Pork Chops in the Summertime

The past few weeks have been insanely hot in NYC. One of the side effects of this heat is the lack of desire to be in my unairconditioned kitchen, standing over a hot stove. This past Sunday, the heat broke (slightly), so I jumped on the chance to bear the heat and get into the kitchen. I decided on pork chops with a peach BBQ sauce and corn and tomato salad. As I've written before, I love the flavors of summer, so featuring them in my cooking is very important when the season is right.

Martha's Vineyard, Part III: Steamers and Lobstah!

No Vineyard vacation is complete without a steamers and lobster dinner. On our final night, I made a New England feast! We started the night by watching a gorgeous sunset, and then came home to eat a crustacean delight.

Martha's Vineyard, Part II: The Tastes of Summer

On the second night of our time in MV, I wanted to feature some of the great flavors of the summer. To start, I made some fried calamari as an appetizer. I bought some tubes and bellies, sliced the tubes into rings, and coated them with flour, salt, pepper, and sugar. I heated canola oil, and fried the calamari in batches until they were cooked through and crispy. Calamari can get a little rubbery if overcooked, so I was careful to leave them in long enough to start browning, but not too long so they dried out. While they were frying, I made a honey-soy glaze for an Asian feel. I chopped ginger and scallion and sauteed them in olive oil. I then added mirin (rice vinegar), white soy sauce, and honey and let the mixture cook down to a thick glaze. Once the calamari was done, I tossed it in the glaze and served. Delicious!

Martha's Vineyard, Part I: Simply Grilling

I have been lucky enough to go to Martha's Vineyard every summer of my life. The island is a second home to me, and I cherish all of the time I get to spend there. This summer, I went there with my girlfriend and two friends for the weekend. Whenever I'm on the island, I like to take advantage of all of the extremely fresh and delicious seafood and produce.

Impressing My Girlfriend's Friends

I heard from my girlfriend that one of her co-workers was a fan of the blog and wanted to get a meal cooked by Tyler. One of my goals is to create an in-home cooking class company, so I figured this would be a great way to showcase my talent to people who have been impressed by my food. Unfortunately, the meal was taking place in the dead of summer when my kitchen is about 100 degrees, so I wanted to start with a simple, cold cucumber soup. I pureed seedless cucumbers (though could have used normal cukes and just removed the seeds) with water and mint leaves. I then added salt, pepper, honey, and cayenne pepper and let it cool in the fridge. When it came time to serve, I topped it with a dollop of Greek yogurt mixed with honey, some chopped mint, and a cucumber that I cut into a ribbon. The soup was light, crisp, and refreshing in the sweltering kitchen.

A Simple, Market Fresh Meal

Sometimes the simplest meals are the best. I was walking through the farmers market, and picked up a gorgeous selection of farm fresh veggies. I bought green and yellow squash, red onions, and radishes, cut them up and tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them for 30 minutes. The result was a colorful, flavorful, and simple meal.

Two Broccolis and a "Whore"

Pasta a la puttanesca literally means pasta of the whore in Italian. This dish is a spicy, salty pasta dish that is easy to make and delicious to eat.

4th of July Grilling Extravaganza

4th of July always brings beach, fireworks, and grilling. In celebration of this fun summer holiday, I wanted to put together a grilling extravaganza. I made skewers of all sorts for a crowd of 13 people. To start the meal, my girlfriend made delicious deviled eggs. I would give the recipe, but it's a family secret and I've been forbidden from divulging it.

Blueberries, Scallops, and Shrimp - Small in Size, Big in Flavor

The summer brings all sorts of culinary treats: vegetables, corn, berries, and seafood. I like to use as much fresh local food as possible, and being that I'm in Cape May for the weekend, I have a great opportunity to get excellent produce and seafood. I wanted to make a delicious meal that didn't take a lot of effort or time to prepare, so I decided on some scallops and shrimp, green beans and eggplant, and corn. To give the meal a little extra color and flavor, I made a blueberry sauce to complement the shellfish (none of this took a lot of effort, I swear).

Smoky Salmon and the Cape May Grill

Few greater cooking techniques exist than grilling in the summer. The smell of charcoal burning, the dimming glow of a warm sun setting on the horizon, the delicious flavor of the way food cooks on the tines, everything about grilling is a wonderful experience. Living in the city, I tend to get grilling withdrawal during the summer when I'm stuck cooking indoors, so when I have a chance to use a grill, I really use it as much as possible.