Commit to fresh food and you’ll shine in kitchen

In high school, my brother was only a moderately good tennis player. But his coach said that Don was committed to winning and this gave him an edge over less motivated players.

Commitment counts.

Cooking can be that way too, you know. More often than not, commitment helps your meals shine. Simply paying attention to the details results in success where a less caring cook would fail. Simple things, such as plucking potatoes from a simmering pot of water before they turn too mushy for the potato salad. Or tracking down the most flavorful tomatoes and olive oil for your bruschetta.

In fact, working with primo, seasonal ingredients is one of the most elegant ways to pull together your summer menus.

So commit yourself to frequenting farmers markets. Then roast those peppers, boil that corn, steam those green beans and toss a bounty of salad greens. It’s that simple. It’s that good.

Simple summer produce

Berries: Freeze in a single layer on cookie sheets until hard, then store in the freezer in reclosable bags so you have them available for your morning smoothies.

Make berry purees by blending in a food processor (press the puree through a fine sieve to remove seeds), sweeten to taste and freeze in ice cube trays. Berry purees are great quick sauces under a slice of pound cake, over ice cream, or alongside cobblers and crisps (swirl in a bit of heavy cream for color and contrasting flavor.

Cucumbers: In the morning, thinly slice a couple cucumbers and marinate with a bit of red wine vinegar (with a splash of water) and chopped green onions.

Summer tomato vinaigrette: a peeled and seeded tomato enriches any of your favorite oil and vinegar dressings, even the bottled varieties. Simply puree in a blender or food processor one medium-to-large sized tomato with about 11/2 cups of dressing.

Pesto: Tossed with or spread on anything this time of year, it’s fabulous: Spread on halved Walla Walla Sweet onions and broil; toss with freshly cooked pasta; combine with chunks of grilled chicken breast for a quick salad or sandwich filling; Combine with shredded cheese, then spread on a split loaf of French bread and broil.

Walla Wallas: Combine Walla Walla Sweet Onions with cooked and sliced new potatoes, thinly sliced celery, red bell pepper rings and a bit of mayonnaise and Dijon mustard that you’ve thinned with some white wine vinegar.

Corn: For a different finger-salad, cut fresh summer corn into 3/4-inch long rounds then cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain, then toss with a bit of your favorite vinaigrette and let stand until cool. Eat with fingers.

Green beans: Lightly steamed young green beans that have been chilled then napped in a bit of vinaigrette.

This is an easy salad dressing. It’s also good on grilled or steamed potatoes, tossed in a warm spinach salad, or drizzled over grilled albacore. It will keep for weeks in the refrigerator.

CAPRIAL’S SEASONAL SALAD GREENS WITH GARLIC- CABERNET DRESSING

For the dressing:

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 shallots, chopped

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup Cabernet vinegar (or red wine vinegar)

1 head garlic, roasted and squeezed out of papery skin (see note below)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the salad:

Baby greens, or assortment of fresh lettuces (such as butter and red leaf, and radicchio)

1 small cucumber, peeled and sliced

1 tomato, cut into chunks

1 bunch of radishes, sliced

1 Walla Walla Sweet onion, peeled and thinly sliced

To prepare the dressing, place the chopped garlic, shallots, Dijon mustard, vinegar, roasted garlic and rosemary in a small bowl and whisk together. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until the dressing is emulsified and thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use (this dressing will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator).

To prepare the salad, place all of the salad ingredients in a large salad bowl. Add some of the dressing and toss well to evenly coat the ingredients. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings

Recipe from “Caprial’s Bistro-Style Cuisine,” by Caprial Pence

This is a very simple, soft-style preserve, which works equally well as a topping for ice cream, creme brule or custard. If you don’t feel like processing the jars in a boiling water canner, simply ladle the jam into appropriate sized containers and refrigerate or freeze.

THREE BERRY OVEN PRESERVES

2 heaping cups raspberries

2 heaping cups Marionberries

2 cups blueberries

21/4 cups turbinado sugar (less refined or raw sugar)

2 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

In a large a large bowl, combine the freshly rinsed and drained raspberries, Marionberries and blueberries. Add the turbinado sugar, granulated sugar and lemon juice.

With very large spoons or rubber spatula, gently toss the berries with the sugar to evenly distribute the sugar.

Before the juices begin to run, divide the berry / sugar mixture between two 9 x 13 glass baking dishes. Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through when the mixture begins to bubble and foam around the edges. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees, stir the fruit again and continue baking for 20 minutes.

Remove the baking dishes from the oven and let stand until they have cooled slightly and the fruit has stopped bubbling. Carefully scrape both dishes of jam into a bowl. Once in the bowl, it is easier to ladle the preserves into individual containers for storage in the refrigerator or freezer.

For long-term storage at room temperature: have 5 half-pint canning jars washed and ready for filling when the jam is through baking. After the jam has been poured into a bowl, but while it is still hot, ladle into 1 clean and hot canning jar at a time, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Wipe jar rim with a clean damp cloth. Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars. Process in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes (at 1,000 to 3,000 feet, process for 15 minutes; 3,000 to 6,000 feet, for 20 minutes; above 6,000 feet, for 25 minutes)

Makes about 5 cups.

Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. Readers can contact her by e-mail at janrd@proaxis.com.