One of the pleasures of each new season is looking forward to the good things it brings along with it – oranges and tangerines in the winter months, strawberries in spring, melons, peaches and figs in summer and pomegranates in the autumn.

I know we get plenty of out-of-season imports, but a melon or peach that has covered thousands of air miles at Christmas bears no comparison to our seasonal fruit picked only hours before in a field just a kilometre away.

Don’t get me wrong. I think our farmers do a splendid job producing marrows, aubergines, green beans, tomatoes and lettuces all year round, but there is something special about enjoying the first watermelon or velvety peach of the season.

When the novelty of eating a slice of melon or ripe peach with the juice dripping down your chin has worn off, here are one or two ideas for using the summer bounty.

Melon and Parma ham is almost a restaurant cliché, but turn the melon into an icy cold soup, flavour it with a handful of mint and a spoonful or two of balsamic vinegar, then serve it with big shreds of Parma ham, and it becomes altogether different.

I like salads that include fruit and I’ve made them with strawberries, peaches and oranges. Now it’s the turn of watermelon. I had a ripe avocado that was fast reaching its sell-by date and a slice of watermelon in the fridge, and with some blue cheese to give it bite and a honey dressing, it made a nice lunchtime salad, one which would do quite well for a starter.

I like salads that include fruit and I’ve made them with strawberries, peaches and oranges. Now it’s the turn of watermelon

When I want a different baste or sauce for a barbecue, I invariably turn to one or two of my American cookbooks, which is where I found the peach one. It had a long list of ingredients and was used with chicken, but I pared it down, changed one or two things and used it to baste barbecued pork fillet. There was lots left over, which I reheated and used next day on some grilled chicken, and both pork and chicken were very good.

For a bit of decadence, you cannot beat a good old Aussie pavlova. Or should that be New Zealand? I know they’re still fighting over who named it first, but adorned with peaches and cream, it is undoubtedly an irresistible masterpiece.

And if you have a spare peach, blitz it in a mini chopper or processor, push it through a sieve, sweeten to taste and spoon the purée into champagne flutes.

Top them up with chilled Prosecco or sparkling wine and award yourself and your nearest and dearest an equally decadent Bellini cocktail. Salute!

Pork tenderloin with peachy barbecue sauce

(Serves 6)

Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 peaches, halved, stoned and chopped
200ml orange juice
100ml tomato ketchup
2 tbsps Worcester sauce
2 tbsps brown sugar
Salt and ground black pepper
Tabasco sauce to taste
2 pork fillets
2 large aubergines, sliced into thick rounds
4 large zucchini, sliced thickly lengthwise

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and fry the onion gently until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and peaches and fry for five minutes more. Stir in the orange juice, ketchup and Worcester sauce, the sugar, some salt and a good grind of pepper and bring to the boil.

Lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes, then tip into a blender or processor and whizz until smooth. Rub the sauce through a sieve into a bowl, add Tabasco to taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Cover the bowl with cling film and chill until needed.

Brush the pork fillets with olive oil and season well with salt and ground black pepper.

Barbecue them over medium heat for 20 minutes, turning frequently and basting with oil, then brush generously with some of the sauce and continue to cook and turn for about another 10 to 15 minutes or until the pork is cooked through.

Brush the vegetables with oil, season with salt and pepper and cook them on the barbecue with the pork until tender, then transfer them to a warm serving dish.

Reheat the sauce, adding a tablespoon or two of water if you think it’s too thick, then pour it into a small jug or sauce boat. Slice the fillets, and serve with the vegetables and sauce.

Peach pavlova with strawberry sauce

There are still some straw­berries around, but if they prove elusive, blitz up an extra peach instead.

(Serves 6)

4 egg whites at room
temperature
220g caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white wine vinegar
200g strawberries
Sugar
4 peaches
250ml cream
Biscotti or amaretti biscuits to serve

Preheat the oven to 150˚C and line a large baking sheet with non-stick baking paper.

In a large clean bowl and using an electric whisk, beat the egg whites until thick, then gradually whisk in the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture stands in stiff peaks.

In a small bowl, mix the cornflour and vinegar together and stir it into the meringue. Spread the meringue on to the baking paper to about a 23cm circle, making a hollow in the middle and using a skewer or knife point to swirl the sides a bit higher. Bake in the centre of the oven for about an hour, then turn off the oven and leave the meringue inside until cold. Peel off the baking paper and store the pavlova in an airtight tin.

Blitz the strawberries in a mini chopper or processor, then rub the berries through a sieve into a bowl, sweeten to taste and chill.

Halve, stone, peel and dice two of the peaches. Whip the cream until thick and stir in the diced peaches, then spoon the cream into the pavlova.

Halve, stone and slice the remaining peaches and scatter the slices on top, then drizzle over some of the strawberry sauce and serve the rest separately, together with some biscotti or amaretti.

Avocado and watermelon salad

I resisted the temptation to use those soft, fancy lettuce leaves or even my beloved rocket. This is much better served on some crisp and crunchy iceberg lettuce.

(Serves 4)

2 tbsps honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp sherry or balsamic vinegar
4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 ripe avocados
Juice of 1 lime or half a lemon
Half a small watermelon
Some iceberg lettuce leaves
90g blue cheese, crumbled
2 tbsps toasted pecans, roughly chopped

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey and mustard. Stir in the vinegar and gradually add the olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Halve the avocados, take out the stones, then peel them. Cut four thin slices for garnish, then dice the rest, put them into a bowl and gently toss them in lime juice.

Cut the watermelon flesh into two-centimetre cubes, removing the seeds, then cover and chill both watermelon and avocado until ready to serve.

Put some lettuce on each of the four plates. Top with the avocados and watermelon, scatter over the crumbled cheese, then drizzle with the dressing, sprinkle with pecans and serve.

Chilled melon soup with Parma ham

(Serves 4)

1 large cantaloupe melon
Half a small watermelon
2 tbsps balsamic vinegar
Salt and ground black pepper
Small bunch fresh mint
8 slices Parma ham

Cut the cantaloupe in half and remove the seeds, then cut the flesh from one half, roughly chop it and put it in a processor or blender. Using a melon baller, scoop out and reserve balls from the remaining melon and put them to one side, then remove and chop any leftovers and add to the processor. Whizz until puréed and smooth, then transfer to a bowl.

Cut about a third of the flesh from the watermelon, put it in the processor (no need to deseed) and pulse for a few seconds until really slushy.

Tip the slush into a sieve over the bowl of cantaloupe purée, rub it through and discard the debris in the sieve. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, season with salt and ground black pepper, then tip it all into a large jug.

Reserve a few sprigs of mint for garnishing, then gently whack the rest with a rolling pin, just to bruise it. Add it to the jug, give it a stir, cover and chill for at least two hours.

Avoiding the seeds as much as possible, scoop the flesh from the remaining piece of watermelon into balls, add them to the reserved cantaloupe, cover and chill. Cut the Parma ham into wide strips, cover and chill.

When ready to serve, fish out and discard the mint from the melon, then divide the soup between chilled bowls.

Add the melon balls and the Parma ham, then grind over a little black pepper and garnish with sprigs of mint.

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