Mark Hix's taste of summer: part 1

Lamb salad with redcurrants

Serves 4

I don't normally get excited about meat and fruit combos, but some fruits do have an affinity with meat – apples with pork and orange with duck, for example. Redcurrant jelly goes with roast lamb, of course, but these currants look better than they taste, and there's not a lot else you can do with them apart from adding a few to a summer pudding. I thought combining these acidic berries with lamb in a salad would make a nice change for a hot summer's day. For this recipe the cut I'd use would be the fillets under the saddle, as they cook in a couple of minutes and just melt in your mouth. You only get two small fillets of about 100g each per animal, so your butcher may not have them. The trimmed eye of meat from the best end or saddle, or even the rump, will work well instead, although either of these will take a little longer to cook.

Related articles

• Lamb salad with redcurrants
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• Lotus stem salad with crispy pork and prawns
• Beetroot and sorrel salad with yoghurt and nigella seeds
• Scotch duck eggs
• Chicken tikka flatbreads with minted yoghurt
• Antipasto of summer squashes and courgettes
• Grilled courgettes with scamorza
• Essex seafood salad
• Gazpacho with cucumber sorbet
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8 lamb under fillets or alternative cuts (see above) weighing 250-280g each
60-80g extra fine French beans, cooked in boiling salted water for 3 minutes and drained
60-80g corn salad (lambs lettuce) or similar
40g redcurrants, removed from the stalks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

For the dressing

1tbsp good quality red wine vinegar, such as cabernet sauvignon
5tbsp olive oil

If you can't get really fine French beans you can tear thicker ones in half lengthways down the natural seam to make the salad a little more delicate. Season the lamb fillets, heat about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a frying pan until almost smoking and fry them for about 1 minute on each side, then transfer to a plate to catch any juices.

Whisk the vinegar, oil and lamb juices together and season. Put the corn salad, beans and redcurrants into a bowl and toss with half of the dressing, then arrange on four plates. Slice the lamb thinly and arrange the slices on the salad then scatter over the redcurrants.

Steak, watercress and shallot salad

Serves 2

This was something I concocted one night because there was only one steak in the fridge and the best way to stretch it for two was in a salad. I had a few shallots in there too, so I thought "steak with fried onion rings and a salad all in one". I love eating main course salads during the summer – they are light enough for a late supper, and you can almost invent a new one every night. Use whatever steak you like, from a tasty bavette to a fillet.

1 steak weighing 250-300g or larger if you wish
100-150g watercress, trimmed, thick stalks removed
5-6 shallots, cut into thin rings
Flour for dusting
100ml milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

1tbsp good quality red wine vinegar
3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tsp Dijon mustard

Pre-heat about 8cm of oil to 160-180C in a large thick-bottomed saucepan or deep fat fryer.

Put the shallot rings into the flour, shaking off any excess, then through the milk and then through the flour again, shaking off excess. Fry them a handful at a time for 3-4 minutes until crisp then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on some kitchen paper. You don't need to worry about keeping these hot.

Heat a ribbed griddle pan or a heavy-bottomed frying pan, or better still a barbecue. Season the steak well and cook to your liking. For me, it has to be rare, especially in a salad.

Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together and seasoning. Dress the watercress and arrange on serving plates. Slice the steak and arrange on the watercress, then scatter the shallots on top.

Lotus stem salad with crispy pork and prawns

Serves 4

This is one of those delicious salads that relies on good ingredients; try Waitrose fresh Red Sea prawns and make sure you get pork belly with a good provenance. You could adapt this if you wanted by adding squid, chicken or a mixture. The lotus stems are smaller versions of lotus roots – they have a crunchy texture to them when sliced. You are likely to find them in Asian supermarkets, preserved in brine, or alternatively you could use white radish.

If you can find the long Malaysian prawn crackers, all the better, or if not try to find the prawn crackers that have the highest percentage of seafood in them. If you can't find them don't worry, the salad is delicious on its own. Some high-end restaurants in Vietnam sometimes add jellyfish, which lends a great crunchy texture to the dish; you can buy them ready-cooked from Asian stores.

