Fresh strawberry cones are eye-catching treats that are both healthy and easy to make.In the expectation of a long spell of summer weather after a changeable few weeks, here are some recipe ideas with summer in the title, starting with some thirst-quenching drinks. Vino verano is a favourite in Spain, when it’s too hot to contemplate even a chilled copita of fino. The bar version of summer wine requires only ice cubes, a bottle of Rioja and a bottle of commercial lemonade. Half of each is poured into a large glass over ice cubes. But I think we can improve on that.
Make a lemon syrup first by dissolving 300 grams sugar in the same volume of water over low heat. Then bring to the boil. Remove the zest from two lemons in a thin layer without any pith, and add this to the boiling syrup, together with the lemon juice. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool. Strain the syrup into a clear, empty, plastic juice bottle. Put a spoonful in each glass, stir in the wine and then top up with mineral water. You can have all the ingredients chilled, or use ice cubes. The syrup recipe will fill 10 generous glasses, and leave enough lemon syrup for another round of drinks or other culinary uses.
For example, slice a few strawberries and marinate them in 200 millilitres of the lemon syrup for a couple of hours before adding the wine and mineral water, and you have a summer strawberry sangria. More strawberries, combined with peaches and melon, make an elegant summer sherry punch.
And I need strawberries for my summer version of rice pudding. The classic way is to serve the hot pudding with strawberry jam. Instead, cook the rice until soft and creamy, then sweeten to taste and stir in some cream until you have a soft, not sticky texture.
Spoon into wine or Martini glasses to chill. Make a red wine syrup, equal quantities of red wine and sugar, bring to the boil, cool and bottle. Rinse and hull a punnet of strawberries and blend them with some of the red wine syrup to make a thick coulis. Spoon a layer on to the rice and chill until required. You can also flavour the rice, as I did with rose water, for a real breath of summer. The red wine syrup is a useful standby; very good simply poured over vanilla ice cream.
Ice cream cones, preferably the sugar waffle cones, make a different style of dessert, particularly suitable for a casual lunch or buffet when finger-food is the order of the day. I melt some white chocolate and brush it over the inside of the cones. This prevents it from becoming soggy. Chop some strawberries and mix with ricotta or mascarpone, and a sifting of icing sugar if you wish, and spoon this into the cones. Balance them in shot glasses or a short, wide-necked glass vase and hand them round instead of a plated dessert.
Ice cream cones make a different style of dessert, particularly suitable for a casual lunch or buffet when finger-food is the order of the day
Summer rolls make a perfect light summer lunch or supper, or a first course. And cooked prawns or a little freshly cooked lobster or crab meat will go a long way when mixed with blanched bean sprouts, sliced and de-gorged cucumber, crushed, toasted peanuts, sautéed fresh mushrooms – shiitake, if you can get them – chopped mint, basil and coriander, and wrapped in banh trang. A characteristic ingredient of Vietnamese cooking, these rice flour wrappers are generally available from shops stocking oriental food products. If you cannot find them, use the same filling for the more readily available wonton wrappers, often sold frozen, and deep-fry the rolls.
The plate-size rice wrappers need to be dipped in cold water and left to soften for a couple of minutes. Eat the rolls on the day you make them, preferably within a few hours. Small versions can be made for a first course or snacks to accompany drinks.
And finally, a traditional English summer pudding would seem to suggest itself at this point. A few punnets of soft fruits will make this most delightful of seasonal desserts. It is essential to use plenty of red and blackcurrants as these contain the pectin which holds the pudding nice and firm when turned out. The good news is that frozen berry fruits are very good indeed in this recipe, when fresh are unavailable or too expensive.
Summer pudding
(Serves 6)
10 to 12 slices white bread, with the crusts removed
200g granulated sugar
150-200g each raspberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants
200g strawberries
150g gooseberries, loganberries or blueberries
Rinse and drain the fruit, topping and tailing and hulling where necessary.
To detach currants from their stems, simply run a fork or your fingers down the length of the stem.
Put the fruit in a pan and sprinkle the sugar over it. Set on a low heat until the juices run and the sugar dissolves.
If you use gooseberries, start these off first, without any sugar and just a couple of tablespoons of water, as the skins are much tougher than the other fruit. Once they have begun to soften, add the rest of the fruit and sugar and proceed as above. Add up to four tablespoons of water to encourage the juice. Check for sweetness.
Remove from heat. Start lining the pudding basins. I find this works best if you cut square slices into wedge-shaped pieces, and place these, narrow end down, in the basin, having first dipped the pieces of bread in the fruit juice. Continue overlapping the slices slightly until the basin is fully lined.
Cut a small circle of bread to fit the bottom. Pour in the fruit to fill the basin. The bread will quickly absorb the juice, but reserve a few tablespoons of it.
Fit pieces of bread over the top so that the fruit is completely covered. Press down, cover with cling film and place a weight on top to pack the whole thing as tightly as possible. Refrigerate.
To serve, turn out on to a large plate and pour the reserved juice over the puddings. Pouring cream, crème fraîche or ricotta seem to me to work best with this, rather than mascarpone or clotted cream.
Summer rolls
(Makes 12)
Rice flour wrappers are available from shops stocking oriental food products, as well as some supermarkets.
12 rice wrappers
150g bean sprouts, blanched
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into julienne
1 small lettuce, shredded
200g fresh shiitake or oyster mushrooms, sliced, and lightly fried in groundnut oil
3 carrots, peeled, and cut into julienne, or shaved with a potato peeler
2 celery stalks, strings removed, and thinly sliced
Bunch of spring onions, trimmed and rinsed, and cut into long strips, or use chives or garlic chives
400g cooked prawns, crab or lobster meat
Handful each of mint, coriander and basil leaves
50g roasted, salted peanuts, crushed
Dipping sauce:
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsps Demerara sugar
4 tbsps rice vinegar, or sherry vinegar
½ tsp fresh chilli paste or dried flaked chillies
Dip a rice wrapper in warm water until it is pliable. Place on a tea towel on a chopping board, and, at the lower edge, place a little of each vegetable, some seafood, herbs and crushed peanuts, and then roll tightly, away from you, tucking in the ends.
Place seam-side down on a platter, and make up each roll in the same way.
Keep them in a cool place, covered with a clean damp cloth or paper towels until ready to serve, to prevent the rice wrapper from drying out.
Boil the sauce ingredients and pour into a serving dish.
To serve, cut each spring roll in half, on the diagonal.