It’s almost autumn while the calendar still says summer, making this one of the best times of year to visit farms and farmers’ markets.
Our favorite vegetables of summer, including sweet corn and tomatoes, are still available and should be until the first hard frost. You also can still find the last of this year’s outstanding peach and nectarine crop and some melons. Meanwhile the parade of autumn apples has begun, along with the many hard winter squashes including butternuts, buttercups, acorns, spaghetti, celebration, sweet dumpling, delicata and pumpkins.
The bounty is so large it’s sometimes hard to choose. Market stands are filled with a rainbow of color, making you want to try new fruits and vegetables as each appears in the markets. But you also want to enjoy summer’s best while they are still available.
Compromise is always an option. You can use fresh corn to make a hearty chowder or blanch and freeze bags of corn for wintertime eating. Tomatoes also can be canned or frozen, as well as peaches. The concept of “putting food by” for the non-harvest months is an old one that continues to this day among home cooks who want to taste a bit of summer when it’s cold outside.
Whether you eat it now or save it for later, it’s time to enjoy this most bountiful of seasons.
This epicurious.com recipe can serve as a breakfast or brunch dish or provide a warm, satisfying dessert.
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅔ cup (84 g) all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Golden Delicious apples (about 12 ounces), peeled, cored, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
Powdered sugar (for serving; optional)
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk 4 large eggs, 1 cup whole milk, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal or ¼ teaspoon Morton kosher salt, and ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon in a large bowl. Add ⅔ cup (84 g) all-purpose flour and whisk just until batter is smooth.
2. Heat 4 tablespoons unsalted butter in a 13x9-inch baking dish in oven until melted, about 5 minutes. Remove baking dish from oven; swirl butter in dish to coat bottom and partially up sides. Arrange 2 Golden Delicious apples (about 12 ounces), peeled, cored, thinly sliced, in overlapping rows in dish. Bake until apples are slightly softened and butter is bubbling and beginning to brown around edges of dish, 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately pour batter over apples and sprinkle 3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar evenly over. Bake pancake until puffed and brown around edges, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Dust pancake with powdered sugar if desired; serve immediately (pancake will deflate as it cools).
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