My Cooking Tips for a Summer Menu

Last Saturday, my husband Jerome and I went to the Atwater farmer’s market. We stocked the fresh produce to test three recipes by Eric Ripert. Our meal was simple to prepare and absolutely delicious.

We drank the white wine I received from Seven Daughters. It was a nice pairing. My review of this wine tasting experience is coming soon.

How I Did?

Every cook adapts the technique to his/her style. I wish to share things I did differently. Refer to the recipes on video by Eric Ripert for the ingredients and instructions.

I do not own a toaster oven since I have no counter space to spare. Truthfully, it is that I prefer leaving my counter free for other usages. Therefore, I set my gas oven at the low Broil temperature. It was the perfect heat.

Parmesan Zucchini with Balsamic

We prepared 2 almost medium zucchinis for the both of us. I cut the preparation time by using a V-shaped stainless steel blade mandoline slicer. I used the .75mm blade.

My Zyliss 11700 mandoline slicer is good enough. Some people complain that this mandoline does not produce perfectly uniform batch of slices and juliennes. It does happen from time to time.

For serving, I found a short cut to plate the zucchinis in spiral. Instead of a plate, I used the lovely Sophie Conran’s round pie dish for serving. I grabbed about 2-3 inches by 2 inches of zucchinis at a time with a spatula and neatly simulates a circle arrangement. The result is not a perfect spiral like Eric Ripert did but it is much quicker to make.

Tomatoes Provencal

I found that there is no need to brush the aluminum paper on the baking tray if you season and drizzle the olive oil on both sides directly on the tray. Naturally, the herbs of Provence goes only on one side.

Since I was busy with getting ready to take pictures, I left the tomatoes longer on the stove. They still tasted wonderful. Ideally, count 8 minutes to cook right your tomatoes provencal.

When I have guests over for dinner, I opt for recipes that do not require a very precise cooking time in case I am distracted. I keep a cookbook with recipes fit for entertaining. In fact, all three recipes are now on my entertaining cookbook.

Grilled Black Bass

I did not own a large slate. Therefore we used the second best thing: the shallow pan that comes with your oven. The fish was juicy and tasty.

I also tried the triangular top lemon pieces. Mines were not as cute. But with a little practice, we can achieve symmetry.