Tuesday, July 9, 2024
Good afternoon!
This week I’m a guest on Carbface podcast and we gab and gab. [Spotify, Apple]
Grocery store tourism is taking off [Thrillist]
The story behind the piña colada [Food & Wine]
Guilty: I might have forgotten what day it was again, the ongoing effects of a long holiday weekend, being temporary kid-free, and also that it’s so hot and sticky out, most of brain has melted into a puddle. The dog days of summer, indeed.
But things are happening! First, as of yesterday, the Smitten Kitchen x Staub Braiser is finally back in stock, back from its long journey from a forge in Melville, France to the US, where I hope you can finally get one in your hands. This has been one of most-used pot since I first bought it in 2014, and I asked Staub if they could bring it back into distribution simply because I want more people to have it. I talk more about why I find it perfect over here. And if you’re into factory tours, here is a video from the day I spent at the forge last fall, learning how the braiser is made.
Plus, I’ve got a new recipe this week for my favorite summer steak so perfect for right now.
Finally, I’m sharing some of my favorite things to cook in July. All lean heavily on the abundant fresh produce available right now and I hope will have you swooning with inspiration.
Cheers!
Deb
My podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, launched this spring. Our tenth episode and season finale, out last week, is the second of a two-part Mailbag episode where we answer as many of your questions as we can. You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts and I’ve set up a podcast tab/page where you can keep up on it here, too. I hope you’ve enjoyed listening along to season one.
summer steak with corn and tomatoes
New: This is my go-to summer steak and it’s got everything that matters: ease, bright seasonal vegetables, and just enough tips to make sure you nail it every time. Plus, a menu suggestion! You’ve got it from here, promise.
corn bread salad with buttermilk dressing
A buttermilk-lime dressing is poured over cornbread croutons, ripe tomatoes, tender and crisp lettuces, and paper-thin slices of sweet onion in one of the most summery green salads I've ever made.
cucumber yogurt raita salad
Like a great big bowl of cucumber raita with the balance inverted — a lot of cucumber, a smaller amount of cool spiced yogurt dressing. This is so refreshing.
green beans with almond pesto
My favorite way to prepare green beans takes longer to eat (which says a lot, given that I usually inhale them) than it does to make. Don’t have green beans? Don’t miss the almond pesto, which tastes good on basically every vegetable.
burst tomato galette with corn and zucchini
Everything great about summer produce -- burst cherry tomatoes, quick sautéed zucchini, sweet crunchy corn, freshly dug scallions -- folded into one immensely flaky rustic parmesan-flecked crust. This dish is a forever SK favorite. [Video below!]
pasta with pesto genovese
Welcome to the point in each summer when I only want to eat pasta with pesto genovese (basil pesto), plus a couple extra mezze for eating alongside or stirring in. This is my go-to recipe, one that's got all of the things I always wish others did (weights, warnings, and lots of tips).
linguine and clams
A forever summer favorite, you do not need one fancy thing to make this, save the freshest clams you can find. You can pick them up on the way home from wherever you’ve been today, knowing that cooking dinner will be the easiest part of it.
crispy oven pulled pork
A low-effort, high-reward pulled pork roast that channels the masterful simplicity of David Chang's Bo Ssam but taken in an oven barbecue direction. There are 10 ingredients, including the fixings. This is one of my favorite summer recipes of all time.
frozen coconut limeade
This drink solves everything. It makes the stickiest weather seem bearable, it makes you feel like you’re on vacation even if you’re not, and it makes you wish sandal season were longer, if it means you get one of these daily. I think we know what needs to be done.
hot fudge sundae cake
This is my Summer Cake To End All Summer Cakes, but also a tale of two recipes, the one for sane people (buy some ice cream, cookies, fudge, whipped cream, cherries, follow the directions) and the one for crazy people (make chocolate and vanilla ice creams, cookies, fudge, whipped cream, etc.) and you should feel free to choose your own adventure -- making the parts that you feel up to, swap in the rest. No matter how you do it, you're going to win, because you're going to have a hot fudge sundae cake in your freezer.
peach and pecan sandy crumble
Crumble toppings are really just cookies, right? So why not use a great cookie? Here we made a toasted pecan sandy crumble to top baked peaches, a combination so blissful, I've never looked back.
I’ve written three cookbooks and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Wondering what you might cook from Smitten Kitchen Keepers for these warm summer days? I thought you’d never ask! Try the zucchini cornbread and tomato butter, two-bean salad with basil vinaigrette, spinach spiral bread, tomato and corn cobbler, and lamb skewers with crackly vinegar glaze. To finish, I recommend the big crumb pie bars, the blondie chipwich, and/or the strawberry summer stack cake. Were you looking for a list of all the recipes in each of my cookbooks? I’ve added these in a separate page and hope it makes it easier for you to find everything you want to cook.
burst tomato galette with corn and zucchini
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most — yes including the new braiser! For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
See you next week!