If your inclination in the last steamy days of summer is not to cook, then rinse off some salad and fruit, get out cold cuts and cheese, and fill a pitcher with iced tea. Then spend a cool afternoon in the shade with a lusciously illustrated cookbook, the kind that during indoor weather you'd leave open on the coffee table.
Two such volumes have been published recently, both from the same source: the photographer professionally known as Battman (Alan Batt). His latest large-format books have New York in the title, but their visuals are mouthwatering beyond geography.
Battman says that 10 percent of the proceeds of the books' sales are being donated to the Children's Storefront, a tuition-free school in Harlem.
¢ "Summer in New York" (Battman Studios, 2005, $39.95) contains a selection of seasonal recipes from some 90 top chefs at New York City, Chicago and Miami restaurants and culinary institutes, including Charlie Palmer and Eric Ripert. Each dish is shown in a brilliantly colored and composed full-page photo.
Coconut and Passion Fruit Parfait With Wild Berry Sauce, made with a recipe from Miami's Casa Tui restaurant.
Some dishes are madly complicated concoctions, others not. One recipe lists nine ingredients with one line of instruction: "Arrange the plate according to the picture." The recipes are for salads, appetizers or main courses, with plenty of fish and vegetables.
¢ "New York Sweets" (Battman Studios, 2005, $39.95) offers desserts and pastries, again from a roster of about 70 nationally famous restaurant and cooking school chefs.
Berries and ice cream recipes are well represented, visually appealing for summer days. But there are other recipes, including tropical sticky carrot cake, tempura chocolate cheesecake, and ricotta fritters, to serve warm, for chillier times in other seasons.
Here's a recipe full of fresh flavor, from "Summer in New York."
Scallops With a Corn, Peach and Almond Salad
1 pound large sea scallops, patted dry
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons canola or other vegetable oil
Scallops With a Corn, Peach and Almond Salad, a dish described as "Ode to Pierre Gagnaire," is made with a recipe from New York City's Inside restaurant. The photo is from the cookbook "Summer in New York."
4 ears sweet corn, cut off the cob
2 large, ripe peaches, cut into small dice
1/2 cup almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
8 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons light-tasting oil
Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. Season scallops with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet on high heat, with canola oil. Blanch corn in boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain. Sear scallops in oil until golden on one side and then turn and cook 1 more minute on the other side. Toss corn with remaining ingredients and place on plates. Top with scallops and serve.
Makes 4 servings as an entree, or 6 as an appetizer.
¢ Taste evolution overlaps with tennis
Restaurant Associates, caterers at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, says that through the years they have responded to the evolution of taste in Americans' food preferences by adapting what they serve at the event.
Changes in menus reflect changes in what people want to eat, or are prepared to try, according to Restaurant Associates. Examples of menu items from past to present underline the changes:
¢ About 30 years ago (1976), they first offered quiches (not a food associated with sports events); hot dogs with a rye-flour bun and Grey Poupon mustard; choices of bratwurst, knockwurst, weisswurst, bauerwurst; and, in 1978, salad from a large salad bar.
¢ About 20 years ago (1982-1983) along came croissant sandwiches with Brie and Black Forest ham; hand-scooped ice cream; gourmet lemonade and pretzels; tacos, nachos, and burritos. Also, the first "white tablecloth" restaurant, with dishes ranging from seafood to steaks.
¢ Some 10 years ago, Italian selections were offered, including pasta and marinara sauce; more healthful foods; artisanal breads for all sandwiches.
¢ In 2000, new catering included a creperie with stuffed ham, vegetable, Suzette and traditional sugar and cinnamon choices; a lobster club sandwich; a vodka chocolatini; raw bars, grilled fish and key lime pie in corporate dining suites.
¢ This year, Restaurant Associates says, menu choices include glatt kosher selections; grilled panini; chipotle-barbecue tostadas; crab-cake sandwiches; Indian cuisine; sushi and sake; falafel; made-to-order served salads.
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