Walk into any Jerk shop in Crown Heights and you'll be overwhelmed with savory scents. Now, you might have opened that door planning to purchase the namesake dish, but let me point your nose in another direction. See that sultry, bubbling, brown tray? That's stew chicken, and I think you should give it a try. Brewed from the devilish flavors that make the Caribbean so intoxicating (lime, allspice, sugar), it is the sort of thing you never knew you needed in the depths of winter.
Simple syrup isn't rocket science. Quite literally, in fact. When you mix equal parts water and sugar, you have a perfect solution for crying flavors of all sorts. Boil a few vanilla beans or some sliced ginger in the mixture and you'll be set for cocktails and soda alike.
I love the flavor schmaltz brings to the corn, making something already spicy and salty ever more savory. Regardless of the fat you use here, you'll have to remind yourself to walk away from the bowl. Otherwise you'll eat it in one sitting.
Packing citrus fruit with salt is a technique used the world over, but when we talk about preserved lemon we mentally fly to Morocco. This is a terrific way to make use of your leftover winter crop, concentrating the flavor of lemons into a salty, tender, treat.
What began as an experiment in the Moroccan tradition of preserving lemons turned into a mason jar proliferation of cured citrus. Once I cracked the code on preserving lemons (not terribly difficult) I decided to try the technique on every kind of citrus I could find at the market. Now I've got jars of lemons, meyer lemons, limes, valencia oranges, blood oranges, and grapefruit, sitting in my cabinet awaiting their debut on my dinner table!
It's glorious to shovel a spoonful of corn kernels into your mouth and delight in popping them as you chew. The juice from fresh summer corn is, perhaps, what gold tastes like (when left out in the sun to heat for a while). And, as usual, I love pairing something sweet with some heat. Roasted poblano peppers are smoky and hot, a proud match for summer corn.
