Easy Summer Dishes To Keep Kitchens And Cooks Cool

Here’s an ideal dinner for hot summer days. Stop by the farm stand to pick up fresh lettuce, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, potatoes and herbs. All three of the below recipes can be made before guests arrive, keeping both kitchen and cook cool.For me, the best salad is one of freshly picked garden vegetables. I just made a cucumber, tomato, and onion salad with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil fennel pollen and sea salt. I had to restrain myself from devouring it before dinner. Mound it on sour dough bread for a sandwich or serve it on lettuce leaves as a side dish for dinner.

Poach the chicken breasts one day and make the tonnato sauce the following day. Early in the morning, assemble the Chicken Tonnato, and add the garnish just before serving.

Freshly dug Yukon gold potato chips are both sweet and salty. They are perfect for “do it yourself” potato chips. Make extra, as they quickly disappear! Season the potatoes as soon as they come out of the oven. Pour chilled chardonnay, sauvignon blanc or rosé. Bon appetit!

Chicken Tonnato (A Riff On Vitello Tonnato)(Poached chicken breast with Tonnato sauce)

(Serves 6)For the chicken breast:

3 large chicken breasts with skin and bones

1 medium onion, halved, stuck with 2 whole cloves

3 carrots, scrubbed and coarsely chopped

2 stalks celery with leaves, washed and coarsely chopped

4 whole cloves garlic

6 parsley stems

1 teaspoon pickling spices, wrapped in cheesecloth as bouquet garni

1 whole bay leaf

Sea salt to taste

Large pot cold water

For Tonnato Sauce:

1 cup mayonnaise

1, 7 ounce can tuna packed in olive oil, drained

7 to 8 boneless skinless anchovy fillets, soaked in milk and patted dry

4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or more to taste

5 tablespoons capers, or more to taste, rinsed and drained

1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

About 1/3 cup chicken stock (cooking liquid)

About 1/4 cup heavy cream

Freshly ground black pepper

Lemon wedges, cherry tomatoes, capers, black olives, and parsley for garnish To prepare (one day ahead):Rinse chicken breasts under cold running water and place in a large saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover the chicken by two inches. Add salt, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, pickling spices, bay leaf and parsley. Cover, set the pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer with the lid ajar, until the juices from the thickest part of the chicken breast run clear when pierced with a two-pronged meat fork. About 25 to 30 minutes. The cooking time depends on the size of the chicken breasts. Set the pan off the heat, bring the chicken and the cooking liquid (now a broth) to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night. The next day, remove the chicken meat and discard the skin and bones. Strain the broth and transfer to clean glass jars and refrigerate. Discard the vegetables. Reserve the broth for rice, soup, or sauce. Cover the breast meat with plastic wrap, refrigerate, until assembly.

Meanwhile prepare the sauce: Soak the anchovies in milk for 10 to 20 minutes. Discard milk and pat the anchovies dry with paper towels. Working in the bowl of the food processor, add tuna, anchovies, and lemon juice. Purée a few seconds and through the feeding tube, slowly add oil until thick. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and slowly, a tablespoon at time, whisk in cream and stock, until the sauce is the consistency of heavy cream. Taste, season with pepper and capers, taste again, and adjust the seasonings. Press plastic wrap directly on top of the sauce, seal the edges, and refrigerate until assembly time.

To assemble: (up to 6 hours before serving.) Place chicken breasts on a cutting board and cut against the grain into thin slices. Spoon a thin film of sauce on the serving platter and arrange the slices (overlapping) on the sauce. Spoon sauce over chicken slices, completely covering the meat. Cover the entire platter with plastic wrap pressing directly on the sauce and refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving. Transfer the remaining sauce to a serving pitcher, cover and refrigerate.

Remove the plastic wrap, sprinkle capers on the chicken and garnish with tomatoes, olives, parsley leaves and lemon wedges.Yukon Gold “Do It Yourself” Potato Chips (Serves 6)4 to 6 Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed (or your favorite potatoes)

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to tasteTo prepare:Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cover two jellyroll or sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly oil the paper.

Cut potatoes into thin slices potatoes on a mandolin or Benriner; arrange the slices in a single layer on the prepared pans. Drizzle oil over the potatoes, or “mop” each slice to coat with oil. Cover with another sheet of paper, weight it with a sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees F. about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Remove the top pan and parchment paper and continue to bake until evenly brown and crispy on the edges, total about 20 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.Kirby Cucumber And Tomato Salad(Serves 6)6 kirby cucumbers, scrubbed and partially peeled, diced

1/2 to 3/4 large red onion, peeled and cut into small dice

1 1/2 pints grape tomatoes, washed, halved and diced

A large fistful flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped

8 to 10 large basil leaves, chopped, or more to taste

1/2 to 1 teaspoon wild foraged fennel pollen

3 to 4 pinches of Sicilian sea salt with organic lemon or more to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

High quality extra virgin olive oil for drizzlingTo prepare:Scrub cucumbers, peel half of the skin off in stripes, working lengthwise cut each kirby in half, slice each half in half, cut into quarters and finally slice crosswise for dice. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Cut grape tomatoes in half lengthwise, cut each half in half lengthwise and cut crosswise for dice. Transfer to bowl with cucumbers, add diced onion, parsley, and basil and toss together. Season with fennel pollen, sea salt with lemon and black pepper and toss well. Drizzle with oil until vegetables are lightly coated. Taste and adjust the seasonings and transfer to a serving bowl.