Summer Lunch Mary Berry Cooks

'I'm Mary Berry, and in this series,

'I'm sharing with you my very favourite recipes -

'the sort of food I cook at home for my family and friends.'

I love cooking and it gives me

enormous pleasure to see people enjoying my food.

I think that's why I took up cooking in the first place.

'I'll be giving you ideas for posh dinners and Sunday lunches.

'Celebrations buffets, weekday suppers and afternoon tea.

'But now, it's a summer lunch.'

'Every summer, we have a big lunch party in the garden,

'and choosing the right dishes is key.

'On a hot summer's day, I think the food should be fresh,

'light and best served cold.

'For this party, I'm serving salmon with asparagus and quail's eggs.

'A green salad with broad beans, Parmesan and croutons.

'And a traditional summer pudding with seasonal fruits.

'But the star of my summer lunch is a bit of luxury.

'Roast beef fillet with a garlic and mustard cream.'

Fillet is the king of beef. It's the most tender cut.

This is about a kilo. It's cut from the centre.

This end tails off to a point, and that would not cook evenly,

so ask for the centre cut.

And I've trimmed it, taken off any of the sinew and skin

so we've got the perfect centre cut.

Having seasoned the fillet all over, place it in a preheated frying pan.

'Browning the beef like this in very hot oil seals the meat

'and helps to keep in the flavour.'

That is a beautiful caramel colour all the way round. Well browned.

I've sealed the ends, too. Now it's ready for roasting.

Next, take two garlic cloves and place them in with the beef.

I'm just going to oil the outside of the garlic just to soften it up.

And the roasting makes it beautifully soft,

and it makes it into sort of a paste.

Put the meat and garlic into the oven at 200 fan.

I like it medium rare,

and as it's still hot from the pan, it will only take 23 minutes.

So I'm loosely covering that with foil

and I'm leaving it to relax the meat, to rest.

And then I'll be carving it later.

Now for the garlic cream.

Add two tablespoons of wholegrain mustard to 150ml each

of mayonnaise and creme fraiche.

Then move on to the garlic.

I'm going to cut them in half,

right across the middle, all the way round in the centre.

So get hold of it and just squeeze,

so all the lovely soft garlic comes out, all squidgy.

So it's going into the mixture.

Just mix that together.

Now, at this stage, you really do want to have a taste of it,

because you may need to add a little bit more mustard or something.

It needs a dash of sugar, because mustards vary, and that was

a bit vinegary, and I think a dash of sugar would improve it.

I've got some natural caster sugar here.

I'm just going to do a little shake in there of it.

About half a teaspoon.

Once you're happy with the taste of the sauce, start carving the fillet.

You do need a nice sharp knife.

Now, for me, that is sheer perfection.

Pink in the middle and a nice crisp crust on the outside.

Now, you can do this ahead of time, but if you leave it cut,

already arranged on a board, what will happen is

it will go a grey colour, so what I do is, I put it back together

like this and wrap it in clingfilm and keep it in a cool place, so you

stop the oxidisation, and then just before serving, half an hour before

your guests come, lay it all out and it will keep its colour beautifully.

Serve the beef with a bowl full of that lovely garlic cream

and garnish with a sprig of fresh parsley.

When it comes to summer parties, I always think it's good to

serve your guests a salad.

And my fiery red rice and carrot salad brings sweet

and spicy flavour combinations and a wonderful splash of colour.

And to start with, 450g of red rice.

Now, it is unusual. This particular one came from the South of France.

It's very nutty, and it has a lovely flavour.

Tip the rice into a pan and add 600ml of cold water,

along with a teaspoon of salt.

I'm going to bring that to the boil and then down to a low simmer with

the lid on for about 25 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed.

Now, coarsely grate six carrots in a processor,

and then roughly chop eight spring onions.

This is starting to look a very colourful salad already.

When I was young, salad was literally cucumber,

tomatoes and lettuce.

And just think how salads have got much more interesting

in the last few years.

Set the vegetables to one side and get on with the dressing.

Add the juice and zest of four limes to two finely chopped red chillies.

