Summer is a wonderful time to eat, not only are there fresh ingredients everywhere but one does not need a ton of them to make a great meal. High quality ingredients are around every corner or at the farmer’s market, which opens this afternoon right here in Laramie, and voila, you make your dinner guests swoon.
Ingredients: 1 cup All Purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cup milk 2 teaspoons vegetable oil or melted butter 3 eggs To make the crepes Mix dry ingredients. Add the milk, oil or butter, and eggs and mix just to combine (over mixing will cause the crepes to get tough). Let the batter stand for 30 minutes to an hour. Heat a medium sized saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Using a paper towel, carefully spread a small amount of butter in the pan so the crepes don’t stick. Add enough batter to the pan so that the batter coats the pan in a thin, even layer when gently swirled. Use a large rubber spatula to loosen the crepe after about 2 minutes on the first side. Cook for another 2-3 minutes on the second side, depending on the thickness. This recipe is very versatile, for savory crepes you can add herbs, such as chives, to the batter; or fill them with cheese or chicken. For dessert crepes you can drizzle them with chocolate, sprinkle with fresh berries, or just a dusting of powdered sugar.
Fresh herbs and vegetables are everywhere in the summer. Basil, chives, oregano, mint and so many more herbs are at their peak, and also their most sustainable. Vegetables abound, and the taste of any veggie right off the plant or out of the ground cannot be beat by any supermarket offering. Go to your farmer’s market and pick up a couple tomatoes, some green beans, maybe a pepper or two, and see if you can’t taste the sun and the rain when you bite into them. Fresh picked lettuce? Divine. Cucumbers? Crisp and flavorful. And we haven’t even gone over the fruit selection.
We are blessed to have local meat producers too, who care about how their animals are taken care of, and the quality is a testament to their toil. Remember that summer is the season of chicken and fish. There are local free-range chicken producers that peddle their wares at the farmer’s markets and online, and sell and deliver locally only. This includes free-range, naturally produced eggs, whose superior quality is worth an entire column in itself.
Now what to do with all this bounty? With the obvious exception of meats, eat the foods raw, or lightly seasoned. Try fresh garlic, salt and olive oil tossed with just barely cooked green beans. Or an appetizer of sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella drizzled with olive oil and garnished with fresh basil. Need something heavier? Grill that home raised chicken with just picked rosemary and thyme.
And for dessert, try Fresh peaches, lightly grilled, with drizzled local honey. I’m sure you are thinking, ‘she just told me to grill a peach,’ well, yes I did. Halve a peach, put it skin side up, and give it a couple minutes. The sweetness that a little heat brings out will surprise you. Pair it with some ice-cold tea with a few mint leaves floating around and you will be left feeling sated and refreshed.
The moral today is, when you use good quality ingredients you do not need to prop them up with lots of other flavors. Forget the premade seasoning mixes. You do not need them.
I challenge you to try a new fruit, vegetable and herb this summer. With the easy access to the internet that we all now enjoy, you can find simply fantastic recipes in minutes. Feel free to contact me, also, if you need ideas or recipes.
