A Taste of Summer: Try Trish Deseine’s Joyful June Menu

This month’s collection of recipes unabashedly rejoices in all things strawberry, veering off track only slightly to include their shinier cousins, cherries, also in season. The aperitif ideas in this menu are substantial enough to allow you to completely dispose of starters, and are perfect for keeping appetites satisfied while your barbecue does its thing. The watercress and strawberry tabouleh can be served alone, or as an accompaniment – and you can leave out the mozzarella for vegan guests. Le Fraisier is one of my favourite French pâtisseries, (coming after the layered masterpiece that is l’Opéra) and my recipe, although needing time and a little bit of kit, requires no daunting levels of skill. It is a great one to master and is chic and romantic enough to serve at christenings, confirmations and weddings. With its lime green and deep red and pink hues, it is a wonderful edible incarnation of the colours of June. I’ve flavoured and decorated mine with delicate, seasonal elderflower, as I’m not a huge fan of the more traditional Kirsch, but as ever, it’s entirely up to you to decide. @trishdeseineencore

HOMEMADE DUCK RILLETTES WITH PICKLED STRAWBERRIES

Making rillettes from scratch – two to three hours slow poaching in molten fat – is a steamy, energy-devouring labour of love. Unsurprisingly, I have a lazier and, possibly, more eco-conscious (someone, somewhere, has to do the poaching!) alternative, allowing you to add any flavourings your heart desires. The pickled strawberries are also terrific with cheese or cold meats and charcuterie

For 4-6
20 minutes preparation
2-3 hours chilling

Ingredients
3 duck confit legs
150g duck fat
Small clove of garlic, peeled, crushed
2 tbsp pink peppercorns, lightly crushed
Pepper to taste

For the pickled strawberries

For one large jar
5 minutes preparation
5 minutes cooking
Overnight resting

200g granulated or caster sugar
1 tbsp fresh tarragon, rosemary or thyme leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds, lightly crushed
1 tbsp soy sauce
250ml balsamic vinegar
250ml water
500g strawberries, hulled and cut in half

Method
Heat the duck legs in a saucepan until the fat is released and the meat warmed through.
Heat the duck fat separately in another pan with the crushed garlic clove.
Pick the meat and skin off the bone, cut into small pieces and then mash finely with a fork, loosening it with some of the fat.
Stir through the peppercorns, and season with pepper. The duck will already probably be quite salty, but check and adjust the seasoning if needs be.
Pop the rillettes into a jar and cover with a layer of fat, having discarded the garlic. Chill in the fridge until serving. They will keep for three or four days.

For the pickled strawberries
Put all the ingredients except the strawberries into a pan and bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
Let cool until it is just slightly warm before adding the strawberries, as you do not want them to poach and become too mushy.
Ladle into a jar, cover and leave to rest overnight. The strawberries will keep in the fridge for two to three weeks.
Serve the rillettes in a pretty jar or bowl, with a knife, ready to spread on some good crusty bread with a slim fork for spearing the pickled strawberries.

CHARGRILLED ARTICHOKE, PEA AND FETA DIP

You can swap out the feta for cream cheese, and add a touch of parmesan for some funkiness. You can find a jar or tub of chargrilled artichokes in the tapas section in supermarkets. Serve crunchy quinoa or other nutritious cereal crackers on the side for that perfect dip and bite!

For 4
10 minutes preparation

Ingredients
1 jar (300g or so) chargrilled artichokes in oil
1 clove garlic
150g fresh or frozen peas, steamed or boiled
1 tbsp each fresh parsley and mint
50g feta cheese
Salt and pepper
Lemon juice
Olive oil

Method
Put all of the ingredients – keeping back a tablespoon or so of cooked peas for the garnish – in a blender and blitz until reasonably smooth but still interestingly chunky.
Adjust the seasoning and the texture with mild olive oil.
Garnish with pistachios, peas and herbs.

TABOULEH WITH WATERCRESS, ASPARAGUS, MOZZARELLA, STRAWBERRIES AND MINT

Feel free to use lamb’s lettuce, rocket or a mix of all three greens here. The strawberries add a lovely tang to the mix and you could also use the liquor from the pickled strawberries as a dressing.

For 4-6
30 minutes preparation

Ingredients
12 green asparagus spears
300ml boiling water
Same volume of fine ground bulgur wheat
2 mozzarella balls, drained
10-12 medium large strawberries, hulled and sliced
Salt and pepper
Olive oil and balsamic vinegar or lemon juice for dressing
2-3 tbsp fresh parsley, rinsed and spun dry
Pistachios for garnish

Method
Heat the oven to 190°C or 180°C Neff CircoTherm.
Drizzle the asparagus with a little olive oil, season lightly with salt and roast for 15 minutes or so until they crisp at the ends and softened on the stalks. Leave to cool.
Put the bulgur in a large bowl, pour the boiling water over, cover and leave to soak for 10 minutes until it can be fluffed up with a fork.
Chop the asparagus, removing the tips about 3cm down and cutting the stalks into small 1/2 cm chunks.
Tear the mozzarella into small pieces.
Add all of the ingredients to the bulgur and toss lightly.
Season to taste, dress with oil and vinegar or lemon juice, and serve garnished with more herbs and pistachios if you fancy them.

