Category Archives: Recipes

We all have our favorite summery recipes, from tarts and pizzas to ice cream and cobblers. Many of my favorites come from Italy and France, where I’ve enjoyed some of the best food of my well-fed lifetime. Gazpacho is a perfect example; many recipes try too hard to dazzle and end up tasting of heat and spice rather than their main ingredients. This one is my attempt to recreate a meal at a small Provencal restaurant under the shade of a trailing grape vine, with cicadas creaking away endlessly in the dry heat. Like all very simple food, it’s only as good as the ingredients; made with sun warmed, just-picked garden produce, it’s glorious, especially when served as it was in Provence; at room temperature with a dollop of creamy, subtly savory Basil Sorbet. Continue reading →