Summer

The goal when making any sorbet is to capture the purity of ripe fruit while making the smoothest texture possible. This sorbet does that beautifully for ripe summer strawberries.

My issue with fruit ice creams is not being able to taste the fruit, so to keep that flavor foremost, I cook the ice cream base on its own and then add fresh fruit. Less fat—no eggs in the ice cream base—allows the berry flavor to stand out.

I’ve always considered corn a borderline fruit, so why not incorporate it into the pastry menu? Here I pair it with buttery Madeleine Sponge Cake, my adaptation of the classic seashell cake, with a shatteringly crisp sugar crust. And I pile on the garnishes: kettle corn and freeze-dried corn bring their own special crunch to the dessert, and they’re easy because you can find them readymade in good grocery stores. I use plastic tubes that I’ve had cut to my specifications when I make this panna cotta at the restaurant. You can, too, if you have access to a plastic supply shop; the tubes I use have a 1-inch diameter, and they’re 18 inches long. But you can also make the panna cotta in cannoli forms or muffin tins (see Make It Simpler).

One summer, the peaches were so amazing that I didn’t want to do anything to them. Unfortunately, you can’t put a peach on a plate and send it out to a customer. So I chose ingredients—mellow cheeses, sweet and crunchy pistachios, and a mild balsamic vinegar glaze—that complemented the sweet raw peach.

Daniel Skurnick, my past sous-chef, brought me this recipe, which came from his travels through Asia. Since Jean-Georges is also influenced by the flavors of Asia, it was a natural to incorporate this into the menu. It’s a great combination of tastes and textures: The tender peaches contribute their sweet acidity; the rice has a nutty bite; and the coconut glaze contributes the fattiness that gives the dessert such a good mouthfeel.

When I go to the farmers’ markets in summer and see all the bounty, I start asking myself, “What can work with what?” and “What would balance that fruit?” Apricots and peppermint are both refreshing flavors. In this dessert, the mint livens the apricot, providing an herbal contrast to the natural sweetness of the fruit.

The flavor combinations here—particularly the strawberry and coconut—remind me of some Caribbean cocktail, the kind with an umbrella in it.

I’m not a fan of angel food cake or sponge cake for shortcakes; I prefer the texture and bite of biscuits, which I like to shape into small squares instead of large rounds. And I love gently roasted fruit. The long, slow roasting eliminates a lot of the water content of the fruit, concentrating the flavor and opening it up. The tangy crème fraîche in the whipped cream rounds out the flavors on the plate.

In this dessert, you get the same flavor twice but with different textures: creamy ice cream and slightly chewy strawberry leather. Fruit leathers are an ideal way to incorporate secondary flavors, like herbs, and making leathers is really easy.

Recently, I’ve become infatuated with bubbles and carbonation, and I’ve been on a mission to find ways to introduce bubbles as a texture in desserts. So adding a soda to the menu was a natural. With the help of David Arnold, Director of Culinary Technology at the French Culinary Institute, I’ve built a carbonation rig for the pastry kitchen at Jean Georges. Don’t let that scare you from trying this recipe, though. All you need at home is a soda siphon. Using a half-size hotel pan and perforated hotel pan (which you can buy online from BigTray) ensures that the strawberry water freezes and defrosts evenly during the clarification process.

Amaretti cookies are a must for this recipe; there really isn’t any substitute for that crunchy almond flavor and texture. They’re becoming more and more popular and easier to find, especially in Italian specialty stores, and they last for a long time; so when you find them, stock up.

In the summer, I like to buy large bags or baskets of fresh peaches at the farmers’ market. I eat the perfectly ripe ones immediately and use the firmer (but still ripe) specimens for this amazing dessert combo. But do be sure that your peaches are a little firm; if they’re going soft all over, they’ll fall apart on the grill. Add the cheese mixture right before you serve it so it looks fresh.

Even though this dish uses only zucchini, my grandmother called it Verdure al Forno, which means “vegetables in the oven.” (So it should really be called Zucchine al Forno, but there was absolutely no way anybody would tell that to my grandmother.) You could substitute eggplant, summer squash, potatoes, or even cauliflower for the zucchini, and make this your very own Verdure al Forno.

I often serve these tomatoes at room temperature, and believe me, it’s a real relief to be able to serve a dish to which you have to do absolutely nothing while your guests are in your home, other than put it on a plate. That’s truly Everyday Italian cooking.

My family makes this fresh, uncooked tomato sauce with cherry tomatoes. If you can’t find them, substitute with any sweet tomatoes. But there’s just no point in making this recipe at all if the tomatoes aren’t at their peak of ripeness. This sauce is made all over Italy in the summer, when tomatoes are in season, but only in Rome is it known as alla Checca. I like to serve it with a long, thin strand such as spaghettini or angel hair; the fresh flavors seem to go perfectly with these delicate shapes.

Place the fruit on skewers and let your kids sprinkle on the sugar. When you grill the skewers the sugar caramelizes, giving them a nice crunch; but you’ll know it’s still a very healthy dessert that is mostly fruit. You may use apricots and peaches in place of any of the suggested fruits if you like.

It’s hard to believe a plate this beautiful is so easy to make. Crudi means “raw” and the freshness of raw vegetables is especially welcome as an accompaniment to a heavier pasta. The key to this dish is creating long, graceful ribbons of the raw zucchini; they should look almost like pale green fettuccine noodles.

Midway between an antipasto plate and a salad, this is typical of the kind of salads you’ll find in Rome, which rarely feature a lot of lettuce. Don’t be put off by the anchovies; they are chopped fine and contribute a big kick of flavor and saltiness. Serve it along with a plate of sliced deli meats for a picnic or fall lunch.

Everyone seems to love this simple combination of clean, fresh flavors. If watermelon is not in season you can substitute cantaloupe, but for a burst of pure flavor that really plays off the herbal flavor of the tomatoes, you can’t beat watermelon. Stacking the skewers vertically and serving them upright looks especially elegant.

For entertaining I usually prefer dishes that can be made ahead of time, but I make an exception for this one. It does need to be assembled at the last minute; but when you want something particularly beautiful to start a small dinner party, it’s worth the extra effort. The flavor of mint really shines through and the colors are stunning together, especially if you use a mix of heirloom tomato varieties.