Blog Posts by Food52

You've eaten your tomatoes with a sprinkle of salt. You've shaved your zucchini; you've boiled your corn; you've let the juices of peaches flow down your chin.

And now, maybe, you're starting to get tired. You're starting to resent those plump, ripe specimens at the market, on your counter. We're here to show you how to embrace them again. Here are 9 new ways to use summer's wonderful produce -- 9 reasons to love the sun, the heat, and everything that comes with it.

• Check out our favorite ways to use up summer's zucchini.

• See our 8 best tomato recipes.

• Got a question in the kitchen? The Food52 Hotline is here to help!

It's that time of year again: the time of year where summer's bounty is unwavering, that time of year that we're getting a little tired of the hooray-it's-summer salads, a little wary of those piles of produce on the counter.

That's what we're here for.

Here are 9 new ways to use zucchini and summer squash, to make that gigantic pile feel exciting, inspiring, and new again.

• Browse through the entries for Your Best Summer Squash Recipe.

• Check out our favorite ways to use another summer favorite: tomatoes.

• Got a question in the kitchen? The FOOD52 Hotline is here to help!

Rainbow hued and super seasonal, this week's Dinner Tonight has a gracious elegance that might just inspire a little pinky's-up sort of behavior, which is never a bad thing. It pops and crunches with cherry tomatoes and cucumbers, and gets satisfying richness (and protein!) from delicate accents of buttermilk, cream and feta. Buy the very best you can afford (or find) as far as those touches go, and you'll have a truly heavenly little repast.

Click through on the recipe photos or titles to see (and save and print) the full recipes, but we've also written you a handy game plan below.

The Menu

Cherry Tomato Clafoutis by Meredith Shanley

Serves 2-4

Clafoutis:
3 eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup cream
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12-14 cherry tomatoes
2 ounces goat cheese

Herb "Salad":
2 handfuls fresh basil, chiffonade
2 handfuls fresh parsley, rough chop
3

Some foods are simply made for each other. Peanut butter and jelly. Bread and butter. Strawberries and chocolate. Ham and cheese.

>>RELATED: See our 12 dinner-worthy sandwiches on FOOD52.

Our favorite go-to food-duo these days, though, is fried chicken and biscuits. Why? Because with this batter-less fried chicken recipe and crazy-easy biscuit technique, we can have our favorite dinner on the table in no time.

>>RELATED: See our recipe for Banana Pudding to serve for dessert.

Forget those tubs of chicken, those hard, plastic-y biscuits. This is homemade Southern goodness, fit for a weeknight.

Classic Southern Buttermilk Bathed Fried Chicken by ChefJames

Serves 6

Spice Rub:
6 chicken leg quarters (leg and thigh separated)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1.5 teaspoons cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black pepper

Buttermilk Brine:
1-2 quart

It's summertime and that means one thing: stone fruit season. Although the simple pleasure of biting into a perfectly ripe peach and feeling its juice dip down your face is satisfying in and of itself, peaches can also be an inspiring ingredient, pushing home cooks to new heights. Get creative with one of these 7 peach recipes.

• Ready to cook with other stone fruits? Check out our ideas for using both cherries and plums!

• Got questions? Ask the experts from the Food52 Hotline.

In honor of our Summer Food Fights, we've decided to pay homage to the other big competition that's going on -- you know the one in which athletes from all over the world compete for eternal glory? -- with these 8 international desserts.

• Looking for dessert recipes? Look no further.

• Satisfy your cookie craving with one of these.

• Got questions? Ask the experts on the Food52 Hotline.

Know this about today's menu: it is written aspirationally, by stuck-in-the-city New Yorkers who dreams of the smell of flaming hot barbeques and the perfect, irreplaceably smokey burgers that they produce. Such burgers are the stuff of hazy summer dreams -- egg yolk-y yellow cheese oozing over a juicily charred, misshapen patty, mashed between squishy white buns and falling apart at every bite. Softly pink, and fruity sweet watermelonade is just the thing to wash that marvelous mess down.

The Menu

The New Englandah Burgah by Chef Jason Royal

Makes 2 large burgers

1 pound 80-85% lean Black Angus ground beef
1/4 cup Pure New England maple syrup, plus more for basting
4 thick slices applewood smoked bacon
1 MacIntosh apple
4 slices Vermont cheddar cheese
2 Bulkie rolls
Salt and pepper to taste
2 bottles blueberry beer

1. In a medium bowl, combine the beef, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well using your hands. Form into 2

Every week on FOOD52, a DIY expert spares us a trip to the grocery store and shows us how to make small batches of great foods at home. Today, Marisa McClellan of Food In Jars helps us stock our pantry with some of her favorite nut butters.

Several years ago, I found myself obsessed with nut butters. I was always on the lookout for new flavors and nut combinations and was willing to pay truly obscene amounts of money for small jars of cinnamon vanilla sunflower butter or coconut peanut butter.

>>RELATED: See our easy way to make homemade butter (the dairy kind!)

Soon enough, I came to my senses (helped by a quick tally of how much I'd spent) and realized that all these little tubs contained were nuts, sweeteners and spices. I got to work. The very first batch of maple roasted almond butter sealed the deal. When it comes to any kind of nut butter -- plain, fancy, and everything in between -- homemade is most definitely the way to go. In my experience, this technique works