Pour in two tablespoons of cider vinegar,

and four teaspoons each of honey and light olive oil.

No need to put it in a mixer, processor, blender.

Just put it in a jar and give it a good shake.

Make sure the top's well screwed down.

'Once the 25 minutes is up, the rice should be done.

'Tip into a serving bowl along with the carrot and spring onions.'

Now, finely chop a handful of coriander and add it to the mix.

And I like to make this the day before,

and then the flavours really do work well.

You've got to let it marinate, preferably overnight,

so you really do get the flavours to mix.

It's looking even more colourful now.

I love the flecks of red with the orange.

To serve, just add a garnish of coriander.

A spicy and colourful salad

that goes so well with both fish and meat.

'We grow our own vegetables in the garden,

'as well as a wide variety of herbs.

'Herb cultivation is something that fascinates me, so I've come to

'Gloucestershire to meet Jekka McVicar, a Chelsea Flower Show gold

'medal winner who knows everything there is to know on the subject.'

I find it fascinating how herbs have actually travelled the world.

What we think is British, like mint, thyme, oregano -

all of those were introduced to this country by the Romans,

and many of them have become native wild plants.

'The Roman army is said to have brought over

'750 varieties of herbs to Britain.

'Including one of my great favourites, rosemary.'

I've got 27, I think it is, different rosemarys.

Things like Capri here.

That's like a standard rosemary,

which is great with lamb and tomatoes.

This one, on the other hand, that's very eucalyptus-y,

and that's much better with something spicier.

But not only is it great in cooking, rosemary's also medicinal.

And you can make a tea from the leaves.

And it is wonderful for our memory.

Oh, I shall be having definitely some of that!

OK. And it's fantastic.

My children went off to university with big plants,

because it's one of the best cures for a hangover I know.

It clears the head and settles the stomach.

So, I mean, to me, this is the quintessential herb,

because it looks good, smells good and does you good.

'When I started my career, fresh herbs were hard to come by.

'Now, all supermarkets stock them,

'but there are many native varieties that are forgotten,

'and Jekka is aiming to get them into our shops.'

We have got so many UK natives that our grandparents

and great-grandparents used to use that have died out of fashion.

And one of them is this lovely little sorrel, which is

the buckler leaf sorrel, which has got tiny leaves.

Now, I use that, I grow it at home.

I use it in salads.

I never use it in recipes, because people can't buy it.

Well, I have some really good news, Mary.

Some of the big supermarkets are seriously looking at

bringing this in next year.

Well, that's really good news, because you know it is so delicious.

It is a lovely flavour, it's sharp.

And what I do is, I get a handful of these leaves, I whizz them up,

mix it with a bit of creme fraiche,

and I serve that with cold chicken or cold salmon.

And it's absolutely delicious.

I would put a dash of lemon in that, and a sprinkling of sugar.

-For me.

-Oh, yes. Oh, yes! A bit of crunch!

'There are hundreds of varieties of herbs native to Britain.

'Like yarrow, which can be used in soups or sauces.

'And salad burnet, which has a nutty flavour

'and is meant to help with digestion.

'I grow many herbs, but Jekka has some varieties growing here

'that I've never heard of.'

Here's a herb that I've literally sown in the last couple of weeks,

and this is one that I use throughout the winter.

And the supermarkets are very excited by it.

It's a very old herb,

and it's been used in the UK for hundreds of years.

And it's Claytonia, or winter purslane.

-Now, taste-wise, it tastes to me just like lettuce.

-Yes.

This was always known as miner's lettuce, because the miners

used to grow it in pots outside their back door and then, because

there were no fresh vegetables in the winter, they grew this.

And so they used to add it to their oggies

to go down the mines with.

Looking at it, one could grow it in a window box, outside the door.

Yes.

And you would have something to cut and come again, so I'm very excited.

'Fresh herbs, whether they be native or from further afield,

'feature regularly in my recipes.

'I love the delicate flavours and colours that they bring to a dish.

'And my next recipe, salmon with asparagus

'and quail's eggs, is bursting with flavour.'

