Mark Hix's taste of summer: part 2

Tabbouleh with smoked duck breast

Serves 4

Smoking your own food at home can be quite good fun, whether you have a home smoker or convert your barbecue into a smoker. Or you could try it my way. Line a heavy pan with foil, add wood chips (the best to use are oak) and smoking dust (available from DIY or fishing-tackle shops) to the pan and sit the meat or fish on a rack over the dust. Cover with a tight-fitting lid. Poultry works particularly well, as does oily fish such as salmon or mackerel. The oak flavour penetrates the fat and the flesh, and provided it's cooked pink you get a subtle smoky flavour.

Savu food smoker bags are also great. These are tin-foil pouches from Finland. Put the fish, or other food, into the bag, pop it in the oven or on to the barbecue, and out comes smoked food. They're £1.95 each, or six for £9, from Carrilon (0800 917 0898). If you don't fancy the home-smoking palaver, then there plenty of different types of smoked duck breasts on the market, just try and avoid the fatty ones.

4 smoked duck breasts

For the tabbouleh

4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
1 heaped dessert spoon dry couscous
50g flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked, washed and coarsely chopped
30g mint, leaves removed, washed and coarsely chopped
2 tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1-2tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tabbouleh should use very little couscous, but most people pile it in so they don't have to chop so many herbs. Put all the ingredients into a bowl, season and mix well. Cover with cling film and leave for an hour to stand. A little more olive oil and lemon can be added to taste. Serve with slices of duck breast on top.

Theodore's Real Greek souvlaki

Serves 4-6 (or more for kids)

This is an old favourite from my friend Theodore Kyriacou, whose new book, A Culinary Voyage Round the Greek Islands, was recently published (Quadrille, £20). Give this to the kids instead of boring old sausages, and I guarantee they will love it. Just pop them on the barbecue, and the young ones can eat them with their fingers. Children, though, aren't the only ones who prefer eating without plates.

For souvlaki, you can also use pork, shoulder or leg, or even under-fillets of lamb. Serve your souvlaki rolled in Greek flat breads – or if you prefer, use soft tortillas instead – with sliced tomato and pickled dill cucumbers. If you fancy knocking up some tzatziki it will go perfectly. Simply peel, deseed and dice half a cucumber, mix it with a few cloves of crushed garlic, a few tablespoons of Greek yoghurt, some chopped mint and a splash of olive oil. It's a treat with meat – or as a dip anytime.

1kg boned shoulder of lamb, trimmed of fat and sinew and cut into rough 2cm chunks
2tbsp chopped thyme leaves
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
300ml olive oil
100ml red wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

Flat breads or soft tortillas

Put the meat into a non-reactive bowl with the thyme, garlic, lemon zest, 100ml of the olive oil and red wine. Mix well and season. Cover with cling film and leave overnight in the fridge.

Half an hour before you want to serve the souvlaki, drain the meat and reserve the juices. Mix the juices with the lemon juice and remaining olive oil in a jar or in a bowl with a whisk. Thread the pieces of meat on to metal skewers and brush with some of the lemon and oil marinade. Pre-heat a barbecue, or grill, and cook until slightly pink or medium if you prefer. This should take no more than 4-5 minutes. Once cooked to your required colour, put the pieces of meat into a bowl and leave to rest for about 10 minutes.

To serve, brush the flat breads with some of the marinade mixture and dip them into some of the cooked meat juices from the bowl. Put them on to the barbecue for 30 seconds or so but don't let them become crisp.

Arrange the meat on the flatbreads with some pickles, tomato and tzatziki.

Tomato, red pepper and feta tart

Serves 4

You could also incorporate different coloured peppers, or even replace the feta with goat's cheese. This tart is delicious hot or at room temperature. If you're having a family get-together, make it as one large tart and divide it up; or make smaller ones for a dinner party.

250g puff pastry, rolled to one-third of a centimetre
1 egg yolk
5 ripe tomatoes
6 thick skinned red peppers
140g sunblush or semi-dried tomatoes, drained and coarsely blended in a food processor
12-14 black olives stoned
200g good quality feta
2-3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
A few sprigs of bush basil or ordinary basil

Pre-heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Cut the pastry into a circle about 25-30cms diameter or into a rectangular shape and place on a baking tray. Score a line with the tip of a knife about 1cm from the edge all the way round and prick the inner pastry all over with a fork. Cut a piece of cardboard the same size as the interior pastry, wrap it in foil and place it on the pastry, leaving the pastry's edge exposed. Brush the edge with the egg yolk; bake for 12-15 minutes until the edge is golden.