PORK CHOPS IN THE PAN WITH CHERRIES

Some quick work required here, it is a simple cook-and-serve dish but still beautifully flavourful. Seek out high-welfare free-range pork and your tastebuds will thank you!

For 6
25 minutes cooking

Ingredients
Olive oil and butter for frying
6 nice fat pork chops
500g cherries, washed and stalks removed
1 shallot finely chopped
100ml chicken, vegetable or veal stock
Salt and pepper

Method
Heat the oil in two pans.
Fry the pork chops in two batches in one pan over medium heat, for 5-10 minutes, according to how you like them. Then remove and reserve, covered with foil to keep them warm. Keep the cooking juices in the pan.
Cook the cherries in another pan alongside the second batch of chops, until they have softened and are starting to release their juices.
Add some butter to the pork chop pan and melt it with the cooking juices, add the shallot and cook over mild heat for a few minutes until translucid and soft.
Add the stock and stir everything together, letting it bubble and thicken.
Add the cherries with their juice, and coat them in the combined cooking sauce, adding any further liquid that comes from the resting chops.
Season and serve immediately, spooning the cherries and sauce over the warm chops. Serve with warm buttered mashed potatoes and green beans on the side.

A CLASSIC FRAISIER GÂTEAU WITH ELDERFLOWER

Warning! You will need an acetate cake collar – find them on stuff4cakes.ie to keep the all-important cake edges clean, a small cake-spatula and a loose-bottomed 20 or 22cm diameter, 8 or 10cm – high cake tin. Ready-to-use Bake-O-Glide type cake tin liners for baking and cutting around are a must and, finally, green coloured almond paste. Once you are equipped, it’s a doddle.

For 6-8
40 minutes cooking
30 minutes assembly and decoration
Overnight chilling

Ingredients

For the sponge
100g caster sugar
3 large eggs
100g plain flour
30g melted unsalted butter, cooled

For the vanilla mousseline cream
3 egg yolks
75g caster sugar
35g cornstarch
500ml whole milk
1 vanilla pod
125g softened unsalted butter

For the assembly and decoration
Elderflower syrup
100g green almond paste
500g strawberries, rinsed, hulled
Elderflower blooms

Method
For the sponge
Start by making the sponge. You can either bake one round sponge, cut it in two as I did, which makes slightly thicker layers, or bake it on a rectangular sheet and cut out two discs.
Heat the oven to 180°C or 170°C Neff CircoTherm.
Grease and line a 20 or 22cm loose-bottomed tin.
Beat the sugar and eggs together in a mixer for a good 4-5 minutes, until they are blanched almost white, foamy and light and leave a ribbon trail when you take out the whisk.
Sieve the flour over the mixture and fold in delicately with the melted butter.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 25 minutes or so, until a skewer comes out clean, the top is golden and the sides of the cake are coming away from the tin.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little before turning out and leaving it to cool completely on a rack.

For the vanilla mousseline cream
To make the mousseline cream, whisk the yolks and sugar together until the mixture becomes very pale and doubles in volume, then whisk in the cornstarch.
Bring the milk to a boil with the vanilla pod split in two in a large pan. Let it sit and cool for just a minute, then mix through the yolk and sugar mixture with a wooden spoon. Remove the split vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds with a small spoon, put the seeds back into the mixture and discard the pod.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking non-stop, until the cream starts to bubble and thicken. Reduce the heat and keep stirring as it cooks, for one minute. Remove from the heat and cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming. Leave to cool to room temperature.
This mousseline cream needs to be the same temperature as the softened butter for them to combine smoothly. Put the cream back in the mixer bowl and whisk together with the butter, adding it in two or three batches.
Once the cream has fluffed up and is smooth, pop it into the fridge to cool.

For the assembly and decoration
Slice the cooled sponge into two discs. Line the base of the cake tin with baking parchment and the sides with the acetate cake collar, and then press the first sponge disc in.
Dilute the elderflower syrup with a little water, then brush it over the sponge.
Take about 8 strawberries, making sure they are as evenly sized as possible, cut their bases so they sit straight and then cut them in two. Place them, cut side outwards, around the base of the sponge. Press them together and onto the sponge to form a neat, even line around the cake.
With a piping bag or small cake spatula, press the mousseline cream into the spaces between the strawberries, up to the top of their peaks.
Spread a thin layer of cream over the bottom sponge, then pile a layer of the roughly sliced strawberries on top. Finish by filling the space with the rest of the mousseline cream and then cover it all with the second sponge disc.
Press down gently to help all the elements set and mould together. Brush the top sponge with some more elderflower, then cover the cake in its tin with cling film and leave it to chill and set in the fridge overnight.
To decorate, roll out the green almond paste and use a tin liner to cut out a neat circle. Pop the paste on the cake. (I plaited some leftover paste to cover my slightly ragged edges!)
Decorate the top of the cake with sliced strawberries and the flower blooms, then carefully liberate the cake from its encasements and serve.

Trish Deseine’s Neff induction hob. www.neff-home.com/ie

Photography by Franck Schmitt