Star of the Summer (Strawberry mascarpone cheesecake)

I've told you before how, in my family, cheesecake is a celebratory affair. This is even more true for Aaron's birthday, for which it is a mandatory offering. "What kind of cheesecake would you like for your birthday?" is a standard question come August. This year was especially telling, because he laid out his entire hierarchy of berries, in which strawberry is king. This is perfectly fine by me - strawberry is my favorite, too, and undoubtedly a perennial star of the summer.

Star of the summer

In the Limelight (Lime Delicious)

Lemon pudding cake is a recipe that has been haunting me across social media for weeks, now. Whether it's an algorithmic snafu or message from the divine, I finally surrendered and clicked through and now I have a new go-to dessert recipe. Especially using the Australian name of Lemon Delicious, it's an easy sell: soft, pillowy citrus white cake floats atop a layer of warm, semi-liquid custard. Making it in individual ramekins allows you to turn out portions onto plates for a prettier presentation and the enjoyment of drizzling the creamy sauce down over the cake. Or, you can chill them, in which case it becomes akin to a cakey rendition of lemon meringue pie. As both of the GourmetGents prefer limes to lemons, this version is for Lime Delicious, but any citrus variant is an option.

Delicious by any name

Haute Potatoes (Herbed Potato Salad)

One of my favorite parts of summer is the cookouts and barbecues, but options to do so in Harvard Square are more limited. I can still enjoy some of my favorite cookout foods, though, like potato salad. Rather than watch that mayonnaise sit all day in the hot sun, I favor less creamy versions, made with extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and lots of green herbs. A pared-down variation of my grandmother's recipe, still featuring a hot shower in oil and vinegar, this offers something fresh and bright to cut through rich foods and is light and cool for hot summer days.

Fresh & Bright

Not So Sweet (Raspberry rhubarb crumble)

Spring is the perfect season for rhubarb, among the first plants we can harvest, growing outdoors from April until September. Greenhouse agriculture also allows rhubarb production year-round, so one never needs to go without. As a child I was as obsessed with rhubarb pie as I was with all baked goods (an obsession that remains), and confused to learn that the sweet, ruby-red filling was born of a bitter vegetable related to celery. Now that I have a more adult palate, rhubarb proves a wonderful option for making desserts that celebrate that happy zone of satisfying one's sweet tooth without being so cloying they induce a toothache. These individual raspberry rhubarb crumbles deliver sweet and tart in just the right measure.

For the not-so-sweet-tooth

On the Go (Blackberry Hazelnut Spinach Salad, Prosciutto Crisps)

As I write this article, Aaron is packing moving boxes around me; the Gourmet Gents are moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts! I'm excited to move to the city, but I'll miss some things about our old home, especially its square-foot gardens of salsa and salad vegetables and kitchen garden brimming with herbs and berries of all kinds. We love using fresh, local ingredients and the late summer offerings are especially rich, as most fruits, vegetables, and nuts are just coming in season. A blackberry, hazelnut, and spinach salad let me make use of one last harvest from the garden beds and smooth chèvre cheese, salty-sweet prosciutto crisps, and balsamic vinaigrette fortified with blackberry preserves and hazelnut oil help you schmaltz things up.

Schmaltzy

Berries Jubilee (Shortcakes with Mixed Berry Flambé)

Strawberry shortcake is a classic dessert, and I've been obsessed with it for as long as I can remember. As a child, I'd wait with bated breath for dessert-time, ever irked when my mother insisted it was so-named because the table is "deserted" from having cleaned one's dinner plate and cleared the way. Even when I was little, I knew the difference between a sponge cake and a shortcake and, despite how groceries dutifully place the spongy yellow pucks next to the strawberries every summer, I would accept no substitutions. Proper shortcake should be like a biscuit or a scone. Not spongy, but crumblingly delicious, at once dry and yet delectably saturated with oil; with flaking crumbs that melt away on the tongue and leave nothing but happiness in their wake.

Pictured: happiness

Cool As (Blueberry Tzatziki Salad)

The season dovetails nicely in that the finest of summer's greens, cucumbers, berries, and peaches become fresh and locally available just in time for the last few barbecues before labor day. Steaks and ribs tend to take center stage at such gatherings, but a clever assembly of bountiful produce can still manage to be a showstopper. The heirloom cucumber on our backyard deck has coiled forth in riotous abundance, overshadowing the meek carrots and beets I tried to nestle below, and I've over a dozen cucumbers to contend with. In order to thin the herd, I decided to make a rendition of tzatziki, spiked with darkly sweet blueberries and served as salad.

Also thicker and chunkier than most tzatziki, but I like it that way

Taking it Slow (Pork Carnitas)

One of the things people tend not to realize about working in a bakery is that it is hot. Those cheerful, toasty ovens feel like blast furnaces on days when it's already over 90 in the shade. The never-ending quest for cool leads us to all manner of salads, ices, and chilled soups, but there's still something inherently more cheering and satisfying about warm food. The trick, then, is to produce a hot meal without raising the temperature of your kitchen, and for that the slow cooker is a hero once again. Throw in the ingredients and they can gently braise all day as your house remains marvelously cool.

Marvelous

We Secretly Love The Heat (Salsa Fresca)

We're heading into the peak of summer, so what better time to post a classic treat enjoyed in cultures throughout the world: salsa! The Spanish word for sauce, salsa can actually refer to a number of sauces in Hispanic cuisines; however, in the U.S., it typically refers to a spicy tomato-based sauce, often enjoyed as a dip. There are a number of types of these salsas (Wikipedia lists over 15), but the two main categories break down to cooked versus raw. In this case, we're focusing on the raw side, and making our own salsa fresca, or "fresh sauce". And given it's the time of year when those of you with gardens should be seeing ripened tomatoes and peppers, this is a perfect idea for what to do with some of your harvest.