Meanwhile, quarter the peppers, remove the seeds and place on a baking tray with the skin side up. Place under a hot grill for 8-10 minutes or until the skins are black, then place in a bowl and cover with cling film; this allows the skins to be removed easily. Bring a pan of water to the boil large enough for the tomatoes. Cut a criss-cross on the top of each tomato and remove the eye with the point of a knife. Have a bowl of cold water ready; plunge the tomatoes in the boiling water for 10-12 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon and plunge into the cold water. The skin should easily peel away now; if not then give them a few more seconds in the boiling water. Quarter the tomatoes and squeeze out the seeds. Remove the skin from the peppers and cut each piece in half.

Remove the cardboard and spread the sun-dried tomato paste over the centre of the pastry. Arrange the tomatoes and peppers up to the edge of the tart, then scatter over the olives. Season and drizzle with olive oil. Bake the tart for 8-10 minutes, then remove from the oven and place nuggets of the feta on the tart and drizzle with more olive oil and scatter with the basil.

Wild salmon with samphire and cucumber salad

Serves 4

2 wild salmon steaks on the bone, weighing about 200-250g each
150g samphire, trimmed of any woody stalks
Half a cucumber
1 shallot, halved, root cut out and thinly sliced
1tsp sugar
1tbsp good quality cider vinegar
tsp mustard seeds, soaked in warm water for 1 hour
1tbsp extra virgin rapeseed oil
tbsp chopped dill
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the court bouillon

1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
A few sprigs of thyme
A good pinch of fennel seeds
10 white peppercorns
2 glasses of white wine
1 litre water
tbsp salt

Put all of the ingredients for the court bouillon into a non-reactive pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Drop in the salmon, simmer for 3-4 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and leave the salmon to cool in the liquid.

Meanwhile, half the cucumber lengthways and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Slice the cucumbers thinly on the bias or using a mandolin with the shredding attachment cut them lengthways into long thin strips. Lay the cucumber on a tray and scatter with a teaspoon of salt, mix well and leave for 30 minutes. Drain any liquid from the cucumber and pat dry with kitchen paper. Mix the cucumber with the dill, shallot, sugar, vinegar, drained mustard seeds and rapeseed oil, mix well and leave to stand for 30 minutes.

Blanch the samphire in boiling water for 30 seconds, drain, refresh under the cold tap, then mix in a little more rapeseed oil and dill, and season to taste.

To serve, remove the salmon from the court bouillon, then with your hands carefully separate the two halves of flesh away from the central bone and remove the small central pin bones with your fingers. Remove and cut away the fatty belly and peel away the skin with your hands. Arrange equal measures of cucumber salad and samphire on the plate with the salmon fillet.

Lobster with broad beans

Serves 2-4

As the broad beans tend to end up being quite well-cooked in this dish it's perfectly acceptable to use frozen; in fact, frozen ones often yield better results.

1 lobster weighing about 600-700g
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
4tbsp olive oil
A good pinch of saffron
350-400ml fish stock
600-700g podded weight of broad beans
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and plunge the lobster into the water. If you are concerned about the humane treatment of the lobster, you should place the live lobster in the freezer for an hour before putting it into the boiling water. This is considered the least cruel way of dispatching the lobster. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. Gently cook the onion and garlic in 3tbsp of the olive oil for 2-3 minutes, then add the saffron, stock and broad beans and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove the head from the lobster and give the claws a crack with the back of a heavy knife. Cut the body into 4 or 5 pieces through the shell into rounds.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan that will fit in the oven, season the pieces of lobster tail and quickly sauté them on both sides for a minute or so until they have a golden colour. Add the head and pour in the broad bean mixture. Cover and cook in the oven for about 15 minutes.

The liquid should have more or less evaporated and formed a sauce coating the beans; if not, place it on the stove on a medium heat and cook for a further couple of minutes. Serve immediately.

Peach Melba

Serves 4

Dame Nellie Melba, the Australian opera singer, gave her name not only to this dessert but also to Melba toast. The famous chef Auguste Escoffier of the Savoy saw her perform at Covent Garden in 1894 and was so impressed, the following day he created peach Melba – a perfect marriage of peach, vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce. Ripe peaches just need blanching, but you'll have to poach them if the peaches aren't ripe – as is usually the case with supermarket ones. If you need to do this then cover your peaches with boiling water and about 120g sugar and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until tender.

2 large ripe peaches
4 scoops of good quality vanilla ice cream
100ml double cream
30g caster sugar
2-3 drops of vanilla essence

For the Melba sauce

150g caster sugar
150g raspberries
3tbsp water

First make the sauce. Put 50g of the raspberries in a pan with the sugar and water, bring to the boil and cook on a medium heat for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for about 10 minutes.

