You know what happens when you go fruit picking. You come home with 10 pounds of fruit hoping your neighbors will want to go halfsies. What is one to do with all those pears and apples? Here is one idea from Chef Nicole:

We went fall picking last week and had a lot of Asian pears.  These happen to be one of our family's favorite fruits and they can be hard to come by in the market, not to mention extremely costly.  Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, has rows and rows of these delicious fruits available for picking now.  It is worth the drive to this lovely orchard  to pick these uniquely sweet, crunchy, delicious pears.  They will quickly become one of your favorite snacks.  Pick some extras to make these flatbreads.  I made them for some friends and we devoured them with some nice cold white wine. It's a delicious and beautiful dish that can be made in a snap with a few little grocery shortcuts. 

Asian pear, Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese (or Goat Cheese) Flatbread

There is nothing quite as fresh and sweet as summer corn. It seems to define the season, and the act of shucking provides hours of entertainment for children young and old. Although corn requires very little to bring out it's farm fresh flavor, sometimes you want to dress up this sunny side dish with a little kick. Here is a quick recipe for Lime, Cayenne, Cilantro Compound Butter over Grilled Corn from chef Nicole Straight that will impress your dinner guests, and delight your taste buds.

Summer offers a bounty of wonderful fresh herbs, but when summer is over, how can you continue to enjoy that garden fresh flavor? Many of us purchase herbs from the market during the off season, use the few sprigs required for a recipe, and let the rest grow old in the fridge. Another option is buying frozen herbs (like the cubes from Trader Joe's) that you can drop into recipes, decreasing cooking time, but maintaining taste. Chef Nicole Straight has been using these frozen herbs for years, but recently decided she wanted to make her own processed herbs from her summer crop. Processing herbs is a simple 5 minute project, and it's a wonderful way to preserve the fresh taste of your summer garden (recipe below).

Join Chef Nicole Straight at the Farmer's Market, and learn how to make an amazingly simple and delicious recipe with fresh local mussels: Thai Coconut Steamed Mussels. This beautiful dish takes 10 minutes from start to finish, but it like looks like you've been cooking for hours...perfect for simple summer entertaining.  

I recently accompanied Chef Nicole Straight from Time to Eat to the Westport Farmer's Market where she helped me navigate (and identify) some interesting and unique local ingredients. I was looking for a great sandwich to bring to my 4th of July picnic. Her beautiful Summer Sandwich was the perfect answer, and can be seen below.