Chef’s Kisses: Juicy June
A basket of baby birds, berries for breakfast, sugar snaps, + summer squash
Arriving at the Union Square Greenmarket at 8am in June the glossy red berries at each stall reflect the morning’s warm light and glint like garnets. Amoon and Norwich’s mini Mara des Bois strawberries remind me of rubies - so small, so sweet. Locust Grove’s currants glow fiery hot. Caradonna’s rows of wooden boxes spill over with sour and sweet crimson cherries. Cherry Lane, Eckerton, and Phillips Farms present precious baskets of raspberries spanning from blush to burgundy.
This month, I basked in the berries and cherries, which will soon be gone. Having them as a little luxury, for breakfast or as a snack, with my coffee. But, beyond those delectable berries June was full of lovely lunches of legumes, lots of linens, wildflower bouquets and baby birds - more on all that below.
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Berries
Berries in baskets turned into various afternoon sweet treats. There were Lofthouse cookies sliced open and stuffed with berries, jam, and cream (like a hand-held berry-basket shortcake), as well as berry basket marzipan loaf cakes. For more on all things basket and berry, check out the In Season newsletter.
Berries + (almond) cream, a small twist on the classic combination made for lovely, and quick, afternoon pick-me-ups. Almond cream with strawberries (stems on for easy dipping); a coupe of black raspberries with the cream lightly whipped; and almond granita with sweet and sour cherries. Then too as drinks, a rhubarb syrup seltzer and almond cream float (syrup leftover from the rhubarb-stuffed madeleines recipe); strawberry-jam-sorbet with almond cream and matcha; and cherry and almond cream with espresso over ice.
Linens + baskets
The berries and cherries weren’t just in fashion on the plate – they inspired a bit of this month’s looks too. I had seen a video where bitten cherries were used as lipstick and blush. I tried this out, and it did not work (maybe because they were sour cherries), but I was still in a silly mood and wanted to play with my food. I hooked the double-stem cherries over my earrings, letting them dangle, this worked. This worked so well – next time I’ll wear them out.
On a warm sunny morning, I sat down at the dining table for a breakfast I had been craving all winter long. The window was open, my WNU linen set was on, my coffee was made, and the strawberries were just washed. As I leaned back in my chair, I noticed a little red stain on the shorts of this set I had kept tucked away for a year because I was scared of exactly this. Succumbing to the stain, the clothes gathered more throughout the day. Thankfully, my husband worked his magic, and the stains came out beautifully (I don't ask questions, some things are meant to remain mysterious in marriages). I continued to wear the set all month long, and with each new wrinkle from the wash, I loved it even more - more lived in. Why was I waiting so long?
Speaking of linen tops, they pair lovely with a basket bag.
Seeing all the berries in their cardboard and wooden baskets at the farmers market inspired me to use a basket I had sitting around in the basement. The basket came with a plastic liner, so I filled it with water and turned it into a vase for Feverfew flowers picked up from Luna Family Farm.
If you would like some second-hand basket vases of your own (in all different shapes and sizes): Angled and wide (like mine); tall, narrow, and square; short, stout, and round; vase-shaped; and one for flowers
Legumes
A week or so ago, a whole bunch of us market-goers were crowded around a mountain of sugar-snap peas at Migliorelli, talking about how this is the best time of the year. We were jumping over each other with additional points: ‘the sweet strawberries,’ ‘new potatoes & peas,’ ‘the longest days of the year.’ We had one dissenter pipe up, saying he prefers July, once the corn arrives, and no one could really disagree. I’ve heard it’s just arrived - can’t wait for my first ear. In the meantime, I’ll savor the legumes a bit longer: shelling peas, green beans, romano beans, and favas to be exact. These were incorporated into just about every savory dish I ate.
Egg salad was spruced up with sliced and blanched sugar snaps, breakfast radishes, chives, and tarragon. I ate this atop toast, and turned it into a new potato (my favorite kind of potato) salad.
Carbonara, complemented by shelling peas that were stirred into the pasta water just before draining and making the sauce (many more pork and pea pairings in last year’s June Chef’s Kisses newsletter). Seared striped bass with potatoes the size of peas, tossed in butter with blanched peas and favas.
There was a grilled chicken (served with a swoosh of garlic yogurt) atop a spring-time panzanella that featured blistered romano beans and blanched snap beans. Made by following Flynn McGarry's guide to panzanella,
Risotto so nice we had it twice. Both with summer squash and a poached egg, but one with peas and the other with favas. I used some tips and tricks from Clare de Boer’s recipe for soupy summer orzo, principally around lemon and when/how to add summer squash. This made the risottos so lovely.
Finally, a picnic, before Shakespeare in the park in Garrison, NY (the views during dinner!): a cottage cheese, green goddess, chicken salad sandwich featuring sugar snaps, scallions, and sliced baby fennel. For dessert, a giant cherry, chocolate, frangipane pie inspired by Lauren Schofield – braided and basket-woven.
Best Bit: Baby Birds
Baby goslings laying on the grass, snacking on flowers, and taking a golden hour nap.
On my parents’ dock there was a dead flower basket, but it’s being brought back to life - a duck has laid her eggs there. To give her some privacy during incubation my father has arranged plants around the basket, then he set up a little plank from the dock into the water so the babies can easily get from the lake and back to their basket-nest. So far, there are 6 eggs in the basket. Now we watch and wait!
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