A piece of pork belly weighing about 500g
8–12 prawns, preferably fresh and lightly cooked in salted water for about a minute then drained
100g lotus stems, rinsed
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into matchstick shapes
¼ cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds scooped out and the flesh and skin cut into matchstick shapes
1 red chilli, very thinly sliced
A handful of herbs such as fragrant basil, coriander, mint, sawtooth coriander, Chinese parsley, etc, washed and dried
Prawn crackers (see above), cooked

For the nuoc cham

2tbsp fish sauce
8tbsp water
1tbsp sugar
Juice of 2 limes

Pre-heat the oven to 175C/gas mark 4. Score the skin of the pork belly with a very sharp knife in 1cm intervals, just through the rind. Lay the pork skin side down in about 1cm of water in a tray or pan on the stove top and simmer for 2-3 minutes, then remove and place in a roasting pan, skin side up. Season with sea salt and pepper and cook for about 2 hours, basting regularly, then turn the oven up to 220/gas mark 7 and continue cooking for 30 minutes, or until the skin is crisp.

Peel the prawns and save the heads and shells for a soup or sauce. Cut them in half, lengthways, and put them to one side. Make the nuoc cham dressing by mixing all of the ingredients together. The quantities depend on the quality of the fish sauce; if it's good, use less sugar. I would suggest adding sugar to taste. Nuoc cham must taste not too sweet and not too fishy; the anchovy-like aroma must be barely detectable.

To assemble the salad, remove the crispy rind from the pork and break into strips. Slice the meat thinly and toss with all of the other ingredients and arrange on plates with the crispy pork rind on top. You can pile the salad on to the crackers or serve the crackers alongside the salad.

Beetroot and sorrel salad with yoghurt and nigella seeds

Serves 4

Beetroots are a great accompaniment for barbecues and buffets during the summer, and they also lend themselves to being gently spiced up, or in this case herbed and spiced.

If you shop at farmers' markets, you will come across lots of varieties of beetroots these days as farmers are reviving the old coloured varieties. Try to buy them with the leaves, as you can blanch the leaves as I've done here, then toss them in with the beets. I made this dish with yellow beets, although you could use a mixture of yellows and reds, or just reds if you prefer.

700-800g young yellow beetroots, or any other colours with their leaves
A handful of small silver sorrel or sorrel leaves
3-4tbsp of thick Greek yoghurt
1tsp nigella (onion) seeds
4-5tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2tbsp white wine or cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Remove the leaves from the beetroot and give them a good wash. Cook the beets in their skins in boiling salted water for about an hour or until tender. Cook the leaves in fresh boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes until just tender, then drain. Once the beetroots are cool enough to handle, peel them by rubbing the skin off with your fingers, then cut them into quarters, depending on their size. Mix with the leaves.

Toss the beetroots and leaves with the vinegar and olive oil and season well. Arrange in a bowl and scatter or mix in the sorrel leaves. Then spoon the yoghurt on top, scattered with the nigella seeds.

Scotch duck eggs

Serves 4

I think that Scotch eggs should be a treasured national picnic food on both sides of the border, but unfortunately they seem to have become a bit of a joke in recent years, mainly because they're mass produced – you're likely to find a leathery egg barely covered in gristly sausagemeat and covered with bright orange crumbs.

Try making the home-made variety – they're so much better. It's rare to find decent sausagemeat so buy sausages from the butcher and remove the meat.

In country areas you may be able to buy duck eggs straight from the farm.

4 duck eggs boiled for 6-7 minutes, cooled in cold water and peeled
350g good-quality Cumberland sausagemeat
Flour for dusting
1 egg, beaten
50-60g fresh white breadcrumbs
Vegetable or corn oil for deep frying

Divide the sausagemeat into 4 balls and flatten them into patties. Wrap the meat around each of the eggs evenly, moulding it with your hands.

Have 3 shallow containers ready, one with the flour, one with the egg and the third with the breadcrumbs. Put the eggs through the flour first, shaking off any excess, then through the beaten egg and finally the breadcrumbs, re-moulding them if necessary.

Pre-heat about 8cm of oil to 140-150C in a large, thick-bottomed saucepan or electric deep-fat fryer. Cook the eggs for 4-5 minutes, turning them every so often so they are evenly coloured. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on some kitchen paper.

Serve hot, cold or at room temperature.

Chicken tikka flatbreads with minted yoghurt

Serves 2

This is a great sandwich to eat straight off the barbecue. Ideally you want to make or buy chapati or similar flatbreads so they are soft and easily rolled around the chicken. The purpose of a marinade is to tenderise the meat as well as add flavour. I prefer chicken thigh meat to breast as it doesn't dry out as much when it's cooked. For Indian spicing I'd rather start with whole spices then grind them and mix together. That way it's easier to make out the individual spices and you can adjust the mix according to your favourites.

