The Perfect Summer Lunch Menu To Share With Friends

My preferred menu for a long, lingering lunch in the sun …

Ireland already feels different. Windows are open and everyone’s mood seems instantly improved by the sun. My friends are coming over at 2pm as I’m hosting lunch, so I leave the house early and head first to Sister on Lennox Street for coffee, then to Scéal for bread while it’s still warm. On the way home I stop at Evergreen on Wexford Street for herbs, apricots and the first Irish strawberries of the season. I eat most of a punnet on the walk home. After months of citrus and apples, seeing apricots appear in shops always feels exciting to me. It’s the same every year. I buy too many, convinced I’ll make tarts or compotes, only to eat most of them standing over the sink.

By 10am I’m home and the first thing I do is put glasses in the freezer. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but frozen glasses make every drink taste better. I wish I had more of a garden at this time of year as I love to barbecue, but my plan is to make everything taste as if I were abroad, even without a grill.

I like to have almost everything done before people arrive. There’s nothing worse than guests being forced to watch someone sweat over the stove while repeatedly saying “five more minutes”. I have bowls of peeled potatoes, sliced garlic and peeled prawns in the fridge, plus a tray lined up with all the spices and bits I’ll need later. Read more in THE GLOSS June issue out now and find my menu below … 

Prawns and Broad Beans with Paprika Oil

This is essentially a take on gambas al ajillo, the Spanish classic, but with one extra step that makes all the difference. You fry the prawn heads and shells first in a generous amount of olive oil until it turns deep red and tastes entirely of the sea, then discard everything but the oil. What you’re left with is an intensely flavoured cooking fat that does all the heavy lifting. The actual cooking after that takes about four minutes. The broad beans are optional as the dish is excellent without them, but they add a little sweetness and freshness against all that smoky paprika. The bread underneath, however, is not optional.

Greekish Roast Chicken with Lemon Potatoes

I have a similar recipe for these roast potatoes in my cookbook Make More With Less which I make again and again. The original recipe is great and requires only peeling the potatoes then adding water to the tray with the olive oil, garlic, lemon and oregano, so that the water evaporates to crisp them up. The original recipe works perfectly if your oven is great, but if not your chicken will steam instead of roast. I adapted this recipe for a not-so-great oven. If you’re barbecueing the chicken, follow my book for ease!

Macaron Cake with Pecans, Cream and Strawberries

This is one of those cakes that looks like it required a lot more effort than it did. The outside goes crackly and golden, the inside stays dense and chewy – somewhere between a cake and a giant macaron, which is exactly what it is. It keeps brilliantly for a few days and actually improves overnight, so it’s a good one to make ahead.