Three Things

Book tour news, a market-forward summer dinner, the year's best fiction

Greetings eaters and readers! The Weekday Vegetarians: Get Simple is out in less than one month, and while we’re still hammering out details on West Coast and New England book tour events, I’m thrilled to announce that my first stop will be at the Brooklyn Heights Public Library on August 27 at 6:00pm. I’ll be in conversation with Justine Doiron, who the whole world seemed to fall in love with on TikTok during the pandemic (including yours truly) as much for her hilarious, vulnerable commentary as for her inspired plant-forward cooking. (She has her own very cool looking book coming out in October.) Books Are Magic is hosting the event and you can click here to register. Hope to see you there! 💚 And now: Three Things I’d like you to know about this week, not including the chicken who hung out with us at dinner the other night…

1. Your Summer Menu of the Week, Part 4

No, I haven’t been eating dinner on the windowsill — the kitchen in our Berkshires rental, while perfectly charming, is decidedly lacking in optimal light for food photography, so I’m using the ole natural light hack, shooting all my finished dishes next to the open window. (Lest my recipes look anything short of perfectly “real” for you. You’re welcome!) And I have to say, Sunday’s finished dishes were good ones, making excellent use of both the pantry and the farm market. Let’s start with those zucchini blossoms, which I am incapable of not buying when I see them during the thirteen minutes they are in season every year. They look expertly fried, don’t they? If that scares you, let me tell you, I am deathly afraid of deep-frying (the technique not the result), but for whatever reason prepping these zucchini blossoms feels more like just pan-frying in a deep skillet — she tells herself convincingly — and the batter couldn’t be simpler: flour, club soda, salt. I know you can stuff zucchini blossoms with all kinds of fancy cheeses and herbs, but I personally love the simplicity of this preparation, the bright pop of sea salt and the hint of floral in the blossoms.

As for the soup, I would usually make this with canned tomatoes, but we had a pile of heirlooms and questionably wrinkly grape tomatoes that were begging to be put to work, so I chopped them up and added to the pot, along with some wine to give it the umami that canned tomatoes (and tomato paste) usually bring to the soup. Also, as noted in previous summer squash recipes, my family is not crazy about zucchini — the squash part, not its blossom — so I sautéed the finely chopped squash separately then added to my bowl like a garnish. But the recipe is written with the assumption that your family is more vegetable-inclusive. Click here for the menu:

P.S. This is Part 4 in my Summer Menu of the Week Series. If you’d like to check out Parts 1, 2, and 3, I turned them into fun little buttons for you. All come with side serving suggestions.

Enjoy!

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2. You have one job…OR a cheese to remember

No matter how eagerly I read up on exciting cheeses and various things to pair those exciting cheeses with, I can never seem to remember a single thing when I’m at the store, confronted with a wall of goats and goudas and cheddars and blues. My brain = utterly blank. And because this whole newsletter enterprise is based on me believing you and I have the same exact problems, here is the solution: There is ONE cheese I’d like you to remember next time you’re facing in-store paralysis — Old Chatham Creamery’s Hudson Valley Camembert. It’s the perfect please-everyone cheese, all creamy with a slight tang from the sheep’s milk, not outrageously expensive, and pairs beautifully with fresh figs. And other things, too, but I don’t want to introduce any confusion! One cheese: Old Chatham Hudson Valley Camembert, and one fruit: Figs. That’s it. Next time people come over, that’s the combo.

Here’s what to look for. Tattoo it on your brain!

3. An Award for Fiction Lovers

Earlier this year I was at a book club meeting discussing everything but the novel we were actually reading, when someone asked “What literary award do you pay the most attention to?” And almost in unison, everyone replied “The Booker!” The Booker is only for fiction and considered one of the most prestigious awards — so naturally I thought you’d all like to know that the 2024 nominees (the “long list”) was just announced this week. You’ll recognize several on that list: This Strange Eventful History, by Clare Messud; Playground, by Richard Powers; Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner (Kushner’s is next on my on-deck pile); Wandering Stars, by Tommy Orange; and My Friends, by Hisham Matar. In our house, we were particularly thrilled about that last one. Matar’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning memoir The Return is a favorite around here (and one I found myself drawn to last winter when my father died) and Andy had the honor of editing My Friends. When he found out about the award, he texted me a photo of his favorite paragraph from the novel:

I do not know if I believe in God. The two states are interchangeable, because you need not believe in something that exists or disbelieve in what does not exist. Belief or disbelief are each an article of faith. Although my prayers feel more like routine, to do more with rhythm and habit than faith, more about mending the past to the present, than the fear of judgment. At certain moments though, I nearly forget myself and catch within me, in the far depths of my soul, a dark comfort rising and it burns my eyes.

Have a good week,

Jenny

P.S. Have you always wanted Liana Finck to illustrate one of your personal gripes? Now’s your chance!

Pre-order The Weekday Vegetarians: Get Simple wherever books are sold…

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Named one of Forbes Magazine’s Best Cookbooks of Summer 2024. 🎉 🎉