This is the moment we’ve been awaiting, the height of the most abundant season of the year. For a few weeks every summer, usually in the middle of August, the produce just won’t stop turning toward sweet or savory perfection. Instead of drowning in all those fresh herbs, greens, fruit, and vegetables, I’m saving summer in a bunch of ways. (If you’d like to be entered to win stuff to help you save summer’s harvest, be sure to enter my “Save Summer” giveaway on Eat Boutique, starting Thursday, August 11, 2016.)
Here are five effortless techniques or easy recipes to make the season last and last and last.
Here are five effortless techniques or easy recipes to make the season last and last and last.
Photo credit: Heidi Murphy/White Loft Studio
1. Infuse sea salt with herbs and spices: Fresh herbs are a home cook’s best pal, but there are ways to make the flavors last a while, between six to twelve months past the moment they’re picked. You can preserve handfuls of herbs in a week or two of drying time. Just wash, dry, and hang them from draft- and dust-free spots around your kitchen. Once dry, pick off the leaves, chop, and mix them into different salts or seasonings—like this Lemon-Rosemary Sea Salt, which will make your next roast chicken or margarita (as a cocktail rim) shine.
2. Infuse sugars, too: Savory isn’t the only way to go with summer’s fresh herbs. Sugar is invaluable in a baker’s kitchen or a mixologist’s bar, especially when it has a special herby twist. Infuse sugar much the same way you do with salt, and don’t stop with herbs. Add dried organic rose petals, culinary lavender, and even citrus rind (remove using a zester being careful to avoid the white pith) to take a sugar to the next level. Whichever way you go, be sure to grind the sugary mix to the right consistency for the intended use. Grind a lime sugar that’s meant to go into a cookie batter, or leave the cane sugar as is if rimming sweet cocktails. To get started, try this Rose Sugar sprinkled over a cream-cheese frosted cake or as a floral rim to a gin cocktail.
2. Infuse sugars, too: Savory isn’t the only way to go with summer’s fresh herbs. Sugar is invaluable in a baker’s kitchen or a mixologist’s bar, especially when it has a special herby twist. Infuse sugar much the same way you do with salt, and don’t stop with herbs. Add dried organic rose petals, culinary lavender, and even citrus rind (remove using a zester being careful to avoid the white pith) to take a sugar to the next level. Whichever way you go, be sure to grind the sugary mix to the right consistency for the intended use. Grind a lime sugar that’s meant to go into a cookie batter, or leave the cane sugar as is if rimming sweet cocktails. To get started, try this Rose Sugar sprinkled over a cream-cheese frosted cake or as a floral rim to a gin cocktail.
3. Make jam, jelly, chutneys, or preserves: One of my favorite ways to preserve the sweet fruits of summer is in a thickly set jelly or loose jam. Whether plums (like in this heavenly Plum-Vanilla-Thyme Jam), strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, or peaches, they’ll each be missed when the season changes so jam it now for your larder or holiday food gifts. Remember, jam isn’t just for spreading on toast; add a spoonful to your favorite ice cream or mix a tablespoon into your next cocktail.
4. Quick pickle all that produce: Pickling employs just a bit of vinegar, spices, herbs, and a great imagination to conjure up winning spice-vegetable combinations. Cucumber pickles are a staple, but try some new things, too, like these Pickled Radishes or snap peas for a tart crunch that tastes like early summer. They also make great gifts; make a huge batch of zucchini pickles and slide them into any lovely jar with a thoughtful note for those who need a bit of sunshine on a cloudy day. By the way, don’t stop at vegetables; pickling fruits is a trend that’s sticking around. Try these Pickled Cherries, for instance, and elevate a ho-hum salad all through the cooler months.
5. Steep spirits and infuse cordials: Long after the heat is gone, summer fruit can stick around in all sorts of stewed spirits. Simply mix together your favorite ripe fruit, a little sugar (honey or maple syrup work, too), and a choice spirit. Stir and then sit back and wait days, weeks, or months for it to infuse into something toast-worthy. My Rhubarb Cordial, for instance, only takes three ingredients to make something pretty and pretty special. Cherry Liqueur, on the other hand, requires a few more ingredients, with its bouquet of spices and two different spirits, but no more work, and it’s sure to have you raising a glass to the sweetness of summer all year long.
4. Quick pickle all that produce: Pickling employs just a bit of vinegar, spices, herbs, and a great imagination to conjure up winning spice-vegetable combinations. Cucumber pickles are a staple, but try some new things, too, like these Pickled Radishes or snap peas for a tart crunch that tastes like early summer. They also make great gifts; make a huge batch of zucchini pickles and slide them into any lovely jar with a thoughtful note for those who need a bit of sunshine on a cloudy day. By the way, don’t stop at vegetables; pickling fruits is a trend that’s sticking around. Try these Pickled Cherries, for instance, and elevate a ho-hum salad all through the cooler months.
5. Steep spirits and infuse cordials: Long after the heat is gone, summer fruit can stick around in all sorts of stewed spirits. Simply mix together your favorite ripe fruit, a little sugar (honey or maple syrup work, too), and a choice spirit. Stir and then sit back and wait days, weeks, or months for it to infuse into something toast-worthy. My Rhubarb Cordial, for instance, only takes three ingredients to make something pretty and pretty special. Cherry Liqueur, on the other hand, requires a few more ingredients, with its bouquet of spices and two different spirits, but no more work, and it’s sure to have you raising a glass to the sweetness of summer all year long.
Photo credit: Heidi Murphy/White Loft Studio
Maggie Battista is the founder and director of Eat Boutique, an award-winning online boutique and story-driven recipe site that’s the go-to resource for food gifts. She's written for Style Me Pretty, Food52, Time Out New York, Spenser Magazine, Culture Magazine, Snippet & Ink, The Kitchn, and The Hip Paris Blog. She’s connected millions building online communities like TripAdvisor, Lycos, Matchmaker, Wired, and Nokia. Maggie’s first-ever cookbook, Food Gift Love, features more than 100 recipes to make, wrap and share and is available wherever cookbooks are sold. She’s currently working to open her first permanent Eat Boutique, a food retail concept space that provides a new way to food. She can be reached at maggie@eatboutique.com.
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