Vegetarian

Jam making doesn’t always have to be a big production. I sometimes make small amounts and keep it in the refrigerator instead of canning it for unrefrigerated storage. Apricot jam is especially versatile as a glaze for an apple tart or almond cake, or as the base for a soufflé.

Almost any combination of dried fruits can be refreshed this way and turned into a dessert to be served alongside a slice of cake, or with a little crème fraîche. Fresh winter citrus fruits also make beautiful winter compotes when soaked in syrup flavored with their zest.

A court bouillon is a quickly made aromatic vegetable broth for poaching fish. (In French, bouillon means “broth,” and court means “short.”)

The most common summer squashes are green zucchini, the light green flying-saucer-shaped patty pan, and the gooseneck-shaped yellow crookneck. More obscure varieties with different flavors and textures can be found at farmers’ markets. One of my favorites is Costata Romanesco, a ribbed, mottled-green, zucchini-shaped squash. It has a sweet flavor and a texture that doesn’t break down while cooking. Choose small, firm squash with bright skin. Larger ones tend to be watery and seedy. Wash the squashes or rub them clean with a damp cloth. Trim off and discard both the blossom and stem ends. Once cut, squash can be stored in the refrigerator under a damp towel for several hours. The blossoms of summer squash are good to eat as well. Trim off their stems and shake them well to rid them of any bugs they may be harboring. Chop the blossoms, sauté them, and add to an omelet, a pasta sauce, or a risotto. Or cook them whole, stuffed with cheese perhaps, and poached, baked, or dipped in a simple batter and fried.

Pumpkin, Delicata, acorn, butternut, spaghetti, and kabocha are a few of the many sweet-fleshed winter squashes available in the markets. These are all squashes that are eaten after they have matured and their skins or rinds have hardened. Squash continues to sweeten off the vine. Choose unblemished squash that are firm and heavy. They don’t need to be refrigerated unless they have been cut open. Cut squash in half carefully with a heavy knife on a stable surface. Scoop out the seeds and fiber from the inside cavity. The halves can be roasted until tender, cut side down, or they can be peeled (a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler will work on most squash) and cut up to roast, steam, or sauté. They’re delicious made into soup, by themselves or with other vegetables in a flavorful broth, or puréed.

For a very colorful ratatouille use different colored peppers, squash, and tomatoes. Don’t hesitate to double this recipe, as any ratatouille left over will taste even better the next day.

This is a very simple preparation to satisfy that wintertime craving for deep tomato flavor. Exact proportions are unimportant.

Nothing compares with a vine-ripened, fragrant, colorful tomato. Farmers’ markets (and your own backyard!) are the best places to go for tomatoes. Most of the supermarket varieties sold year-round have been bred for structure and not flavor. They can be shipped around the world, but they won’t make a tasty meal. There are many, many tomatoes to choose from. Little cherry tomatoes ripen quickly and are the first to market. They come in many colors; the golden and red ones are the most flavorful. Plum tomatoes are good for sauce. And then come all the other types, many of them called “heirloom tomatoes” to remind us that they are tomatoes our forebears planted in the days before produce was shipped globally. There are yellow, golden, orange, green, purple, striped, and, yes, red tomatoes to choose from. They come in as many sizes as there are colors. Choose deeply colored tomatoes that are neither soft nor too firm. Tomatoes will continue to ripen off the vine, and do so best out of direct sunlight. Don’t put your tomatoes in the refrigerator; the cold really steals their flavor. Wash the tomatoes and cut out a cone at the stem end to remove the core. If the skin is thick, tomatoes may be better peeled. To peel, plunge them into rapidly boiling water and remove them once the skin is loosened, which will take between 15 seconds and a minute or so (check the tomatoes oft en to know when to pull them out). Cool the tomatoes quickly in ice-cold water and slip off the skins. To seed a tomato, cut it in half horizontally and gently squeeze each half, coaxing the seeds out of each little cavity with your fingers. The juice can be strained to use in cooking, or to drink. Cooking tomatoes this way concentrates and intensifies their flavor. Each one is like a spoonful of sweet sauce.