Menu Planning for August 2019

If you’re planning your menu for August, there are a few holidays to consider and many fresh fruits and vegetables coming into their summer peak.

Plan for August:
Full moon: August 15th called the Sturgeon Moon, the Green Corn Moon, the Grain Moon and the Blueberry Moon.

Plan Ahead for September:
Full Moon on September 14th is called the Full Corn Moon or Harvest Moon.

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Menu Suggestions:
With August, there are no true holidays this month but the parade of summer vegetables continues: legumes, melons, tomatoes and stonefruit. Gone are the early bright flavors of summer, now begins an opportunity to season our plates and our diets with earthy, rich sun-tempered produce. We can celebrate the true bounty of summer harvest with every menu. Charring and grilling will change the perception of summer fruit and vegetables. Pickling adds a different element. Most of these items need nothing more than a little salt and a fat of some type to taste delicious.
• Tomatoes!!! This is the time to serve caprese salad – or just plain tomato salad, gazpacho, panzanella – anything with delicious full-bodied tomato flavor…now is the season! (Don’t forget to store the fruit at room temperature and never in your fridge!)
• Eggplant – Yummy – grilled, roasted, sautéed, pureed – ratatouille, baba ganoush – this is the time for this delicious vegetable!
• MELONS!!! For breakfast as a delicious grilled side, for lunch in a chilled melon soup, for intermezzo as a granita. You can’t go wrong with the sweet flavor of summer….
• Shelling beans – This is one of the few times of the year to get Lima and Cranberry beans fresh – sautéed with butter and herbs and a little fleur d’sel… yummy! Remember that the outer pod DOES NOT indicate the quality of the inner bean. Assess the quality by opening the outer shells to check the inner integrity.
• Some wine grapes become available late in the month – don’t forget to ask about availability… Champagne grapes start to dwindle as we ease into Fall.

With this full summer bounty, start thinking about how to preserve these flavors for use in the winter months; canning, pickling, drying and smoke – all methods of preserving fruit and vegetables that are time proven ways to have produce in the winter months.

Freezing – Anyone can individually quick freeze (IQF) products, given a flat surface and a good freezer. Working a little bit at a time, beautiful fresh berries can be washed, dried and then spread on a sheet pan in a single layer and frozen without any other preparation! Once frozen solid, they can be bagged in airtight containers and used throughout the cold berry-free months for a burst of sunshine! While they will not be as visually beautiful when they thaw, the flavor is retained and will be delicious in the middle of February when surrounded by snow and sleet!

Planning for August: (BOLD below is the peak season and usually more economical.