Savour summer

Set the scene for laid-back summer living with simple outdoor meals. Sizzle your favourite seafood, meat or poultry over the coals and partner with a tasty salsa and fresh garden salads. It’s no-fuss food that transports easily to beach or bach, leaving you free to enjoy more time with friends, family and the great outdoors. Words and recipes: Annabel Langbein; Photos: Aaron Mclean.

Mexican vegetable and chilli salsa

• 1 small onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 red pepper, seeded and quartered
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 5 medium tomatoes, cored and halved
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½-1 teaspoon chilli flakes or 1-2 chopped fresh chillies, to taste
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon fresh
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• salt and ground black pepper

Put the onion, pepper, garlic cloves and tomatoes on a heated grill plate and cook over medium-high heat until slightly charred on both sides. This will take about 5 minutes and gives a great flavour to the salsa.

Heat oil in a medium pot and sizzle cumin and chillies for a few seconds to release their flavours, then add charred vegetables and ¼ cup of water. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Cool a little, then place in a blender or food processor with pumpkin seeds, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Purée until lightly chunky. Season to taste. Salsa will keep in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat to serve. Makes 3 cups.

Mango Nam Prik Sauce

Adding mango to a traditional Thai hot sauce gives it a lovely fruity flavour, creamy texture and colour. In Thailand, other versions use cooked eggplants or raw tomatoes in place of the mango. This sauce is terrific with poultry, seafood, pork and vegetables.

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• finely zested rind and juice of 3 limes
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
• 1 cup neutral oil, eg grapeseed
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 fat clove garlic, peeled and chopped
• 2 teaspoons grated root ginger
• 1 long red chilli, seeded
• ½ cup coriander leaves
• ¼ cup mint leaves
• 1 large fresh mango, peeled and flesh cut into chunks or 400g can mangoes in light juice, drained

Purée all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Consistency can be adjusted by adding a little water. Sauce will keep in the fridge for several days. Bring back to room temperature to serve. Makes 3 cups.

Salsa verde

• 1½ cups (2 big handfuls) parsley leaves
• 1 handful chives (about 40), chopped
• 1 cup olive oil
• ¼ cup capers
• 3 cloves garlic
• yolk of 1 hardboiled egg
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• ground black pepper
• ¼ red onion, chopped
• 50g tin anchovies in oil

Purée all ingredients until smooth. Salsa keeps in the fridge in a covered jar for a few days or can be frozen. Makes 2 cups

Fig-leaf Haloumi Parcels

These are delicious served as finger food with a glass of pinot gris.

• 250g block haloumi
• chopped semi-dried tomatoes
• or sliced dried figs or pitted
• calamata olives
• 12 fig or grape leaves
• toothpicks to secure

Cut the block of haloumi into 12 pieces (cut block into six, then each piece in half through its thickness). Place a piece of cheese on top of each leaf. Top with tomato, fig slices or olives and wrap to enclose. Secure with a toothpick. Grill over medium heat about 2 minutes each side until leaves start to shrivel.

Serve on a platter and let each person unwrap their own. Do not eat the leaves. Serves 4 as finger foo.

Grilled Broccoli salad

Thanks to Steve Walton from Café on Kohi in Auckland for the inspiration for this fabulous salad. 

• 2 large heads broccoli, cut into small pieces
• 4 tablespoons neutral oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced (optional) 100g sliced almonds, toasted
• 60-70g pecorino, shaved with a potato peeler
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• salt and ground black pepper

Drop broccoli into a large pot of boiling salted water and boil 2 minutes. Cool under cold water. Drain and pat dry. In a small pan, place the oil, garlic and chilli. Cook over a very slow, gentle heat until the garlic is softened, 12-15 minutes; do not let it go brown. (Roasting in the oven at 160°C for 20-30 minutes also works well.)

