this recipe. If you’ve read about my five favorite specialty kitchen tools, you know that I recommend having a cherry pitter on hand for the season. Certainly, you can slice the cherries in half and remove the pits, but a pitter makes the task so…