Start by placing the salmon fillets onto a greased

and seasoned oven tray.

So, these are small slices.

In fact, you often buy them about that size,

and I just cut them in half.

And you put the skin-side down.

Leave the skin on when you cook it, because it keeps a better flavour

and it's very simple to take off once it's cooked.

And then a little bit of pepper and salt on the top.

No need to drizzle butter or anything like that,

just let them cook in their own juices.

'Cover the salmon with foil, then pop it in the oven at 160 fan

'for around 15 minutes,

'until the flesh has turned from shiny pink to opaque pink.

'Now place 20 asparagus tips, tied together to make them

'easier to handle, into boiling water, and simmer for three minutes.

'At the same time, boil five quail's eggs for two minutes.'

When everything is done, place them in a bowl of iced water.

As soon as the eggs are cooled, you can start to shell them.

It helps to get the shell off the quail eggs

if you roll them first of all.

And these eggs are peeling well because they're a week old.

Very fresh eggs are difficult to peel,

because the white sticks to the shell.

'Next, remove the asparagus from the iced water.

'Once the 15 minutes are up, check to see if the salmon is ready.'

It should be opaque pink and there's hardly any liquid in the bottom

of the pan - that means that they've held their moisture,

and they're done.

Now, for the sauce, blend one tablespoon each of dill,

mint, chives and parsley.

Add 100g each of creme fraiche and Greek yoghurt,

with 150ml of mayonnaise.

Then one teaspoon of sugar and the juice of half a lemon.

The chefs seem to have endless energy in their arms,

and I haven't got it.

I much prefer to use an old-fashioned lemon squeezer.

And then all you've got to do now is whizz it,

and all the ingredients will combine.

Once everything is blended together,

it's time to start assembling the dish.

That skin, shiny and beautiful though it is, it's not very

nice to eat, so I'm going to peel that skin off.

That's come off very well.

It's a good thing to do it always just as it's got cold,

otherwise it sticks.

And it's so much nicer to eat when it's sort of just cooled.

If you leave it sort of overnight cooked, it becomes very firm

and a bit gelatinous.

And now to the final decoration.

You can do this about an hour before your guests come.

A spoonful of that sauce on top of each one.

It just looks nice under the asparagus.

It also helps to hold the asparagus.

So take two pieces and put them on as a sort of cross.

And I'd much rather do this sort of thing than serve a whole salmon,

because people find it difficult to help themselves, they don't know

how much to take, if the bone's there,

they don't know how to tackle it.

And you have the feeling, when you see that fish on the buffet table,

you look at it and you think, "Oh, I wonder if it's going round,"

whereas if you've got ten beautiful pieces of fish

like this, you just know there's going to be enough for everybody.

So, over like that. Now, the quail's eggs go on last.

Just half for each one.

It really does show it's worth taking time on the presentation.

They look so tempting. I don't think anyone could resist.

'Many people associate ham with Christmas time.

'But I think it's ideal served outside on a hot summer's

'afternoon with a spicy apricot and ginger chutney.'

I've got a two-kilo piece of boned gammon here and that will feed

ten hungry people, and there will be plenty left for the next day.

'Place the meat in a pan of cold water.

'Add two bay leaves, a whole onion cut into quarters...

'..half a dozen peppercorns, and bring to the boil.

'Then cover and place in the oven at 140 fan for about two hours.

'Now for the chutney.

'Start by frying two roughly chopped onions

'and one crushed clove of garlic in some oil.'

The idea to start with is to soften the onion.

And I don't want it to be brown, just really cooked through.

'To give the chutney a bit of a lift,

'grate about an inch of fresh ginger into the pan.'

When I was young, when you made pickles you had a dry ginger,

and you put it in a muslin bag and you infused it in the chutney,

and in the last, I suppose, 20 years,

we've been able to get fresh ginger and it's so much nicer.

'Next, add two finely chopped chillies with the seeds removed,

'400g of pre-soaked dried apricots, and two peeled

'and diced eating apples.

'Then tip in 100g of light muscovado sugar

'and 200ml of cider vinegar.'