4 medium-sized chicken thighs, boned and skinned
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
A small piece of root ginger, peeled and grated
tsp ground turmeric
Seeds of 5 cardamom pods
tsp ground cumin
Half a small to medium chilli, seeded and roughly chopped
tsp ground fenugreek
1tbsp vegetable oil
2tbsp thick yoghurt
tbsp lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 chapatis or flat breads
Lettuce and coriander leaves (optional)

For the minted yoghurt

2tbsp thick yoghurt
1tbsp chopped fresh mint

Gently cook the garlic, ginger and the rest of the spices in the vegetable oil for 2-3 minutes without colouring. Remove from the heat and coarsely blend with the yoghurt and lemon juice. If you're not using a stick blender, you'll have to stop the machine and scrape down the sides occasionally. Coat the chicken with this mixture and leave to marinade in a non-reactive (non-metal) bowl in the fridge overnight.

To serve, cook the chicken on a griddle or frying pan lightly rubbed with oil for 4-5 minutes on each side. Meanwhile, mix the yoghurt with the mint and warm the chapatis or flatbreads. Shred the chicken. Shred the lettuce and lay on the breads, scatter the chicken on top and add coriander leaves. Spoon over the yoghurt and roll up the breads.

They can be eaten hot or cold or taken on a picnic wrapped in greaseproof paper.

Antipasto of summer squashes and courgettes

Serves 4-6

There are some interesting summer squashes around now, including acorn squash, onion squash and butternut, the old faithful which these days seems to be readily available for most of the year.

I've added some deep-fried courgette flowers to this dish. They can be picked from the male courgette plants that don't develop a courgette, or you can buy them from specialist greengrocers. Farmers' markets may also sell the flowers, and you can use squash or pumpkin flowers if you come across those instead while you're looking.

A simple batter can be made by mixing together equal quantities of flour and cornflour along with some finely grated Parmesan and baking powder, and mixing to a smooth paste with water and seasoning, or you can cheat and use a tempura batter mix which always comes out well. The flowers are then dipped in the batter and fried until crisp.

Just to add to the flavour I've drizzled the cooked squashes and courgettes with toasted pumpkin-seed oil which you can buy from good delis.

1 squash, such as an acorn, cut into segments and seeded, with the skin left on
1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-3cm chunks
2 large courgettes, cut lengthways into 1cm-thick strips
4-5tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-2tbsp pumpkin seed oil
1tbsp pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
2tbsp pesto, thinned down with olive oil for the deep-fried courgette flowers
8 courgette flowers
1tbsp cornflour
1tbsp flour
tsp baking powder
tbsp grated Parmesan
Water to mix

Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan with a little oil. Season and cook the squashes on a medium heat until lightly coloured then finish them in an oven pre-heated to 200C/ gas mark 6 for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile, heat a ribbed griddle plate brushed with a little olive oil, or a heavy frying pan, and lightly season and cook the courgette strips for about 4-5 minutes on each side, then remove from the heat and leave to cool. Pre-heat about 8cm of oil to 160-180C in a large, thick-bottomed frying pan, or use an electric deep-fat fryer. Dip the courgette flowers into the batter, then into the hot fat and fry until crisp, removing with a slotted spoon.

To serve, arrange the squashes and courgettes on a serving dish and drizzle with the pesto and pumpkin-seed oil and scatter the pumpkin seeds and courgette flowers on top.

Grilled courgettes with scamorza

Serves 4

Good quality scamorza cheese – or mozzarella or burrata – is the key to this dish; so ensure that you buy the best, especially if you go for mozzarella, as there are a lot of rogues out there on the shelves.

All three cheeses have similar textures, but scarmorza is made with cow's milk and is moulded into a pear shape. It's sometimes sold smoked, but if you can, buy it fresh.

4 large or 6 small courgettes, with or without flowers
Olive oil for brushing
200-250g scarmorza, mozzarella or burrata, at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

The juice of half a lemon
4-5tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Cut the courgettes lengthways into rough cm-thick slices. Pre-heat a barbecue or ribbed griddle pan. Season and brush the courgettes with olive oil and cook the courgettes for 2-3 minutes on each side.

To serve, arrange the courgettes on a serving dish and spoon over the dressing, then tear the scamorza into pieces over the courgettes and tear the flowers over if you are using them.

Essex seafood salad

Serves 4

For several years I've been visiting places like West Mersea island in search of sea vegetables like samphire, sea spinach and sea purslane, then stopping off at the Company Shed for some local seafood. I can't resist gathering free food from the sea-shore, so it seemed appropriate to invent my own Essex seafood salad.

