“Hot Fun in the Summertime” was written by Sylvester Stewart, or better known as Sly Stone of the band Sly and the Family Stone. Sly Stewart wrote this song in 1969 extolling the beginning of summer and the fun that one has during these lazy days. I will say this summer so far has certainly been hot, and extremely humid too. Despite the heat and humidity, one still needs to eat no matter how hot it is.
 
Now that New Jersey peach season is in full swing, I tweaked Melissa Clark’s recipe for Baked Oatmeal with Berries and Almonds to work with peaches. First I made a tiny cross on the bottom of the peaches and blanched them in boiling water for approximately 30 seconds. This enabled me to peel off their skin. Next, I cut segments into the peach and cut it away from the pit. In place of almonds, I used toasted walnuts that I coarsely chopped and used 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon in lieu of nutmeg. The baked oatmeal came was delicious and had a lovely sweet taste from the peaches. The peaches were full of flavor and was a great change from using berries. Give it a try while peaches are still available. I’m going to purchase some and prep them for baking, but freeze them in portion sizes for fall and winter when I’m yearning for a bit of summer.

​Recently I was faced with having a head of cabbage from my CSA box. While I could have made a traditional coleslaw, I wanted to try something new. My husband just received the current issue of “Garden and Gun Magazine” which had an article featuring a former “Top Chef” contestant, Ashleigh Shanti. The article featured her recipe for Hot Slaw, and I do mean spicy hot. For the recipe you’ll need green cabbage, a red onion, carrots, kosher salt, hot sauce (such as Tabasco), tomato paste, yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, minced garlic, paprika, black pepper, celery salt and cayenne pepper.
 
The recipe begins by thinly shaving 2 cups of green cabbage, however, I doubled the recipe. The preparation starts by placing shredded cabbage, julienned red onion and matchstick size carrots in a colander, adding kosher salt and tossing the mixture. The salt is used to leech out the moisture from the vegetables and soften them. 

It’s been a busy start to July as our daughter and her family were here for the week, followed by playing catch up after they left. The weather this summer has been unbearably humid and hot; so, who feels like cooking. My husband likes a “cold supper” in the summer, which means I have to cook it earlier in the day so that we can enjoy it chilled for supper. However, I had in my possession from last May a recipe by Steven Raichlen for Shrimp a La Plancha. For this simple, tasty recipe you’ll need shrimp, extra-virgin olive oil (preferably Spanish), minced flat leaf parsley, fresh garlic, pimentón (optional), coarse sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, either brandy or sherry and lemon wedges.
 
Pimentón is a type of paprika used in Spanish cooking and comes in several varieties such as sweet, spicy, smoked and combination. I substituted smoked paprika.

​I had some candy cane beets in my last CSA box. Recently in my Insta feed, I saw a restaurant promoting one of their nightly specials, beet carpaccio. This inspired me to create my own carpaccio using roasted beets sliced 1/8-inch thick on a mandoline. I made a balsamic glaze reduction by slowly cooking down the vinegar until it was a thick syrup and lightly drizzled on top. I placed a thinly sliced piece of Wild Mushroom Pâté from Alexian Pâté on  top and added a cornichon for a tart and slight sweet flavor to play off the acidity of the balsamic vinegar. What a scrumptious appetizer. The flavors of the ingredients were a great combination, refreshing for a summertime snack.
 
As I didn’t use all of the pâté, I thought I would try incorporating it into an omelet for lunch. Using a recipe by Sara Moulton for souffléd omelet, it was filled with chopped spinach, thin slices of cheddar cheese and diced pâté. What a lovely weekend lunch. The structure of the omelet was light, fluffy and puffed up nice and high. There was just enough cheese to add a bit of sharpness against the fresh taste of the spinach. The pâté provided texture and earthiness from the mushrooms.