Let’s Gather for An Easy Make-Ahead Summer Meal
Classic Gazpacho, Fig Crostini, Slow Roasted Salmon with Summer Herbs, and Berries and Cream
Welcome to Cooking Lessons, a subscriber-supported newsletter to help you get homemade food on the table and maybe learn a thing or two in the process. With a free subscription you’ll get weekly recipes. For even more goodies, a paid subscription ($5.00/month) gets you weekly recipes and for now, at least two bonus posts per month and all access to the archive. To subscribe to either the paid or free newsletter, click the link below. I’m so glad you’re here!
It’s time to take a beat.
I hope you’re recovering from the month-long rollercoaster in America. I didn’t have to take the ride, but I did. I have only myself to blame. Even though I tried to cut down on my news-junkie full-on consumption of politics, I’m guilty of having made too much of a meal of it.
Now I need to anchor my spirits in friendship for a bit and let the world keep on spinning. For me, that means gathering friends around the table for a quintessential summer meal. No stress, lots of joy. That joy comes from the people I love and, in no small part, from an easy make-ahead plan.
If you’re not up for a dinner party, Dorie Greenspan has some good ideas for smaller celebrations in her latest post about Friendship Food: “Make an aperitivo or build a tea party—big, small, or mad.” You can check it out here.
Bottom line: Go big or go small. Just gather your friends around you. It’s summer. Nothing lasts forever. Let’s celebrate it.
The slow-roasted salmon that is the center of this meal has been on repeat for years. I narrowly escaped disaster for a Christmas party for food journalist Corby Kummer and his husband a few years ago. I was behind schedule; they were NOT happy. Lots of eleventh-hour machinations to deliver on time but deliver I did. (I always pull it out, don’t ask me how.) Corby is a tough customer, but thankfully I redeemed myself with this salmon. In his post-party email he said, “That salmon! We've had salmon for probably 30 of the almost 40 years this party has been going, and it's never been anything like as good as yours. Thank you!!” Phew. If that’s not enough to inspire you to make it, I can’t help you.