Tomato Season’s BLT

By Katie Barreira

Around this time last summer, I got a sandwich that blew my mind. I always love a BLT for its addictive combination of meaty bacon, crisp lettuce and sweet-tart tomato. But this particular BLT was all about the “T;” 3/4-inch-thick slices of sun-ripened tomato were the meat of this stunning sammy. This weekend, I returned to see if the best-ever TBL (Tomato, Bacon and Lettuce) was back in season; I was in luck.

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A Less Sugary Lemonade

By Katie Barreira

I love lemonade, but have you ever looked at the label? Sugar usually comes before lemon juice! How to enjoy my favorite summer refresher without sucking down my weight in sucrose?

Well, if I could somehow make the lemonade less tart then I wouldn’t need as much sugar to balance it out. Solution: the orange-hued Meyer lemon, a hybrid between a lemon and a tangerine, which has a natural floral-like sweetness and lower acidity than a traditional lip-puckering lemon.

Now that I was using less sugar, I had to consider its form. Typically, I make lemonade with simple syrup (a combination of sugar and water that’s been heated until the sugar dissolves) because this combines effortlessly into the cold water and lemon juice. But in a moment of food science inspiration, I recalled this tidbit from a cocktail class: when heated, sucrose turns into higher viscosity fructose, from which our palates don’t register flavor as well. So, by keeping all the ingredients cold and using a little elbow grease, I could make the lemonade taste sweeter with less sugar.

Finally, top the lemonade off with a splash of sparkling water; there’s nothing like a little effervescence to make a person feel refreshed.

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Caramel Sauce – it’s Easy!

By Sandy Hu

There’s nothing like a bowl of frosty ice cream to cool down on a warm day and nothing more decadent than adding a drizzle of warm caramel sauce on top.

Caramel sauce is surprisingly easy to make and much more delicious than store bought. Try Katie’s recipe from her blog post early this year. I’ll walk you through the steps in today’s Video Friday demo.

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Inspired by Peaches

By Katie Barreira

This past weekend I embarked on a fly-by-night getaway to Cape Cod with a group of fabulous lady food editors. As you might imagine, there was a lot of eating and we definitely disproved one old adage: there is no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.

The meals we planned were delicious, but it was a spontaneous moment of culinary inspiration that provided the most memorable dish of the trip. Sunday morning, still in our PJs, we surveyed the remaining food and started on a fruit salad, but those squat little donut peaches were just too cute to cut up. When pitted, dipped in a thick batter and fried, however, the peaches became dead ringers for the confections after which they were named, but instead of a doughy center, you bite into warm, juicy peach flesh.

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A Parade of Pestos

By Katie Barreira

The classic Italian pesto is a mixture of fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan cheese and olive oil that is crushed together (pesto is Italian for “pounded”) to make a fresh sauce. Since its inception in Genoa, Italy, pesto has taken many forms; these riffs, known as “pestos” are, along with the original, a fabulously easy, no-cook way to add big flavor to your summer cooking.

Here’s a recipe for my new favorite pesto and a few ideas for fun combinations that you can experiment with, whirring-up at home.

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