From the beginning of September to today, NYC has lost 77 minutes of daylight, and nights are now longer than days. I love these cooler evenings and mornings–windows open for fresh air, the sounds of the breeze and birds replacing the A/C unit buzzing–but I also lament the loss of sunshine. So, in September, I try to extend the daylight a little with some of summer’s finest.
A perfect sunrise, a perfect sungold.
Below are my ‘Chef’s Kisses’ moments from the month, including ideas for what to make with sungolds, my love for sunflowers, savory summer preserves (mainly tomato sauce and ratatouille), some things to do and see in NYC, and fall recipes from the archive.
Before we get into all of that, there is one thing I want to put above the fold. I did a piece with Arden Yum’s Substack, Ad Hoc! Here is a quote from the article that sums up what inspired much of this month’s newsletter,
My Substack is called Playing With Food. The title stems from the importance of play in daily life, which is proven to promote positive emotions and build resilience.
Bringing play into daily life as adults may seem strange, but I approach it as "the state of mind that one has when absorbed in an activity that provides enjoyment and a suspension of sense of time…" Thus, I view play as something to incorporate into my life with my favorite activities.
I was quite struck by something Brian Eno said recently in the New Yorker, “Play is how children learn, art is how adults play.” I think culinary arts/food/cooking is one of those spaces where we can fully engage in a pleasurable, creative activity, and we can do it pretty often.
Sungolds and sunflowers
Despite the recent fall equinox, most of my favorite summer products have already been waning. My morning peach and melon routine has been replaced by apples and pears, and my favorite baby zucchinis (extra firm and flavorful) have become hard to find at the Greenmarket.
However, around this time of year, there are still two sunny-summery products that are shining bright: sungolds and sunflowers.
Sungolds begin popping up at the Greenmarket in July, are in full force by mid-August, and truly shine in September. They are like sweet-tart candy, and burst in your mouth once you pierce through their supple skin.
All month long, I keep them in a bowl on the bar cart, grabbing a few at breakfast, before and after lunch, and while I cook dinner. I also incorporate them into dishes, mostly pastas. I made my recipe for nduja, sungold, and corn pasta 6(!) times this summer. I also made a yellow tomato-inspired amatriciana finished with sliced sungolds (I adore the sweet and heat together), I paired them with clams to counter-balance any brininess, and I added them to a pasta with guanciale and my favorite little baby zucchinis.
They’re also delicious for anything that would be well complemented by some sweet-tartness. They’re absolutely fantastic when quickly blistered in a pan with some browned butter (maybe some white wine), finished with some herbs (micro basil for me–Norwich Meadows Farm and Halal Pastures sell it at the Union Square Greenmarket), and served alongside chicken, fish, or pork (I especially loved it with this chicken dish, as a contrast to the peppery arugula and lemon).
As for sunflowers, well, they just make me so happy. You can find them at the Luna Family Farm at the Union Square Greenmarket (last year they were available into November.) Some arrangements from this month are below (inspired by artwork I mentioned back in August), and I posted a few more here and one sunflower-color-themed story here .
Summer’s savory preserves
While I always want to preserve summer’s bounty, I usually don’t make half the things I hope to. This year, I made a strawberry freezer jam and froze a whole bunch of blueberries, but I didn’t get to the peach, apricot, or raspberry jam I had planned on.
Luckily, there is still time for me to preserve a few more of summer’s fruits: plums (which I got to over the weekend), tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.
Plums —> jam
Tomatoes are the easiest to preserve. Some of them are simply blanched, peeled, and frozen. Others I blend up into a sauce (straining out the seeds). I like to use a variety of paste tomatoes, which are grown specifically for saucing, with lots of flesh and not a lot of the juicy insides. I keep 1/3rd of the tomatoes raw, cook the rest down until quite reduced, and then mix the two together and store the whole thing in my chest freezer. This technique produces a sauce that maintains some of that bright-raw flavor, while packing a concentrated punch. Of course, you can add more flavorings–garlic, herbs, etc.–but I like to keep this base neutral, since I’m not always sure what I’ll be using it for.
I also recently used some of the tomatoes and a whole bunch of peppers to make a quart of romesco (one of my favorite ways of pepping up any simple egg-based breakfast). I would have loved to make more, but romesco doesn’t seem to hold up in the freezer as well.
Last year, I shared a recipe for a giant batch of ratatouille, which I kept in the freezer all winter long. As I predicted, it was a salve for my winter self when I was craving (from the deepest depths of my palate) a little bit of summer produce. The tangy-bright flavors are stewed down into a vegan ragout that warms you up from the inside out.
I made some tweaks this year and updated the recipe. Because the recipe makes so much, I usually need to eat some of it right away to make sure it doesn’t take up all the space in my chest freezer. I recently stuffed some tomatoes and peppers with it and served it with some olives sandwiched in between a puff pastry crust and roasted ratatouille vegetables brushed in garlic oil. It was so good that I tried stuffing it in more things: a fried polenta cake (served with basil and corn sauce), a Comte grilled cheese, an omelette.
If none of this has enticed you to preserve summer’s savory produce, I’ll leave you with one last push: preserving is a particularly enjoyable rainy weekend-afternoon fall activity!
Bite-sized
Earlier this month, I wrote about how pie was influencing my fall fashion choices. Here are some outfits I wore; a number of the items are linked in the article.
from left to right: cory jumper, milene blouse & ciara trouser (these pants are hotter than pie fresh out of the oven!), and the romy suede shoulder bag.
The second recipe i ever posted on here was for eggplant parm-ish, and every year i’m thrilled at how well it comes out. This year, it was the first thing i made with that tomato sauce i had just prepared. It’s a perfect dish for this time of year, i can still find eggplants at the greenmarket, but it’s cool enough to crave something a little saucier, richer, and fried.
Some other recipes I made this month that you should too:
These financiers. The hazelnut variation is especially great. Théo said it was like eating Nutella, but without the chocolate.
This leavened waffles recipe, served in bed. I just remade these over the weekend, and it’s still quick to make and still excellent. I also ordered another set of sheets from Brooklinen (P.S. 15% off your first order with this link, no code needed).
If you’re up for a baking challenge, there’s also my new Linzer Cake recipe.
Théo and I went on a little afternoon date last weekend. We went to some galleries in Chelsea (Robert Longo at Pace is excellent), and then went to Carñitos Tacos. We tried over half the menu and genuinely loved everything. Standouts were cantonés and cochinita thai. You should definitely go to this Mexico City pop-up. Side note: Walk done to Taquería El Chato when you’re done, they make a great carne asada.
While I do lament the sun rising later and setting earlier, I love getting to start my runs before dawn. I love the quiet and getting to watch the sun rise. One morning, I woke up with Sky Fits Heaven in my head, so I put it on during the run, and it has been played on every pre-dawn run since. The perfect pairing.
