The first week of July ahead. Asparagus are finished but berries of all kinds going strong, and I seem to be obsessed with blueberries this year. A couple of years ago it was strawberries: porridge with berries for breakfast, strawberries with cucumbers and balsamic vinegar (just try it) for lunch, and munching so many strawberries through the day that I didn’t feel like dinner. Blueberries are doing it for me this summer and the only downside is bluish stained front teeth.
And you can cook with them of course: the blueberry upside down cake has a wonderful jammy layer on top – when inverted, that is. Or just make blueberry muffins: this recipe is the easiest and completely reliable.
What you might not know is that they can be used in savoury dishes too: my pork loin roast with blueberry sauce was cooked at low temperature but there’s nothing stopping you from making the sauce and whacking it over quick pork chops.
What fish should we cook this week? I fancy something spicy and fragrant so how about whole steamed sea bass with oriental flavours? Steaming it in the wok is the secret. Or get some monkfish tail – I know, it’s scandalously expensive – and cook the curried monkfish in a skillet.
For a side or indeed for the main dish – and opt out of pancetta for the veggie option – this potato and zucchini salad will do just fine. I had those incredible purple goth potatoes but the salad will be just as tasty – though not as funky – with ordinary tubers.
Summer is the right time for cream teas so if you make a batch of these super-easy plain biscuits, get some clotted cream and jam, you can pretend you’re in Cornwall – unless you actually ARE in Cornwall… And a bit more effort but an absolute crowd pleaser will be St Louis gooey butter cake for dessert, and if you have never tried it it’s time to do it NOW!