August’s saving grace is the chance to eat outside, those last days of long, lazy Sunday lunches in the open air. A simple roast perhaps, scented with fennel seeds and thyme; a platter of grilled prawns to tear apart with our fingers; sweet, almost too ripe tomatoes tossed with crisp radishes and peppery watercress and perhaps a dessert based around the age old crowd-pleaser of late summer fruits and cream. For those who would rather end their lunch without a pudding, there could be a little goat’s cheese trickled with honey. What matters is to somehow capture the lusciousness of the season, the sweet fruits and ripe tomatoes, the scent of basil and thyme and wallow, while we still can, in the last of the summer sun.
Poussin with runner beans
A quick roast, fragrant with fennel and celery seeds, honey and thyme. Something to tuck into with your fingers as much as with knives and forks. To spatchco*ck a poussin, simply cut the bird up the backbone with a heavy knife or a pair of strong scissors, and open it flat, like a book. This encourages quick cooking, which suits a young, lean bird like this rather well.
Serves 4
poussin 4
a good sharp apple juice 750ml
liquid honey 4 tbsp
bay leaves 3
black peppercorns 8
fennel seeds 1 tbsp, lightly crushed
celery seeds 1 tbsp
thyme 8 sprigs
olive oil 50ml
For the beans
runner beans 350g
parsley 4 tbsp
anchovies 4 fillets
fennel fronds (optional) to finish
Using a heavy kitchen knife cut the birds up the backbone and open them out flat like a book. Place them, just touching, in a roasting tin.
Mix the apple juice, honey, bay leaves, peppercorns, fennel seeds, celery seeds and thyme, then stir in the olive oil. Pour the marinade over the poussin and set aside for a good two hours, turning once or twice. Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.
Turn the birds skin side up in the roasting tin then cook for 20 minutes in the preheated oven until the skin is golden. Pierce the birds at the thickest part of the thigh and check that the juices flowing out are clear or pale gold, not pink. Remove from the oven and leave to rest.
Thinly slice the beans, removing any tough strings as you go. Cook them in boiling, salted water for three or four minutes. Finely chop the parsley and anchovy fillets then add to the roasting tin and combine with the roasting juices. Drain the beans then toss them in the juices, parsley and anchovy.
Serve the roasted poussins with the beans and juices. If you have a few fennel fronds around, they make a delightful final addition.
Prawns, tomato pesto
Abandon all thought of knives and forks here. These prawns, tossed in a paste of pine kernels, basil and tomato, are there to be torn apart, shells sucked and cracked, still hot from the griddle. You’ll get in a delicious mess.
Serves 2
pine kernels 4 tbsp
cherry tomatoes 150g
olive oil 100ml
basil 40g
prawns 10 large, raw, shell on
Toast the pine kernels in a dry pan till golden, shaking the pan regularly so they do not burn. Tip the pine kernels into an electric blender with the tomatoes, olive oil and basil leaves and a little salt then process to a rough, thickish paste.
Warm a griddle pan over a moderately high heat. Wash and dry the prawns, salt them lightly and grill for three or four minutes on each side. Remove them from the grill, then, while they are still sizzling hot, fold them through the pine kernel dressing and place on a serving plate.
Eat the prawns with your fingers, sucking at their shells as you peel them.
Goat’s cheese, bacon and honey
We sat in the garden and ate this, bees buzzing around us, instead of a dessert. A fudgy, distinctly “goaty” goat’s milk cheese is the one for this. The milder versions won’t stand up against the sweetness of its smoky, mustard-spiked accompaniment. Some toast would be in order here.
Serves 2
smoked streaky bacon 4 rashers
olive oil
liquid honey 2 tbsp
grain mustard 2 tsp
white wine vinegar 1 tbsp
small goat’s cheese 2
Cut the streaky bacon into thin strips about the size of a match. Warm a thin film of olive oil in a shallow pan, add the bacon and fry till lightly crisp. Add the honey, mustard and vinegar, leave to warm for a minute or two, then remove from the heat. Place the cheese on plates, then spoon the mustard and honey dressing over the surface. Serve with toasted bread and perhaps a lump or two of comb honey.
Tomato flatbread salad, sumac dressing
I often make this gorgeous marriage of ripe, late summer tomatoes and bread with a sour, Middle Eastern inspired dressing at this time of year. It has one foot in the Italian bread and tomato salad panzanella, but with toasted bread that remains crisp rather than squishy with juice. We ate this salad at the garden table, under a blazing late summer sun.
Serves 4
sumac 5 tsp
water 3 tbsp
lemon juice 3 tbsp
red wine vinegar 2 tsp
pomegranate molasses 1 tbsp
olive oil 150ml
garlic 1 clove
watercress 50g
tomatoes 500g
radishes 12
fennel bulb 1
parsley a small bunch
coriander a handful
mint several sprigs
flatbread 3 medium
Put the sumac, water, lemon juice, wine vinegar, pomegranate molasses and olive oil in an empty jam jar, add a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Peel the garlic clove then squash it flat and add to the dressing. Screw the lid on tightly and shake the jar vigorously to combine the ingredients, then set aside.
Wash the watercress, discarding any thick stalks, then soak in iced water to crisp it up. Cut the tomatoes into segments or large dice then place in a salad bowl. Halve the radishes and thinly slice the fennel and add them too. Remove the parsley, coriander and mint leaves from their stems then toss gently with the tomatoes.
Toast the flatbreads on a griddle, in a dry, shallow pan or under a hot oven grill till crisp and nicely browned, then tear into large pieces. Add the torn bread to the tomatoes, drain and dry the watercress and combine with the salad.
Shake the dressing once more then pour into the tomatoes and watercress and toss gently.
Plums and syllabub
A little care is needed here. The cream should be whipped, slowly and at a steady pace, until it is thick enough to sit in soft folds, but not yet firm enough to stand in peaks. A chilled bowl, a cold whisk and a sure eye will help. If the plum stones won’t come away from the fruit easily then cook them intact, removing the stones after cooking.
Serves 4-6
plums 400g
caster sugar 3 tbsp
orange juice of 1
unwaxed lemon 1
caster sugar 3 tbsp
sweet marsala 60ml
double cream 300ml
Rinse and halve the plums and remove their stalks and stones, then put the fruit in a saucepan with the sugar and orange juice. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and leave the plums to cook at a gentle pace for 15-20 minutes till soft enough to crush. Remove the pan from the heat, transfer the fruit and its syrup to a bowl and chill thoroughly.
To make the syllabub, finely grate the lemon into the bowl of a food mixer, then squeeze in its juice. Pour in the marsala and leave for a good couple of hours in the fridge, or even overnight.
Using a balloon whisk or food mixer on slow, beat in the cream, getting right to the bottom of the mixture. Watch the texture carefully, it must be thick enough to stand in soft, billowing waves but still capable of sliding off a spoon.
Crush half the plums roughly with a fork, then fold tenderly and at the last minute before serving, into the syllabub. Transfer to serving dishes, spooning over the remaining plums and their juice. Serve immediately.
