Your sum-sum-summertime recipes

It’s ironic that I’m writing this on a rainy Friday, but the weather’s supposed to improve over the next couple days, and these recipes are delicious no matter what it’s like outside! So, great response from last week’s callout for your favorite summer recipes. Let’s dish! (see what I did there?)

Starting with Facebook, where people were very kind to us this time around:

Starting simple, Jill McKenty shared this: “It’s no secret… For me it’s a BLT! FRESH beefsteak tomato, applewood smoked bacon, and bibb lettuce from my garden, Hellman’s mayo (because there is no other) on dark toasted ROCK HILL sourdough bread! My go to sandwich! Can’t wait for those tomatoes to ripen!” Can’t argue with that.

George Franke shares this delicious-looking recipe for Tuna, of which he says he recently caught 386 lbs.

Fresh Yellowfin Tuna on the grill

2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sherry wine
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
4 -6 ounces tuna steaks, sushi grade

Directions:
1 Combine sesame oil, soy sauce, sherry, hoisin sauce, salt, pepper, garlic and ginger in a flat dish.
2 Add fresh sushi grade tuna and marinate for up to 1 hour, turning occasionally.
3 Grill until cooked to desired preference.

Jayne Clancy-Stites says “Broccoli Salad..Brocolli, Red onion, raisins, sunflower seeds, bacon bits, Sugar,vinegar and Mayo!! YUMMMM”

From Roberta Berger, an Apple Pie recipe which she says is actually a fall treat, but we’ll include it anyway because it sounds great: “Hand-picked apples from Blue Mtn Lake apple tree (no idea what type they are) between UMC and Livery. I make homemade crust, fill with pared / sliced apples, generous sprinkle of cinnamon and a little nutmeg, very little or no sugar. Bake and enjoy lakefront in a rented cabin in ADKs – can’t beat it! Drooling.”

Pat Nelson emailed us this Tabouli recipe, and also the reason why: “I have two recipes for Tabouli. The first, from “The Deaf Smith Country Cookbook” is the one I always had on hand when my kids were home and still have regularly. The second, from “Laurel’s Kitchen” makes it into a main dish. I prefer the first. I add whatever summer veggies are on hand — peppers green or red, cukes, etc — to either one.”

Tabouli, “Deaf Smith” Version

1 cup warm water

2 cups raw cracked wheat or bulgur

1 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup onions (optional)

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2 tblsp fresh mint, chopped, or 1 tsp dried mint

1 cup lemon juice (less juice for less kick)

1/2 to 1 cup unrefined oil

sea salt and pepper to taste

Soak the bulgur in the warm water for an hour. Add the other ingredients and toss lightly. Refrigerate for at least an hour (I prefer overnight) to allow the bulgur to absorb the other flavors. Serve on a lettuce leaf (for company) or in a bowl (for hungry kids).

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These sound great! Not surprisingly, given that summer’s the season of abundance and all, we have an abundance of summer recipes in NCPR’s book “Stories, Food, Life.” Some of these are fantastic. I’ve picked out a couple for you guys, a dinner and a dessert.

Pasta with Herbs and Raw Tomato, Lance Myler, Potsdam

“This stuff is the soul of summer in our house. It can be ready in 20 minutes, requires no more cooking than boiling water, and tastes like a garden in the sun. We usually serve it with good bread, brushed with a bit of olive oil and toasted under the broiler. Sometimes we grate a bit of fresh mozzarella cheese over the toasted bread and briefly re-grill.”

1 ½ lb. fresh tomatoes

3 tbsp. fresh basil

1 tbsp. fresh sage

3 tbsp. fresh Italian (flat) parsley

1 tbsp. fresh rosemary

1 tbsp. fresh mint

1 lb. campanelle or some other bite-sized pasta

1/3 cup very high quality olive oil

Salt and pepper in a grinder

Wash tomatoes, cut them in half along their equators, squeeze out the seeds and gel, and dice into ½ inch cubes. Chop all the herbs. Combine with the tomatoes in a bowl big enough to hold the pasta.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water.

When the pasta is nearly cooked, put the olive oil in a small saucepan and heat it until it starts to smoke. Pour the hot oil over the tomato-herb mixture. This is very dramatic and fun to do at the table. Add a bit of salt and several grindings of fresh pepper.

Drain the pasta and toss into the sauce. Serve at once.

Serves 4 to 6.

Nana’s Strawberry Shortcake, Sandy Demarest, Potsdam

“I grew up in a large, blue-collar family in rural northern New York. When summer arrived and wild strawberries were bursting, my five sisters and I would head out with little buckets to our favorite gathering spot–the base of a lone tree in the lower-back meadow. Sometimes we couldn’t even tell if we were headed in the right direction because we couldn’t see over the tall grasses. So we held hands and found our way together. At the end of the pilgrimage, we returned home with stained fingers and just enough berries to mix with sugar or scatter on our cornflakes. I learned this recipe from “Nana” Gray, of Maine.”

4 cups flour

¾ cup shortening

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp. baking powder

1 pt. milk

Preheat oven to 500°.

Sift together dry ingredients, cut in shortening until it looks like course meal. Make a well, pour in milk all at once. Stir with a fork. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead. Pat down and cut biscuits with a cookie cutter. Bake at 500° for the first few minutes, until they pop. Reduce temperature to 450°. Cooking time: 8 to10 minutes. For Nana’s Biscuits: omit the sugar and reduce the shortening by ¼ cup.

Serves 18 to 20.

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In our continuing quest to get all your best recipes, this week we’re asking for your favorite recipes for eggs! Ellen Rocco submitted this one — her house is practically overflowing with them thanks to a longer laying day for her hens, lovingly called “the ladies.” So send your favorite eggy recipes along to me at [email protected]. Cluck cluck!