This summer has been amazing. I’m saying this and I didn’t even manage a vacation. But, I hosted people in style and dreamt up a whole series of fabulous menus at our three hillside popup dinners, to extraordinary response! There was a seasonal vermouth, honeysuckle cordial, and handmade pasta, amongst many many other delectable dishes…
There’s also the family style feast I cooked for 46 people, which culminated in crazy rain, and HAIL! Despite - or because of - the weather, there was plenty of raucous laughter while huddling around the big platters, piled with juicy shards of Pernil pork shoulder + punchy tapenade, rainbow arrays of tomatoes in my favorite panzanella, and more. I’ve made a version of that panzanella at least 5 times this summer and it never gets old.
In addition to the many feasts, last month my wonderful book was nominated by the IACP for best photography and styling. This nomination is especially affirming, since I personally photographed and styled my own book! The awards ceremony will be held at the end of this month. We’re going to get gussied up and head down to the city to celebrate the occasion, reuniting with many colleagues I haven’t seen in too long.
If you already have a copy, thank you so much for your support. Please consider buying my book if you don’t already own it, or getting an extra copy for someone you love who appreciates gorgeous imagery and food guided by the seasons.
We experienced an inordinate amount of rain for most of the summer. 11 1/2 inches of rain - just in July! - another way to measure the unfolding climate crisis. Gratefully, my vegetable garden has been mostly productive this season, save for some tomatoes planted which thrive in dry climates and, in this environment, basically drowned.
I have loved winding my way around the beds to explore what’s new on a given day: trimming tender leaves, snap fat beans from their stalks, and cut crazy heavy squash from their mother plants on repeat. I pluck pints of tomatoes daily (now also making batches of the confit featured in the book, p.60), and soon, harvesting the largest of the fruits I was excited about growing, back when.
The pace was so breakneck all summer that I couldn’t keep up with the swale gardens and am just catching up now. Weeding, weeding, weeding….. uncovering layers so I can reestablish some intention. There are wonderful moments despite this, such as the reliable return of the woodland sunflower colonies I installed that dot the hillside. The cardinal flowers, erect bolts of color, are candy for the hummingbirds. And the apios americana vines, which *are in bloom* for the first time, ever since planting them in 4 years ago. I bet they needed this intense precipitation in order to produce their fascinating ruffled flowers. Climbing up the handmade trellis, this is the finest they’ve ever looked.
Now that most of the planned events are behind me, I am eager to re-situate and dream up new delicious dishes for fall. As my brain percolates on that, here are two terrific late summer recipes I love, to soak in the last of summer’s bounty.
Cured salmon, gem lettuce, feta salad
3.5 oz cured sockeye salmon, very thinly sliced
1 head gem lettuce, cut into narrow wedges
2-3 tbsp toasted hazelnuts, crushed
2 tbsp baby basil leaves
2.5 oz feta cheese
2 tbsp punchy garlic anchovy dressing from A Year at Catbird Cottage, or your favorite garlic-anchovy vinaigrette
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Divide the lettuce between two bowls. Spoon dressing onto the leaves and spread it using the back of the spoon. Nestle slices of the salmon amidst the lettuce, then crumble the feta. Drizzle a little olive oil for juiciness.
Scatter hazelnuts and the basil, then season with freshly ground pepper and dive in.
In my ongoing relationship with Drifters Fish, I have been a lucky recipient of wild salmon. Salmon season (as I note in the book) spans May through September, following their spawning route. To extend the season and preserve choice pieces, I *love* curing salmon. Plus. Who doesn’t love a satiny, salty ribbon of gorgeous fish, piled onto anything (everything)!
Obviously you can just purchase pre-made cured salmon - or use smoked salmon, or even fresh-cooked salmon in the salad above. But if you’re into cured fish and also can plan for a day-and-a-half to let it marinate, this is for you.
I recognize that access to spruce tips and juniper berries is season-specific, though the latter can be found at lots of health food stores and specialty markets these days. I’d frozen some of my spring stash of spruce tips precisely for this purpose, knowing I would want to cure some pieces when time allowed. If you do not have spruce tips, use the finely grated zest from two oranges, and for extra flavor add dill, similar to my recipe for gravlax in the book. (p. 94).
*Be sure to use a fillet that has been previously frozen, to account for parasites commonly found in salmon
Spruce tip+juniper berry cured wild salmon
1 side sockeye salmon (you could also use coho or king salmon and make 1.5 or 2 times the cure recipe to offset the larger portion)
1 cup kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal)
1 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 tbsp juniper berries, finely chopped
1 cup spruce tips, chopped
1 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground in a mortar and pestle
finely grated zest from 1 lemon
Stir together the salt, sugar, and pepper in a medium bowl until well combined.
Sprinkle a layer of the salt mixture in a shape similar to the salmon in the center of a sheet pan, creating a uniform surface to lay the fish onto.
Scatter the chopped spruce tips, followed by the coriander seeds, then the juniper berries, across the whole surface of the fish. Add the finely grated lemon zest, then sprinkle another layer of the salt mixture to entirely coat the salmon, edge-to-edge.
Keeping it level, tightly wrap the sheet pan in saran wrap and refrigerate. After a day-and-a-half the mixture will resemble a loose liquid in parts, surrounding the fish. This is totally normal.
Use your hands to thoroughly wipe the cure off the fish, or lightly rinse the fish and then pat it dry. I like leaving some of the aromatics clinging to the salmon, so that a morsel here and there includes a small burst of that flavor. Conversely, you also do not want the fish too salty, which if you don’t wipe the cure ingredients away enough, is the other risk. Make a small slice, knife as shallow to the surface of the fish as possible, taste, and see. Either rinse-pat again, or leave it be. Final note, keep in mind the thinly sliced ribbons will be added to mild foods such as eggs, rice, pasta, toast, etc, so the cured salmon’s saltiness is part of the draw. The more you experiment with new cure recipes, the more you will develop your own process.
Thinly slice the fish on a very shallow angle - as close to horizontal as possible - for see-through ribbon slices. Store any unused cured salmon in a sealed container the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or wrap in parchment, tightly seal in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze for up to 2 months. If you try your hand at this recipe or the gravlax in the book, I’d love to hear how it went for you in the comments!