Grill par-cooked broccoli with onion, if using, over medium-high heat for about
2 minutes each side until lightly charred. Mix garlic and chilli oil with lemon juice and toss through broccoli with almonds and shaved pecorino. Season and serve at once. Serves 4-6

Grilled brined pork chops

Marinate 4-6 free-range pork loin chops in 1 recipe brine (see below) for 1-4 hours. Drain, rinse and pat dry before grilling.

Grilled lemon-chicken skewers

Cut 400g-600g boneless skinless chicken breasts across the grain into finger-thick slices. Thread on to skewers and mix with the juice of 1 lemon and 2 teaspoons rosemary leaves. Season with salt and ground black pepper. 

Grilled brined prawns

Marinate 400g-600g shell-on prawn tails or whole prawns in 1 recipe brine (see below) for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour before cooking. Drain, rinse and pat dry.
Mix through 1 teaspoon oil before grilling.

Brining

Brining adds succulence to pork and chicken and a certain crispness to prawns that is very appealing. It’s a simple thing to do and makes a real difference. Dissolve a third of a cup of salt and a third of a cup of brown sugar in 3 cups cold water.

Purple wheat salad

• 1½ cups purple wheat

Dressing:

• 1 teaspoon cumin
• finely zested rind of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ cup dried cranberries, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons coriander and mint, chopped
• ½ cup pistachios, chopped

Soak the wheat overnight in a bowl, covered with cold water to a depth of 3cm. Rinse through a sieve and cook in fresh water until just tender; the wheat should have a toothsome bite but no hard core. This will take about 30-40 minutes. Drain and mix in cumin, lemon zest, oil, garlic, lemon juice and cranberries. Season to taste with salt and pepper. When cool, mix through herbs and pistachios. Serves 6

Summer Plum Cake

This recipe makes either one huge roasting-pan cake or two medium dessert cakes – one to eat and one for the freezer. Vary the fruit according to the season.

• 8-10 plums or other stone-fruit, pitted and quartered
• 3 tablespoons caster sugar
• 300g butter
• 1½ cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• finely grated rind of ½ lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 cup milk
• 3½ cups high-grade flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 180°C. Slice plums into a basin and sprinkle with caster sugar. Toss and leave to sit while preparing cake. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, lemon rind and vanilla essence. Stir in milk, flour and baking powder. Pour batter into roasting pan or divide between two springform tins. Arrange plum mixture on top. Bake at 180°C for 60-65 minutes (if making two medium-sized cakes bake for 45 minutes at 180°C). The fruit will sink into the cake as it cooks. Serve warm with whipped cream. Freeze if not using the same day.  Large cake serves 10-12

Chocolate Berry Tiramisu

Some recipes make this classic dessert unnecessarily complicated. This one is dead easy and wickedly good.

• 4 free-range eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 400g mascarpone
• ½ cup raspberry juice (juice from
• frozen berries is ideal or use
• juice from canned berries)
• ½ cup cassis (or Kirsch or extra juice if you don’t want alcohol)
• 200g piece chocolate sponge cake, broken into 3cm cubes
• 500g raspberries (or other berries), fresh or frozen

Garnish:

• 300ml cream, whipped to soft peaks
• 2 tablespoons cocoa, sieved
• extra fresh berries

Using an electric beater, beat the egg yolks with sugar and vanilla essence until thick and creamy. Beat in mascarpone then put to one side.

In another clean bowl, with a clean beater, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Fold gently into mascarpone mixture. Chill while preparing sponge.

Combine berry juice and liqueur. Place one-third of the sponge pieces in the base of a 3-4-cup glass bowl. Drizzle over one-third of the juice/liqueur mixture. Spoon over one-third of the mascarpone mixture. Cover with half the berries.

Make another layer with another third of the sponge, drizzle with another third of the juice and top with another third of the mascarpone mix. Top with rest of berries. Repeat the layer of sponge, juice and mascarpone mix. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

Just before serving, whip cream and spread over the top. Sieve over the cocoa and garnish with extra berries. Serves 6