Summer

Sweet summer corn is the best. You can make variations of the cilantro butter with different herbs and use lemon juice. If the corn isn't too sweet, add a little bit of maple syrup to the butter.

When I was growing up, my mom would cut up fresh fruit and arrange it on a plate with a shot glass full of toothpicks. She would also toss fresh fruit with some orange or lime juice and sugar. Taking inspiration from her, I came up with my own version: lime, lemon, a little maple syrup, and an herb syrup with rosemary or mint.
Cut your fruit into chunks rather than into small pieces; I find that small pieces of fruit get mealy and mushy. Make the salad the morning you're going to serve it, but if you're determined to make it the night before, cut up the fruit, store it in separate containers, and then toss it together in the morning. Use whatever fruit you'd like (bananas, apples, berries—the possibilities are endless), but unless you're using the ripest, sweetest seasonal fruit, add a little sugar.

Does anything say straight-up summer like a cobbler? The one here gains complexity from a jumble of different berries and extra depth from dark brown sugar. Mixing the brown sugar with regular granulated sugar makes it easier to sprinkle on top of the biscuit topping before the cobbler goes into the oven; when it comes out, the tender, featherlight biscuits will be crowned by golden crunch.

Use a rolling pin or meat mallet to crush the fennel seeds. Fresh mozzarella can be found at many supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Italian markets.

This tangy marriage of fresh tomato, cucumber, pepper, and onion is a summer favorite. The flavor of gazpacho improves if allowed to chill overnight, but thereafter this soup has a short shelf life because the tomatoes sour very quickly. It this best prepared no more than a day or two before it will be eaten.

Although the recipe calls for boneless skinless breasts, you can use chicken tenders or a cut-up chicken with skin, but the cooking time will vary (see Cook's Note). If you want to use fresh or frozen sliced peaches instead of canned, add 2 tablespoons honey to the marinade. Grilled pitted fresh peach or nectarine halves are great alongside. Serve with potatoes and a crisp green salad. Any leftover sliced chicken is great on a sandwich with a little lettuce, honey mustard, and peach jam.

Gina: Who would think that a hard green tomato would yield such tender, irresistible results? Coated with cornmeal and bread crumbs, fried to crispy perfection, and served warm with an awesome basil mayo, fried green tomatoes are delicious atop field greens or butter lettuce, or on toasted sandwiches with a few fried strips of bacon.

The bread basket just became a little more exciting. These savory muffins are made with white cornmeal—favored over yellow by many southern cooks—and strewn with corn kernels and shreds of cheese. Albin considered putting jalapeño into the muffins but prefers the fresher, more vibrant color and flavor it offers in the butter.

It's so straightforward to put everything under the broiler at once and remove each component as finished—when the bread is toasted, the romaine is wilted, the chicken is cooked, and the tomato is juicy.

This is the standard salad-relish you find in every tavern and restaurant in Istanbul. It accompanies grilled meat and especially kebabs. Turkish food is often eaten with a spoon, and so is this salad—all its ingredients are finely chopped. Instead of a simple lemon vinaigrette, which is the most common dressing, I like to add a little balsamic vinegar and lemon zest. Add as much jalapeño as you like, but bear in mind that this Turkish salsa is meant to be refreshing and not overpoweringly hot.

Butterflied lamb cooks faster and more evenly, and is easier to trim of fat and silverskin, than a whole leg of lamb. A butterflied leg has more surface area than a whole leg, so there's more flavor from the marinade and the grill. The lamb can be marinated up to 2 days in advance.

Salumi refers to all dry-cured Italian-style meats and sausages. Great chefs such as Tom Colicchio, Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali, and Paul Bertolli are introducing them to a new generation of Americans, who may not realize what an incredible variety is available. Thanks to these chefs for bringing this artisan tradition back to the culinary fore. What an inspiration! One summer when I traveled in Italy, I was served salumi with peaches just about everywhere I went and although it was a combination I had never before tried, it made perfect and delicious sense and stayed with me after I returned to Chicago.

This dish is particularly delicious in summer, when zucchini, peppers, and summer squash are farm-fresh. You can also pile the grilled vegetables onto crusty French bread that's been slathered in creamy chevre. Or make hors d'oeuvres by topping Crostini with slices of grilled vegetable and some crumbled chevre. The vegetables can be grilled up to 1 hour in advance; assemble just before serving.

If you’ve been to Savannah, or if you live here (hey, neighbor!), then you know that we’re one shrimp-crazy city. We like shrimp so well we are happy just boiling them up and eating them out of their shells. But every once in a while, we do something a little more substantial for dinner, like this Cajun-flavored dish, which goes great with our colorful Broccoli and Red Pepper Salad (page 109).