DeSimone Mike - The Fire Island cookbook

Elegant summer meals for
any day of the year

In The Fire Island Cookbook, food, wine, and travel writers Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen have put together a mouthwatering collection of meals using seasonal produce, one for each weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Each of the fourteen menus is influenced by the authors travels in Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Mexico, and Hungary, and includes course-by-course wine pairings.

Every chapter features recipes for a full menu from appetizer to dessert, with wines to match. While some dishes are designed to be prepped in the morning, ignored all day while the cooks are at the beach, and then grilled and arranged as guests arrive, others are a little more elaborate, perfect for the weekend that would otherwise be ruined by rain. Meals can be prepared by one or two dedicated chefs, or divided up among everyone, with each person contributing a course.

Wherever your dream vacation house, occasional weekend destination, or home, and whatever time of year, you are sure to enjoy this fantastic collection of recipes. So slip away, feel the cool spray against your skin, taste the salt in the air, and dream of a delicious, beautiful, and relaxing dinner with friends and family.

MIKE D E SIMONE and JEFF JENSSEN , also known as the World Wine Guys, are wine, spirits, food, and travel writers. When not traversing the globe, they divide their time between their homes in New York City and southern Spain. Mike and Jeff are the Entertaining and Lifestyle contributing editors for Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Their articles and photographs have appeared in Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, and Saveur . Visit their website at www.worldwineguys.com .

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AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH BY CRIS CRISP

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THE
FIRE ISLAND
COOK BOOK

A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright 2012 by The World Wine Guys, LLC

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Emily Bestler Books/Atria Books hardcover edition April 2012

EMILY BESTLER BOOKS / ATRIA BOOKS and colophons are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com .

Designed by Jason Snyder

Food photography by Frances Janisch

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

DeSimone, Mike.

The Fire Island cookbook / by Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen.

p. cm.

1. Cooking, American. 2. Dinners and dining. 3. Cookbooks. I. Jenssen, Jeff. II. Title.
TX715.D467 2012
641.5973dc23 2011044438

ISBN 978-1-4516-3293-4
ISBN 978-1-4516-3294-1 (ebook)

To our family and friends, who have always welcomed us with generosity of spirit, glass, and table

CONTENTS

NOCHE CALIENTE SPANISH DINNER

RAINY DAY FRENCH MENU

PEAK SUMMER PRODUCE

FOURTH OF JULY POOL PARTY

NEPTUNES BOUNTY

MYKONOS BY TORCHLIGHT

PORTSIDE IN PUERTO VALLARTA

A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DINNER

PAELLA BEACH PARTY

MEDITERRANEAN ODYSSEY

AMERICA THE BOUNTIFUL

VILLA IN TUSCANY

HEIGHT OF THE EMPIRE

LABOR DAY CARIBBEAN BARBECUE

FOREWORD

by Al Roker

I love sitting down with a good cookbook.

The best allow you to imagine yourself in a world-class kitchen, actually possessing the ability to make whats on the page.

Sadly, those cookbooks are few and far between. I find myself getting confused just reading the darn recipe. Odds are, I dont have any of the ingredients and none of the equipment, and I lack the advanced skills the recipe calls for. Hey, cookbook writers, I dont plan on spending half the day in a kitchen equipment store looking for a truffle zester or whatever arcane piece of kitchen gadgetry you call for.

And the commentary that goes along with the recipes can be stuffy, pompous, and downright boring. Sorry, I dont have a degree in gastro-nuclear-physics. I dont understand what youre saying! English, please.

Then theres The Fire Island Cookbook. Not only can you imagine making these recipes, you can hear Mike and Jeff telling you great stories while youre cooking. I know these guys. I know their voices. Just imagine them in your kitchen helping you cook and picking out great wines to go with your meal!

The casual, laid-back atmosphere of Fire Island is captured perfectly within the pages of this book. So relax and try the menus in Mike and Jeffs baby, The Fire Island Cookbook. No matter what the season, there is always a perfect reason to turn to this cookbook again and again.

Enjoy!!!

THE
FIRE ISLAND
COOK BOOK

INTRODUCTION

Summer is the time of year that we love the best, and all we can think about the whole season is heading to the beach. Sometimes its just for the weekend, and at other times we are away for weeks at a stretch, but among the joys of a beach house are having a kitchen and also having time to prepare dinner for or with family and friends. In our travels as wine and food writers, we have had the wonderful opportunity to eat dinner in restaurants around the globeand the first thing we want to do when we get home is try out new dishes on the people we love. Since everyone slows down a little when the heat sets in, summer seems like the best time for everyone to get together and enjoy a dinner using fresh seasonal ingredients.

Summer is also the height of the mouthwatering produce seasonfrom asparagus to zucchini, served hot or cold, raw or cooked, simply grilled or smothered in sauce. No matter if you are serving fish straight from the sea or prime cuts of aged meat, everything tastes better when it is presented with style. A well-laid table and an attractively arranged plate turn a meal into a feast for all of the senses, and a few extra moments in the kitchen will keep your friends talking about your cooking for the rest of the summer. And lets be honest: as much as we all love to play host, the best kind of houseguests are those who show up with their favorite cookbooks, a bag of groceries, and a few bottles of wine, allowing you to be the guest in your own home.