End of summer sirens
27 August 2009

This is my favorite time of the month. The time when my new food magazines arrive! I pour over them almost as soon as I pull them from the mailbox, taking mental notes over what looks good, interesting, and worth sitting down to read when the house is relatively quiet.

The September issues have been arriving. The photos alone are enough to spark my yearning for the hearty, yet sublime flavors typical of this shift in seasons. I'm not completely done with summer, however. Living in the South, the flavors of summer may extend well into October. I can almost smell stews and roasts and pumpkin and apple pies laden with nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon baking in the oven - the key word there is "almost." I'm not quite ready for those beloved aromas and flavors. For now, I find myself seduced by what is my end-of-summer need for contrasting tastes which serve to foreshadow the contrasting temperatures to come.

The sweetness of fresh fruit, paired with the savory richness of heartier meats or herbs (fresh rosemary simply pulls me in as though casting a spell.) I'm still holding on to some of my summer stand-bys, because, really, can anyone truly say barbecue goes out of season? But, other than that, these latest issues, and those archived from Septembers passed, are starting my cravings for one of my all time favorite dishes, and calling to me like the Sirens to Odysseus—Moussaka.

Start off the meal with some fresh figs, stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese, wrapped with Prosciutto, roasted (or even grilled!), then drizzled with honey and sprinkled with some freshly chopped rosemary. I never had a fresh fig until I was well into my 30s - I found them to be delightful!

The Moussaka is a recipe I discovered over 10 years ago, while my interest in both Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines somehow collided on my palette. This is the best I have ever tasted, and just imagining the layers of perfectly spiced lamb, eggplant, Kasseri cheese, b'chamel, with a salad, a not too rich cabernet or a nice Chianti, some bread, outside in candle light with just the hint of coolness in the air—absolute bliss for me.

For dessert, I'm sticking with peaches. I get these huge, free stone peaches, and slice them in half. Throw them on the grill, and drizzle with some amaretto, or Grand Marnier, or even bourbon and brown sugar with cr'me anglais, and the seduction will have been complete.

Would it surprise you to know I even dream about food?