Is it a barbecue summer? Is it not? Who cares? Summer can be evoked by food as much as the weather. Take the thought, idea, conceptuality of summery food and make it, whatever the weather. Here’re some suggestions beyond a 99 whippy in the rain.
Summer fruits:
These are an instant lift. Grab the glut while they last. Their soft luscious flesh, their fabulous bright skin… Be they berries (perfect for sharing – just wash and serve) or bigger (nectarines, apricots, plums), it’s good. Simply make sure they’re ripe – nobody likes a bony-bottomed peach – but not too ripe – vintage cherries are unwanted – then sit them in a cheerful bowl. It’s summer in a dish. Keep any back that don’t make the cut for serving. Past-it fruit can be blitzed for a simple juice or smoothie, with ice-cubes or yoghurt respectively. Fruits are also excellent when expanded into savoury dishes. Roasted nectarine is especially delicious: It sits just as well on a main course plate as any roasted pepper or aubergine.
Kitchen barbecue:
Although LMH can’t be rivalled for barbecue location, what with the sun-dappled gardens, punts, cute brick barbecue stands etcetera, an oven’s grill will suffice. Skewers are great for the ‘authentically reproduced’ barbecue; just make sure to soak wooden ones in water for half an hour to help prevent them catching under the heat. Although fire and smouldering coal are somewhat irresistible, save them for a real barbecue rather than your house. Pop some chopped-up meat in a marinade of Greek yoghurt, flavoured with your favourite spices and herbs. Leave it for an hour or so, then shake off the excess gloop. Impale the meaty portions on the sticks and cook them under a hot grill until deliciously tender. Lamb works especially well with traditional rosemary and garlic, or oregano, sage or cumin.
Tomatoes:
Just because there’s so much other fruit around doesn’t mean that tomatoes should be forgotten. They are fabulous right now, and can be used with greater dominance in salads along with traditional leaves. Or you could roast them to bring out a more intense flavour: Chop up a couple of big beef tomatoes into slices with a drizzle of oil and cook in a hot oven for 20 minutes, turning lest their delicious flesh catches. Serve with a touch of balsamic vinegar, if that’s your thing. Don’t forget the classic Greek salad with feta, cucumber, onions and olives…add some anchovies or capers for extra flavour. And if you’ve got luscious beauties on the vine, don’t despoil them with anything, except maybe a few slices of mozzarella and a garnish of basil leaves.
Sweetcorn:
It’s got colour, it’s got sweetness (in the name), it’s got a satisfyingly chunky shape. Buy some proper corn-on-the-cobs and either steam or microwave them. For proper barbecue style, wrap them in tin foil (or keep them in their green leafy sheath if they come au naturale), then cook them under the grill until tender. Apply them to your mouth, left to cool a little so as to save your lips. To add a few yum calories to this yellow stick of health, baste them with butter, melted and infused with some nice garlic.
Fish:
Fish is delicious at any time of year, but there’s something suitably evocative of eating warm tender fish on a summer’s evening, dreaming of a dusky beach and the sea’s lapping waves before you. This is a beauty of food, to transport us where we want, in our memories and in the world. Ginger balances well with steamed salmon, cod with olive, tuna with wasabi. Lightly sear in a hot pan or stick them under the grill. For a light summer meal, eat with steamed new potatoes or rice forked through with peas and drained tinned sweetcorn (keep your corn-on-the-cob for the full works before).
Lemon:
Not reserved solely for fish, lemon is wonderful in savoury and sweet dishes. Mix a lemon’s juice with two tablespoons of grainy mustard and olive oil, some oregano or rosemary and bay leaves. Sluice this over a whole chicken and follow with a mug of water or white wine. Roast the bird for two hours at 170°C until its juices run clear. Fruits, vegetables and potatoes can be roasted in the same dish if it’s suitably capacious. To do so, prepare and cut them into chunks, then scatter around the chicken. Add an extra mug of water to the dish and check on the liquid level during the cooking time, topping up as required.
As for sweet dishes, where to start? Lemon meringue, lemon drizzle cake, lemon rice pudding… Its juice and zest can be added to many plainer recipes to lift them into summer cuisine. Use your initiative to judge if a dash of lemon flavour would compliment the recipe’s basic product (e.g. don’t add to brownies). An additional quick dessert for a summer party is lemon creams. Beat a carton of double cream with electric beaters until it’s firm, then stir in lemon curd from the jar to taste. Serve in as a vat or pop the mixture into small cups, saucers, shot or wine glasses. Store in the fridge until needed, and they’re especially good with anything blackcurrant (think Kir Royale, crème de cassis, blackcurrant sorbet).
Summer crumble:
It can’t be all health during summertime. This can be offset with some nice fruits for a delicious pudding. Crumble is an excellent sweet dish anytime of year: It’s simple, it uses up old fruit and it requires little attention. Even better, it heats up like a dream, so leftovers are not a problem.
First, find a pretty ovenproof dish. Wash, peel, chop, prepare some fruit as required. A base of apples is normal so as to bulk out the dish, but use fruit as you please. Apricots, berries, pears – anything goes (except bananas. Cooked bananas, except in loaves, seems a bit wrong). Fill the dish with this fruit until it’s about two-thirds full. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and sugar to the fruit (and extra sugar if you fear tart fruit). If cinnamon or mixed spice is your thing, add a couple of teaspoons and stir it through (especially good as summer settles into autumn). Make the easy crumble topping by rubbing 100g butter into 200g flour with your fingers (it’s gentler if the butter is a little soft), then mix in 100g Demerara sugar. Pour this over the top of the fruit so that it’s covered. If it’s not enough topping, make some more with half quantities of the above. Cook in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30-45 minutes, depending on size. This is one of the many beauties of crumble, as it is simple to prepare and cook the crumble in advance, then leave it in the warm switched-off oven until you’re ready to eat it – i.e. it waits for you. Vanilla ice-cream is the perfect complement.
