Summer Colours: Try Trish Deseine’s Light and Flavourful August Menu

With summer in full swing, whatever the weather, we want to be outdoors as much as possible. Even if our Irish climate is not playing ball, we can generate our own sunshine by celebrating summer colours and spiking our dishes with as many Mediterranean flavours and ingredients as we can. Keeping everything light and easy, my Neff appliances are beautifully quick to use. They allow so much more spontaneity, I find, as there’s no time lost waiting around for pans to warm or ovens to heat up. Mostly, I love how the juices and flavours of ingredients – be they fish, meat, vegetables or this month, cheese – stay intact while the surfaces brown and crisp, particularly when I use the CircoTherm function. It is transforming my cooking!

And speaking of temperatures, August’s menu plays with them a lot. The peppers and feta are forgiving and can be served hot from the oven or warm, but make sure the gazpacho and jellies come straight from the fridge, and the fish is served piping hot alongside the contrasting, well-chilled tzatziki. Then all you must do is pop an ice cube in your rosé (sacrilege in France!) and pretend you’re lazing by the pool in Gordes or Cap Ferret. @trishdeseineencore

Trish’s table settings feature Stable of Ireland linen napkins; www.stableofireland.com

TOMATO AND NECTARINE GAZPACHO WITH SMOKED TABASCO AND HERBY CROUTONS

This is the best way to enjoy the height-of-the-season flavours from these two summer stars. The herbes de Provence will take you back to the 1980s and do try to find a smoked version of tabasco (my favourite is McIlhenny Co.) for a little kick

For 4
25 minutes preparation
2 hours chilling

For the gazpacho
3 large, ripe tomatoes
3 ripe nectarines, white or yellow
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 small garlic clove, peeled
1 tbsp red wine or sherry vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Tabasco

For the croutons
4 slices crusty farmhouse white loaf
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried herbes de Provence
Salt and pepper
Basil to serve
Ice cubes to serve

For the gazpacho
Remove the skins from both the tomatoes and nectarines with a sharp knife. Make a little criss-cross on one side of the fruit and then plunge them in a pan of simmering water for 30 seconds.
Remove and let them cool in cold water. The skins will slide off easily.
After this, remove the stones from the nectarines.
Blitz the tomatoes and nectarines with the lemon juice, garlic clove, vinegar and olive oil in a blender until smooth.
Season with salt and pepper and the tabasco to taste.
Chill thoroughly in the fridge or freezer.

For the croutons
Heat the grill/Neff Full Surface Grill to 200°C.
Tear the bread into smallish chunks and toss them in the olive oil, making sure they are all coated.
Sprinkle the chunks with the herbes de Provence, season with salt and pepper and toss them again.
Lay out the croutons in one layer on a baking sheet or roasting pan and brown them under the grill for just a few minutes. Keep an eye on them as they crisp up fast!
Remove the croutons from the oven and leave them to cool.
Serve the croutons alongside the gazpacho. Garnish the gazpacho with basil leaves, extra tabasco and some ice cubes if desired.

FISH BAKED IN LEAVES WITH LEMON, OLIVES AND CAPERS

Small fish work best here. Sardines, or red mullet, or small mackerel would be great. Well wrapped, they are easy to cook over a barbecue, but my friends, why would you, when your Neff oven can take care of it all for you? If you don’t have access to a grapevine or fig tree, you can order vine leaves at sous-chef.co.uk. and fig leaves on Etsy.

For 4-6
15 minutes preparation
10-15 minutes cooking

Ingredients
8-12 (grape) vine leaves or fig leaves
8-12 sardines or small red mullet
2 lemons, thinly sliced
3 tbsp pitted olives, finely sliced
2 tbsp capers, drained
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Method
Heat the grill/Neff Full Surface Grill to 200°C.
Blanch the leaves in boiling water for 3 or 4 minutes.
Drain and set them onto kitchen paper to dry.
Salt the insides of the fish and place a few lemon slices, olives, and capers into the cavity.
Close over the fish, brush them with olive oil and wrap each one in the softened leaves. Secure them with cooking string or raffia. Brush again with a little more oil.
Place the prepared fish on a baking sheet and grill them for 10-12 minutes, or so, until the leaf is crinkled and the fish tails look crisp.
Serve piping hot with the tzatziki and some chilled, chopped tomatoes.

VELVET CLOUD TZATZIKI WITH SMASHED CUCUMBER AND BLACK PEPPER 

One of our best, most versatile-Irish-made products, Velvet Cloud sheep’s milk yoghurt, is a star in this tzatziki which is perfect as an accompaniment to grilled or roasted fish. I like to have the cucumber chunky but softish – hence the smashing – and the pepper coarsely ground for extra texture and crunch.

For 4
5 minutes preparation

Ingredients
1 cucumber, chilled
400g Velvet Cloud Yoghurt or any good Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tsp fresh thyme
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Black pepper (coarsely ground)

Method
Wash the cucumber, wrap it in cling film to reduce mess, and smash it all over with a rolling pin.
Remove the cucumber from the cling film, divide it lengthways, chop it into bite-size chunks and reserve.
Mix the yoghurt with all of the other ingredients and season well.
Season the cucumber lightly with salt and pepper, then stir it gently through the yoghurt mixture.
Garnish with a little more mint and pepper and serve immediately.

BAKED PEPPERS WITH FETA AND DRIED OREGANO

There’s a familiar Southern dried herb in a starring role here. Oregano takes on a gorgeous new personality when dried and will transport you straight to the Med in this easy, colourful dish.

For 4
5 minutes preparation
25 minutes cooking

Ingredients
1 large red pepper
1 large green pepper
1 large yellow pepper
3 or 4 cloves garlic, in their skin, crushed
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 slab of feta (200-250g)
1 tsp dried oregano
Fresh herbs to garnish

Method
Heat the oven to 190°C, 180°C Fan/ Neff CircoTherm.
Slice the peppers lengthways, removing their seeds and inner white pith.
Place the peppers snugly in a baking dish with the crushed garlic. Add 1 or 2 tbsp of oil, some salt and pepper and toss everything together.
Set the whole feta on the peppers, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with the oregano and bake for 25 minutes or so, until everything is browned and slightly bubbling.
Remove the dish from the oven, season, and serve hot or warm with crusty bread. 

PEACH PROSECCO JELLIES WITH ORANGE BLOSSOM CREAM

Light, pretty, and delicately sparkling, with a hint of orange blossom in a creamy blob on top. Quite simply a perfect summer dessert.

For 4
15 minutes preparation
4 hours chilling

Ingredients
5 sheets of gelatine
450ml prosecco
3 firm peaches, peeled, cut into slices
100ml elderflower syrup, lime syrup or plain sugar syrup
100ml double cream, or Greek yoghurt
2 or 3 drops of orange blossom water

Method
Put the gelatine in a bowl of cold water and soak it for 3-4 minutes to soften.
Heat 150ml of the prosecco on a low setting on the Neff Induction Hob until just simmering and then remove it from the heat.
Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and whisk the gelatine into the hot prosecco.
Stir the rest of the prosecco and the elderflower syrup into the gelatine mixture.
Place the peach pieces into 4 stemmed glasses and pour the prosecco mixture over them.
Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight if possible.
Just before serving, whisk up the cream and add the orange blossom water. Add a little icing sugar too if you like the cream sweetened.
Top the jellies with the cream and serve.

Trish’s Neff Induction Hob; www.neff-home.com/ie

Photography: by Franck Schmitt @franckschmitt_photographe