Ingredient: freshly squeezed lemon juice

Honey Grilled Pork Chops

Simple and elegant, this is a dish you can grill for a quick family weeknight dinner as easily as you can for a more dressed up Saturday night meal with friends. Pork is often served with something sweet, like apples or pears; here, I put the sweetness right on the pork. It lifts its flavor with deep caramelization. I suggest serving it with grilled asparagus or zucchini (pages xx), a mound of toasty bulgur (page xx), and a light red such as a Saumur Champigny.

ASTUCE: before you put the pork chops in the marinade, slit the fat around the edges so the chop won’t curl as it grills

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: whisk, bowl, rubber spatula, long tongs, long metal spatula
PREPARATION AND GRILLING TIME: at least 1 hour marinating time; 30 minutes including resting time
DIFFIUCLTY LEVEL: simple

Gazpacho, Smoky French Style

Here, the simple purity of summer tomatoes and red bell peppers grilled gently over the coals, teamed with farm-fresh cucumbers, garlic, and onions makes this the most refreshing gazpacho you’re likely to taste. It speaks of the finest and most fresh ingredients, softly spiked with hot pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Simple to prepare, I predict that once you’ve tried it, your summer meals will rarely be without it!

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: long tongs, metal spatula, wood chips or grapevine cuttings sarments de vigne, food processor
PREPARATION AND GRILL TIME: 2 hours and 25 minutes, including 2 hours chilling time (minimum).
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: simple

Aioli – Garlic Mayonnaise

This sauce evokes Provence at its productive best, in spring and summer, when farms and family gardens are at their peak production, yielding vegetables with an incomparable depth of flavor.

ASTUCE – When making aioli – or any mayonnaise-like sauce – think slow, slow, slow. There is a simple remedy for separated aioli. Put an egg yolk in another bowl and slowly whisk the separated aioli into it.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

It is neither traditional, nor even that American. But it almost always finds its way into our Thanksgiving supper.  And it’s good for every other meal too!