Newsletter: In the Kitchen: Sweet, sweet summer
Fellow sun worshipers,
Now that that nasty, sweaty spell of Florida-like humidity has passed, we can finally begin to enjoy the sunny, dry Southern California summer that is our birthright. Cool evenings on the patio, glasses of chilled rosé, the hunger-inducing smell of smoke from the barbecue, these make up the sweetheart summer in our little piece of paradise. But there’s more to the season than that. Read on.
Grain anytime
It might be that the last thing you want to think about on a hot summer day is getting more whole grains in your diet. It’s too much work, you complain. Who wants all that cooking, you moan. It’s too heavy! Cookbook author Maria Speck begs to differ. And she has five simple steps you can follow to get more grains into your diet — pleasurably — even during this scorching weather.
Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times
Food — and wine — from Morocco
Grilled swordfish with chermoula, a tagine with kefta, tomatoes and eggs — sounds like an ideal summer Moroccan menu, doesn’t it? What about serving it with Moroccan wine? Yes, that’s a thing — despite the country being 98% Muslim. S. Irene Virbila chats — and dines — with Moroccan wine importer Didier Pariente.
Christina House / For The Times
Hatching a plot
One of the more surprising rites of summer in Southern California has been the rise in popularity of a fiery vegetable from an obscure corner of southwestern New Mexico. Nonetheless, the Hatch green chile is a certifiable phenomenon, and August is the month for roastings at local markets. Where’s one near you? We’ve got a complete list right here.
Bill Hendricks fills a roaster with chiles in 2012.
Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times
Don’t fear the eggplant
Probably less surprising is the summer flood of eggplant in the markets. Where once you might have been lucky to find two or three types, now you can find dozens. But how do you choose them? And then what do you do with them? Don’t fret, we’ve got the answers.
Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times
Central Coast wines rock
California wines did very well in one website’s recent poll of wine experts, and particularly wines from our own backyard region of the Central Coast. In fact, Paso Robles’ Rhone varietal pioneer Tablas Creek was selected the best winery in the whole country. Take that, Napa!
Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times
Just swipe and cook
Tinder, the young folks tell me, is a popular dating app that lets you quickly sift through a wide field of possible candidates to find that one perfect match. Much more my speed is a new app Jenn Harris turned up called Tender, which does much the same thing for recipes. Only without the tiger selfies.
What we’re reading:
What is the one true path for building a sustainable agricultural system? There isn’t one, argues Tamar Haspel in a cogent Washington Post essay. Surrender your dogmas: Growing enough food to feed the planet, without at the same time ravaging it, is going to take a mix of philosophies. And that includes GMOs.
Check out the thousands of recipes on our Recipe Database.
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