Crab Cakes with Buttermilk- Basil Dressing and Marinated Tomatoes and Corn adapted from Tyler Florence

  

         Crab Cakes are one of those dishes that are just about perfect just about anytime of year.  They’re a snap to make and you can have them cooked and kept warming in the warming drawer until you’re ready to serve your guests.   This wonderful recipe uses a lot of crab and not a lot of bread  which is key to a great crab cake.   This particular take caught our eye because it seemed like just the right thing to serve for one of our  lunches around the pool.   Its pedigree is very reassuring.  There’s not much that Tyler Florence doesn’t do perfectly and this is but one example. It’s from his late, lamented column in House Beautiful, “Tyler’s Kitchen”.  Tyler combines three summer favorites that are at their peak right now.  There’s fresh basil in the dressing.  And there are 3 varieties of tomatoes and sweet corn.   The corn is gorgeous cooked a way I’d never tried before and it was a revelation all by itself.

Watermelon Salsa served 2 ways: In Fish Tacos and a Blackened Swordfish Salad

         For the last few summers, one of our salads of choice has been the Watermelon and Tomato rendition first published here in July 2010: http://www.chewingthefat.us.com/2010/07/watermelon-and-tomato-salad.html.  Nothing says 'cool off' like watermelon and this salad combines the sweetness of the fruit with the tang of ripe tomatoes, a jolt of red onion and a splash of red wine vinegar.  It’s a perfect accompaniment to almost anything grilled, truly a dish that has summer written all over it.  So when I spotted a recipe for Fish Tacos with Watermelon Salsa, I couldn’t wait to try it.