Summer is coming this month and, even if it is still difficult to see in Paris, what with all this rain and the Seine’s overflowing that happened during the last week of May, we have to accept it: nothing stops us from finding the sun in our plates, for lack of anything better. Thankfully, it’s becoming pretty simple to do, and looking at the list of seasonal fruits and vegetables this June, we can already dream of ratatouilles, tians (vegetable gratins from Provence in the south-east of France), all the fresh vegetable salads that’ll accompany them, as well as the fruit salads that’ll follow them…
Fruits
– apricot
– fresh almond
– blackcurrant
– melon
– cherry
– strawberry
– raspberry
– blackberry
– blueberry
– plum
– rhubarb
– redcurrant
– wild strawberry
Vegetables
– artichoke
– asparagus
– beet
– bell pepper
– broad bean
– chard
– carrot
– cauliflower
– celery
– corn
– cucumber
– early potato
– eggplant
– fennel
– green bean
– green pea
– leek
– potato
– radish
– snow pea
– spinach
– spring cabbage
– tomato
– turnip
– zucchini
Salades et feuilles
– baby spinach
– batavia salad
– dandelion
– frisée salad
– lettuce
– rocket
– romaine lettuce
Champignons
– black poplar mushroom
– bolete
– cep
– field mushroom
– girolle mushroom
– summer truffle
Herbs and seasoning
– basil
– bay laurel
– chives
– cilantro
– dill
– oregano
– parsley
– rosemary
– sage
– savory
– sorrel
– tarragon
– thyme
A few appetizer ideas
What’s better than melon to begin a meal ? Choose it heavy, and check that it smells sweet, which indicates that it is ripe and ready to be eaten. You can choose to serve it plainly, cut in quarters with some Bayonne ham, or try to be more elaborate and play with it, mixing, for exemple, melon balls prepared with a Parisian spoon, some tomato dices, a strong and salty cheese (for exemple a mature hard sheep’s cheese), and some chopped basil. Additionally, enjoy the end of the dandelion season and make a dandelion, hard-boiled egg and bacon strips salad.
Finally, celebrate the comeback of the eggplant by making a delicious eggplant caviar: cut 2 big eggplants lengthwise, put them skin-down on a drip pan, lacerate them and smear it with olive oil. Put it in a preheated oven at 180ºC just enough time for the flesh to soften (for about 30 minutes). Retrieve the flesh and mash it finely, then put it in a pan with some olive oil and 2 garlic cloves. After some time, add some salt, pepper and paprika, stir well and brown on low heat while stirring regularly. Once you get a nice purée, get it off the fire and dress the caviar in a dish, adding a dash of olive oil and sprinkling cumin on top of it.
A few main course ideas
As a main course, let’s cook a few Mediterranean vegetables. Why not do a tart with them, mixing tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchinis and eggplants in a shortcrust pastry ? Be careful to blind bake it, so that the tomatoes and the zucchinis moisture do not soften the crust to much, and pre-cook the bell peppers, zucchinis and eggplants in a pan before putting them in the tart (optionally with a mixture made with crème fraîche and eggs to make it a quiche, and with some grated cheese on the top).
Let’s also celebrate fennel, this bulb with a strong and refreshing aniseed taste. An original way ton prepare it would be in a moroccan tajine. Take 1kg of lamb shoulder pieces for 750g of medium-sized fennels. In a marmite, pour 20cl of olive oil, and, once hot, add the meat. Let it color a bit, then add 2 to 3 minced garlic cloves, one minced big yellow onion, a teaspoon of turmeric and one of ground ginger, some salt and pepper. Let it brown for about 10 minutes while stirring a lot, then add just enough water in the marmite to cover its content. Let the meat cook on low heat for 40 minutes, covered. During that time, cut of the fennels’ branches, then cut them in 4 or 6 lengthwise (depending on their size) and wash them thoroughly. Mince a bunch of parsley as well as one of cilantro, and add all of this, with the juice of half a lemon, in the marmite. Let it cook covered for about 20 more minutes, checking regularly the fennel and the meat’s cooking, as well as the sauce’s thickness (if it is too liquid, remove the cover and heighten the heat a little bit).
A few desserts ideas
Blueberry’s season is starting, and it is time to get acquainted with a delicious and amazing classic: the blueberry pie. It is really as easy to make as it is to eat ! Start by preheating your oven at 210ºC. Take a sweet shortcrust pastry (or make it yourself using my recipe, it’ll be even better), spread it in a tart pan. Prick the dough, powder 100g of almond powder on it and directly add 500g of blueberry that you’ll have previously washed and dried (if you are using frozen ones, let it unfreeze for a few hours in your fridge before using them). Bake for 15 minutes, and prepare a mixture during that time, with 20cl of crème fraîche, 100g of sugar and 3 eggs. Once the 15 minutes are over, take the tart out of the oven, spread the mixture on it, and put it back in the over for 15 more minutes at 210ºC. And now, the hardest part: feast !
Also published on Medium.
This post is also available in: French
