Summer Produce

Corn:

• Make a chipotle butter for corn on the cob: To softened butter, add minced garlic, chopped cilantro, sea salt and finely minced chipotle chile to taste.
• Drizzle hot corn on the cob with whisked Mexican crema (similar to creme fraiche) and sprinkle with salt and chile powder.
• Slather corn with a good imported butter from France, Denmark or Ireland or domestic Plugra.

Cucumbers:

• Make a modified Greek salad: chopped cucumbers, chopped tomato, feta cheese, kalamata olives, olive oil and wine vinegar. Embellish with lemon basil or purple basil.
• Slice cucumbers thinly, salt liberally, and let them wilt in a sieve for an hour, then pat dry and stir them into whisked sour cream with minced garlic and fresh dill.
• Make a raita to accompany grilled fish or lamb chops. Whisk some thick whole-milk yogurt with garlic, salt and ground toasted cumin seed. Grate cucumbers coarsely and stir them into the yogurt. Add chopped tomato.

Tomatoes:

• Slice a colorful variety of tomatoes. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and drizzle liberally with extra virgin olive oil.
• Marinate some chopped shallots in champagne, then scatter them over the sliced tomatoes and season with sea salt and pepper. Splash the tomatoes with more champagne, preferably rose.
• Make a five-minute, uncooked pasta sauce: Halve tomatoes and squeeze out the seeds, then chop coarsely. Place in a serving bowl with finely minced garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and a touch of wine vinegar. Let stand for 1 hour to macerate, then add hot spaghetti and chopped basil.

Summer Squashes:

• Cut the zucchini into matchsticks. Toast slivered almonds in a skillet in a little olive oil, remove from the heat, add the zucchini, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil and parsley. Toss well and transfer to a platter. Top with shaved pecorino.
• Cut small zucchini lengthwise and cut pattypan squash horizontally. Rub with olive oil and grill over charcoal. Remove from the heat and brush lightly with pesto.
• Cook very small zucchini whole in boiling salted water. Drain, dress with oil and vinegar, then top with crumbled feta and chopped fresh mint.

Green Beans:

• Add haricots verts (slender French-style green beans) to pasta with pesto. If using dried pasta, you can cook the beans along with the pasta. If using fresh pasta, which cooks more quickly, give the beans a head start.
• Dress boiled or steamed green beans with a mixture of butter and walnut or hazelnut oil. Add sea salt, freshly ground pepper and chopped parsley.
• Make a green bean salad with cherry tomatoes and ricotta salata. Boil haricots verts, then shock in ice water. Drain and pat thoroughly dry. Dress with a vinaigrette, chopped red onion and halved cherry tomatoes in mixed colors. Shave ricotta salata into the salad and toss gently.

Fingerling Potatoes:

• Boil whole fingerling potatoes in well-salted water. Drain and peel when cool. Reheat with melted butter, sea salt and a generous pinch of smoked Spanish paprika.
• Waxy fingerling potatoes make the best potato salad. Boil them whole in well-salted water, then drain and peel while warm. Slice and add while warm to a mustard-tarragon vinaigrette.
• Make an improvisational Salade nicoise. Boil, peel and slice fingerling potatoes. Arrange on a platter with canned oil-packed tuna, tomato wedges, hard-cooked egg wedges, nicoise olives, sliced cucumbers or boiled green beans. Top with anchovy fillets and vinaigrette.

Garlic:

• When garlic is freshly dug, non-sprouting and juicy is the time to prepare baked garlic. Hold the bulbs root-end down and make a shallow cut around the circumference so you can remove the paper covering (not the skin) from the top half. Put the bulbs in a baking dish with a little butter, olive oil and some fresh herbs. Cover and bake at 275 degrees F for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake, basting occasionally, until the cloves are soft, an hour longer or more. Serve with bread and fresh goat cheese.
• Coarsely chop a large quantity of garlic. Soften in olive oil with hot red pepper flakes, salt and chopped parsley in quantities to taste. Add hot spaghetti, toss and serve immediately.
• Aioli - whisk up a bowlful using fresh farmers' market eggs and serve with a platter
• of steamed vegetables: beets, potatoes, green beans, carrots, artichokes or whatever the market suggests. For the softest, airiest texture, make the mayonnaise by hand with a whisk. The food processor yields mayonnaise that's stiff and dense.

Nectarines:

• Prepare a charcoal fire. Halve and pit nectarines. Brush the cut side with melted butter. Grill over indirect heat (not directly over the coals), turning occasionally, until nectarines are almost soft. Then place the halves cut-side down directly over the coals to caramelize slightly. Transfer to compote dishes and top with vanilla or toasted almond ice cream.
• Cut nectarines into bite-size pieces and divide among wine glasses. Add enough light, fruity red wine to cover the nectarines, then pass superfine sugar for guests to add to taste.
• Slice nectarines into a bowl of crunchy granola with organic whole milk.

Gravenstein Apples:

• Make applesauce for the freezer. Sweeten to taste with sugar, and flavor with seeds from a Tahitian vanilla bean.
• Serve fresh Gravensteins with cheddar cheese.
• Drizzle fresh ricotta with a favorite honey and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Serve with sliced Gravenstein apples.

Melons:

• Drape sliced melon with Serrano ham.
• Cut very small melons in half and remove the seeds. In each cavity, pour a little chilled Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise.
• Cube watermelon, removing any seeds. Toss with a little sugar if it's
• not quite sweet enough, then splash with maraschino liqueur.