Blend the cooked raspberries and syrup with the uncooked raspberries in a liquidiser until smooth then strain through and fine mesh sieve.

If the peaches are ripe bring a pan of water to the boil, drop them in and simmer for 50-60 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and drop into cold water. Now peel off the skins. They should come away easily; if not give them a little more time in the water. Halve them with a knife and carefully remove the stone. If the peaches aren't ripe you'll have to poach them (as above) then leave to cool and slip off the skins.

Whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla essence until stiff. To serve, cut the peach halves in half again and place into coupe glasses if you have them, or bowls. Divide the whipped cream between the four glasses or bowls – if you want to be fancy you can pipe if round the peach slices – then put a ball of ice cream on top. Spoon the raspberry sauce over the ice cream and serve immediately.

Dorset blueberry trifle

Serves 4

My childhood memories of trifle consist of tinned fruit and sherry-soaked sponge under custard. But trifle can be adapted to use all sorts of fresh summer fruits. In this recipe, I use blueberries from the Dorset Blueberry Company (dorset-blueberry.com).

150g blueberries
1 blueberry or plain muffin
4-6tbsp Julian Temperley's Pomona or medium sherry

For the jelly

300ml water
150g blueberries
80g caster sugar
6g leaf gelatine (2 sheets)

For the custard

Half a vanilla pod
300ml single cream
5 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
2tsp cornflour

For the topping

300ml double cream
40g caster sugar
50-60g cooked meringue

For the jelly, put the water, blueberries and sugar into a pan, bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 5-6 minutes, remove from the heat and strain the liquid through a fine meshed sieve, pushing some of the pulp through.

Meanwhile soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for a minute or so until soft. Squeeze out the water, add to the syrup and stir until dissolved, then leave the jelly to cool but do not let it set. Put half of the blueberries into 4 individual glass serving dishes or one large one, break up the muffin and add to the berries, then pour over all of the jelly and leave to set in the fridge.

Repeat with the other quarter of the blueberries and the rest of the jelly and leave to set. Meanwhile, make the custard. Split the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds with the point of a knife. Put the single cream, vanilla pod and seeds into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for about 10 minutes.

In a bowl, mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together. Take out the vanilla pod and pour the cream on to the egg mixture and mix well with a whisk. Return to the pan and cook gently over a low heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the custard thickens. (Don't let it boil!) Remove from the heat and give it a final mix with a whisk. Transfer to a bowl, lay a sheet of cling film over the surface of the custard to prevent it forming a skin and leave to cool for about 30 minutes. Once the jelly has set, spoon over the custard then leave to set for half an hour or so.

For the topping, put the double cream and sugar into a bowl and whisk until firm. Leave in the fridge until the custard has set, then break the meringue into pieces and fold in. Spoon the cream mixture on top of the trifle and scatter the rest of the blueberries on top.

Prosecco granita with strawberries

Serves 4

You've probably discovered what happens when you try to cool a bottle of wine by shoving it in the freezer then forgetting about it until the following morning. Why not do it deliberately to make a dessert? Granitas can be made with all sorts of fruit purées mixed with water and sugar. I've added just enough water and sugar to the prosecco not to make it too sweet.

400ml prosecco
100ml water
60g sugar
200-250g strawberries

Bring the water to the boil and add the sugar, remove from the heat and leave to cool. Mix with the prosecco and pour to a depth of 2-3cm into a flat steel or Pyrex tray – something that won't crack when it freezes. Put into the freezer and give it a stir every 30 minutes or so until it's slushy. This could take anything up to 3 hours depending on your freezer, so don't make it just before you go to bed. Serve the granita spooned into iced bowls or plates with the strawberries on top.

Cranachan with raspberries

Serves 4

This dessert is dead simple and it's full of flavour. You can use any soft fruit really, but raspberries are associated with Scotland. I have tried using Drambuie instead of whisky and it also worked pretty well.

60g medium oatmeal
150g raspberries
600ml double cream
4tbsp runny honey
4tbsp malt whisky

Scatter the oatmeal on a baking tray and toast in a low oven or under a medium grill until golden. You'll have to watch it closely or it may burn.

Blend 50g of the raspberries in a liquidiser until smooth. Whip the double cream until stiff, then stir in the honey and whisky and mix well but do not over-whip. Fold in 50g of the oatmeal, then carefully fold in the raspberry purée to form a rippled effect.

Spoon the mixture into glass coupes or a serving dish, then scatter the rest of the raspberries and oatmeal on top.

Interesting? Click here to explore further