Can you handle the heat?

Snow Cherries (Sparkling Cherry Granita)

At last, cherry season is here and they're ripe for the taking. It had become a weekly ritual to enter Wegman's, look for the cherries, and be disappointed, but now brilliant Bing, golden Rainier, and tart Morello cherries are all to be found. So far, I've made clafoutis, a giant French pancake studded with fruit, and sparkling sangria with Spanish cava wine, but I think it was the sparkling cherry granita that made for the most interesting presentation. A boozy, effervescent slushie for adults, this elegant dessert helps you cool down with tiny fireworks of cherry flavor.

Fireworks!

Mysterious Origins (Fried Green Tomatoes)

Vacation is over! About a month ago, Aaron and I were conversing with our friend Kristin over our shared love of fried green tomatoes and, wonder of wonders, she recently presented us with some gorgeous specimens, just waiting to hit the bacon grease. Alas, much like honey is the tether that keeps me from veganism, bacon makes any contemplation of full vegetarianism impossible for me. Extra virgin olive oil has its own rich, fruity store of flavors to contribute for those who are less meat enthused, but I'm fairly certain rendered duck fat would taste amazing, too.

Guilty pleasures

Le Poisson, Le Poisson (Hibiscus Halibut, Mango Kiwi Salsa)

This post in also available as an article in the 7/25/2012 Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

As a gift from their honeymoon, our friends Laura and Geoff gave us a delightful box of unusual spices from Ambrosia, a spice and chocolate shop on Nantucket. As Laura rightly knows, owning a spice and chocolate shop ranks even higher on my wish list than opening my own artisanal radicchio farm, so this was an excellent choice. Laura has set forth the challenge that I should devise a recipe featuring each spice, and this month's feature is hibiscus.

Kapow!

Breakfast of Champions (Breakfast Kebabs)

At the beginning of the summer, J and I decided to purchase a new grill, and ended up with a large Weber charcoal grill. Something about grilled food, especially on natural charcoal, really makes my mouth water, so I was anxious to put it to use. Even more so, I didn't want to put myself within the limitations of standard thought and focus solely on lunch/dinner dishes, so I planned for a grilled breakfast.

Now THAT'S breakfast

Tarted Up (Feta Fig Tart)

I recently found a great tart pan neglected on a store shelf and was immediately tempted to find some way to put it to good use. I dimly recall a savory almond tart I was served at a Medieval banquet (like you do) and wished to continue the unexpectedly umami theme. Since summer is the season for deliciously juicy fresh figs, they seemed a great starting place. The resulting tart is quick, versatile, rustically elegant, and most importantly: easy, easy, easy.

Easier done than said

Preserving the Past (Kosher Dill Pickles)

Growing up in North Carolina, I instantly fell in love with my great-grandmother's homemade dill pickles. Among the many culinary marvels she created, these were in my Top 3, and a jar given to me would rarely make it past a day or two. A few months ago, my mom and I were going through some boxes of old things, and we discovered a copy of the recipe, in my mom's handwriting, on the back of a large receipt for air conditioning unit servicing - I was ecstatic!

In a pickle? Have a pickle

Some Assembly Required (Red, White, and Blue Tiramisu)

This post is also available as an article in the 6/27/2012 Williamsport Sun Gazette.

Once, back in high school, we were having a party and I was responsible for dessert. It was already the roaring heat of summer, much like now, so I decided to do something other than baking; something like tiramisu. I went a little overboard, doubling the amount of egg yolks to enrich the custard and finally adding a whole stick of butter because I wanted a conspicuously golden hue to contrast with the white whipped cream. Perhaps the only thing that saved me in the end was drowning everything in shaved chocolate, fresh raspberries, and mint sprigs.

Raspberries fix everything

By Popular Request (Strawberry Lemonade)

In addition to cookies at the yard sale, we also offered strawberry lemonade, raspberry limeade, and iced peppermint tea. The lemonade was by far the favorite of the day and I found myself running back and forth to the kitchen to refresh our supply, many times. The benefit of repetition is that I had lots of practice perfecting the recipe, which is handy, because now people keep asking for it. I apologize for doubling down on drink recipes, but 'tis the season.

Ready for summer

Something Borrowed (Ginger Peach Peppermint Juleps)

This post is also available as an article in the 5/30/2012 Williamsport Sun Gazette.

Last year, during our annual 4th of July barbecue with friends Laura and Geoff, I played bartender for our taste test of potential signature cocktails for their wedding. I believe I insisted on mojitos as a contender, which everyone liked, but just didn't fit. There was also the Vodka Lola, a fruity little number spiked with elderflower liqueur. Tasty, but we agreed it was potentially offensive to the masculine dignity of some guests. After several misfires and false starts, magic happened: the ginger peach peppermint julep.

Can you see the appeal?

Capital Gains (Kona-Crusted Tenderloin, Caramelized Shallot Butter)

This post is also available as an article in the 4/25/2012 Williamsport Sun Gazette.

A few years ago, on a trip to New York, we stopped in at the local Capital Grille. Not the most adventurous choice, given the location, but the visit definitely paid off. Upon this fateful evening, between oysters and dry martinis, I first discovered Kona-crusted steak with caramelized shallot butter, and another love affair was born.

Where have you been all my life?