So few people gather these vegetables these days, and unless you're in the know it's not that easy to make this dish for nothing. But you can get pretty close if you're on the coast this summer. Check first where and what you're allowed to pick. You can also add any cooked shellfish, such as whelks, lobster or prawns.

A handful (about 200-250g) of cockles
A handful (about 200-250g) of mussels, washed and de-bearded
1 squid or cuttlefish tube, about 200g, cleaned and tentacles reserved
A handful of small sea spinach leaves, or baby spinach, washed, stalks removed
A handful of sea purslane or rock samphire, washed, and with any woody stalks picked off (if you can't get these, use regular purslane)
A handful of samphire, woody stalks removed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the oyster vinaigrette

2 oysters, shucked
Juice of half a lemon
2tbsp each of olive oil and vegetable oil, or 4tbsp rapeseed oil

Put the cockles in a bowl of cold water for about 1 hour, giving them a vigorous stir with your hands every so often. Then give them a final rinse and drain. Put the cockles in a pan with a splash of white wine, cover with a lid and cook on a high heat for 3-4 minutes, giving the pan a shake every so often, until they are all open. Remove the cockles with a slotted spoon and leave to cool.

Put the mussels in the same liquid the cockles were in and cook just as you did the cockles. Remove from the pan and leave to cool. Strain the juices through a fine meshed sieve and reserve for the oyster dressing. Score the squid or cuttle fish in a criss-cross fashion about 2-3mm deep on each side and cut into rough 3-4cm chunks. Heat the oil in a frying pan, season the squid and cook on a medium heat, stirring every so often, for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pan and leave to cool.

To make the vinaigrette, put the oysters in a pan with the cockle and mussel juice. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 seconds; remove from the heat. Put the oysters and juice into a liquidiser, then blend with the other ingredients for the dressing and season.

Arrange the leaves on plates with the fish and spoon the dressing over.

Chilled lettuce and lovage soup

Serves 4

This is a handy and flavoursome chilled soup – perfect for transporting in a flask for a summer picnic, or alternatively to serve at a dinner party with some shredded lettuce and a blob of cream on top. You don't find lovage around too often but if you ask your greengrocer nicely throughout the summer months he should be able to get his hands on some. Better still, grow some – it's like a weed, and is also delicious chopped into a tomato salad. Be careful when using lovage, though, as it can be quite overpowering.

1tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium leeks, cut into small pieces and washed
3 sticks of celery, cut into small pieces
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1tbsp flour
1litre vegetable stock
4 heads of little gems, roughly chopped
A few lovage leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-3tbsp double cream

Gently cook the leeks, celery and onions in the vegetable oil until soft. Add the flour and stir well over a low heat for a minute or so. Slowly add the vegetable stock, stirring with a wooden spoon, bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the lettuces and the lovage, remove from the heat and blend in a liquidiser until smooth. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve and season with salt and pepper if necessary and cool down over a bowl of iced water. When cold stir in the double cream.

Gazpacho with cucumber sorbet

Serves 4

This is a particularly special gazpacho. The sorbet can be made a day or two in advance for a dinner party.

For the gazpacho

200ml tomato juice
4 large ripe plum or round tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 red peppers, halved, seeded, stalks removed and roughly chopped
Half a small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
Half a cucumber
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
1tbsp white wine vinegar
tsp cumin seeds
A good pinch of sweet paprika
1 slice of white bread, crusts removed
40ml olive oil
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

For the cucumber sorbet

100ml olive oil
1tbsp caster sugar
350ml vegetable stock
12 small Greek cucumbers, or 3 normal ones
15g mint leaves
Salt and pepper

No more than a couple of days before you want to eat the soup, make the sorbet. Split the cucumbers lengthways and scrape out the seeds with a spoon, then roughly chop the flesh. Blend the cucumber with the vegetable stock, olive oil, sugar and the mint leaves until it's the consistency you like – chunky or smooth. Season to taste and churn in an ice cream machine. Leave in the freezer until you're ready to eat.

The day before you'll be eating, put all the ingredients for the soup into a bowl, cover with clingfilm; leave in the fridge to help merge the flavours. Liquidise in a blender until smooth and strain through a fine-meshed sieve for a smooth version, or leave as it is for a more robust soup. Chill for an hour.

The soup can be served with hot croutons as well as the cucumber sorbet. Fry 1cm cubes of white bread in olive oil until they begin to colour, then add a clove of peeled and crushed garlic and continue frying until golden. Transfer to kitchen paper and season if required. Serve the gazpacho in chilled soup bowls with a scoop of sorbet in the middle and, if you've made them, the warm croutons scattered on top.