Broad
beans are the other early vegetable that
smacks of sunshine. I simply boil the first
of the season and toss them with a classic
French dressing and lots of fresh parsley
and lemon zest. They make a great salad with
slices of cold ham.
Summer fruits
As the summer progresses, we have all the
early local fruits to play with, such as
strawberries and the first of the currants
and gooseberries. My first time with all of
these will be in the simplest way - perhaps
a perfect bowl of strawberries and a big jug
of cream to start off the season.
It's
scarcely a week or two into the summer
before I start embellishing the berries with
simple but effective seasonings such as a
drop or two of balsamic vinegar, a very
(very) fine sprinkling of black pepper, and
sometimes a little grated orange zest and
juice, all of which seem to make the fruit
shine even brighter.
Currants and gooseberries form the main
part of my summer desserts, often in
straightforward fools and fruit salads, but
also as fruit compotes slowly cooked with a
little sugar and sometimes a dash of
elderflower cordial. Then the apricots and
peaches come and I feel summer has really
arrived at its height. Last year I split
peaches in half and stuffed them with
ricotta cheese and chopped basil and
wonderful they were, too.
I
occasionally use the seasonal fruits with
meat, sometimes offering a dish of stewed
gooseberries with mackerel that I have
grilled until crisp and golden, and other
times using them with baked gammon. A very
pleasing change from the usual
accompaniments.
Light and bright
Most
people will have salmon at some point during
the summer, often grilled with a simple
sauce, but I find it's worth cooking a
really large piece and using it for cold
suppers too. Salmon is not as expensive as
it was, although it's still a treat and I
love a wedge of it on a plate with
mayonnaise livened up with some chopped
basil or tarragon.
Having a piece of cold salmon in the
fridge is very useful when making summer
sandwiches. Even a small amount will go a
long way when mixed with light mayonnaise
and peeled, chopped cucumber, parsley and a
squeeze of lemon juice. Brown bread
obligatory!
I
look forward to the lighter meats in hot
weather - chicken, of course, but also lean
cuts of pork and lamb that will be as good
cold as hot. A sharp and interesting
grain-based salad takes summer cold cuts
into new territory. I often make a couscous
salad with as much parsley, mint and lemon
juice as I can, then place paper-thin slices
of rare lamb on top. A little drizzle of
olive oil and you have a really fine salad.
Another possibility is a tomato salsa with
chopped fresh chillies, mango and coriander
leaves stirred into soaked bulgar wheat - so
good with cold chicken.
The grill is definitely my major cooking
tool in the summer, but I have taken to
using it for vegetables as much as for meat.
Courgettes and aubergines are delicious
grilled and tossed in a pesto sauce thinned
with a little more olive oil than usual. The
pesto takes up some of the smoky notes of
the vegetables: wonderful with cool, milky
mozzarella, but strictly for eating outdoors
with the sun high in the sky.
Recipes
There's such an abundance of produce
around at this time of year that the only
difficulty is deciding which ingredients to
feast on. You can start with this selection
of recipes from Nigel Slater that are
perfect for an al fresco barbecue feast or a
fast, fuss-free supper.
