Summer

Elderflowers, with their subtle, honeyed sweetness, are often paired with gooseberries in English cookery. In this particular recipe pink gooseberries are best; the green ones are too tart.

This recipe makes plenty of extra salsa to serve on tacos or with chips.

Prepared puff pastry makes this easy.

Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

A break from the standard salsa. This versatile condiment is good on crusty bread as an appetizer, and adds zip to flank steak or skirt steak for an entrée.

The colorful mixed peppercorns found in bottles in many supermarkets aren't just decorative: They add a robust flavor to steaks as well as to thick-cut chops or cuts of meat suitable for roasting.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Straight from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This is one of mom's specialties for a summer lunch or dinner.

It's a snap to make this delicious low-fat dessert-you don't even need an ice cream maker. The ice has a refreshing texture with an appealing crunch.

Here, sea scallops take an Asian turn when they are flavored with toasted coriander seeds, grilled, and teamed with a hoisin-orange sauce and vegetable salad.

I do not think that pêches de vigne, French red-fleshed peaches, are available in the United States so, for this recipe, use the most ripe, fragrant peaches you can, and go easy on the orange flower water. Slice, drizzle and serve the peaches immediately, so they are still lightly chilled!

The free-form crust of this large, rectangular tart is easy to create, but be sure to leave enough of a border (1 to 1 1/2 inches) to fold the edges up over the fruit filling. To serve, cut into squares.

Here's a summer salad with robust flavors.

Sweet corn shows up at New York City's Mesa Grill in many guises, including, at meal's end, a memorable ice cream created by pastry chef Wayne H. Brachman. Our version of chef Brachman's dessert differs from the original only in texture (we opted for a smooth ice cream rather than a kernel-studded one).

This recipe yields an extra cake layer that can be reserved for another time. Wrap it tightly in foil, and freeze it for up to a month. Keeping the cake wrapped, defrost it at room temperature; then serve it with berries and whipped cream or ice cream.