It smells like a pickle factory now, that smell of vinegar.

Just want it gently cooking to soften the apple

and cook the apricots.

'Then add the zest and juice of two oranges

'and, finally, eight tablespoons of maple syrup.'

Maple syrup is used a lot in American cooking.

We haven't been using it a lot in our cooking for a very long time.

But it does add something. Particularly to a chutney like this.

Now that looks about the right consistency. If I just show you...

The fruits are soft.

It's got just a little bit of juice coming out of it,

and that is just about as it should be.

Allow the mixture to cool, and now it's time for the glaze.

Stir together three tablespoons each of maple syrup

and light muscovado sugar

with a teaspoon of English mustard powder.

Now you can see that.

It's sort of a runny paste,

and with the high proportion of sugar in there,

it will give a lovely shine.

After about two hours, the ham should be cooked and ready to glaze.

I seem to have pierced one of the onions, but that doesn't matter.

So there it is. I'll pop that back.

The best time to get that skin off is when it's hot.

So I've got a little trick. Rubber gloves.

It looks a bit sorry for itself, doesn't it?

It looks a bit peely-wally. But when we get the skin off,

and the glaze on, it will look shiny and glorious.

And it will taste good too.

Having removed the string, peel off the skin,

being very careful not to take any of the fat with it.

Place the meat into a foil-lined roasting tin,

then it's ready for glazing.

You don't need to brush it, it wouldn't work with a brush.

I'll just do it with a spoon.

This will give a wonderful shine, as well as flavour.

Once it's completely covered,

score the fat diagonally to form little diamonds,

making sure you don't cut into the meat.

Now, most recipes tell you

in the middle of those diamonds to put a clove.

I hate cloves.

When I was young, if you had a tooth out,

they used to put oil of cloves on your teeth,

and that's a horrid reminder.

Cover the open ends to stop them overcooking.

Then put the ham back in the oven at 200 degrees fan.

After 20 minutes, it should be a lovely golden brown.

I think that's a great finish to the ham.

So tempting with that lovely glaze all over it.

And what could go better with it than a chutney?

To complement the rich, intense flavours of the ham,

I like to serve a clean, fresh side dish.

And my bean and little gem salad is a real crowd pleaser.

For a summer buffet, you need a really good green salad,

and you can't get away with just a bag of mixed leaves.

I've got a lovely one with broad beans and little gem lettuces

and some croutons, which I'm going to make first.

Coat 450g of cubed white bread

with six tablespoons of seasoned olive oil.

Then slip under the grill and turn until they're evenly browned.

Having simmered 300g of frozen baby broad beans, rinse them.

Then remove the beans from their shells.

Next, take six gem lettuces,

trimming off the very ends to leave the root intact.

Then slice into wedges.

For the dressing, add eight tablespoons of olive oil

to three of Dijon mustard and five of white-wine vinegar.

Then pour in one tablespoon of caster sugar

along with five tablespoons of cream.

Mix it all together, then drizzle over the salad.

And finish it off with those crispy croutons

and 100g of shaved Parmesan

There's certainly crunch in this salad.

We've got the wonderful croutons and those little gem lettuces

and a lovely, creamy, piquant dressing.

And that's going to be great on our buffet table.

Since I was a child,

fruit-picking has always been a big thing in my family,

whatever the weather.

These days I like to take my grandsons, Louis and Hobey,

to pick summer fruits.

We bring them home to make one of their favourites,

fresh-fruit smoothie.

-Do you like smoothies?

-Yes.

-And what do you like in your smoothies?

-Banana, mango.

Well, today we've got all the fruits we picked ourselves.

-And raspberries!

-And raspberries.

Well, we've got blackberries, raspberries and blueberries,

and I going to ask you, Hobey, if you can just tip those in for me.

In we go.

Smoothies packed with vitamins are so easy to make

and are a great way to get children to eat fresh fruit.

That's it, thank you!

And this is actually a low-fat yoghurt going in.

-Why's that in a bowl?

-You give that back to me.

OK, that's lovely, and you put the sugar in if that's all right.

-Oh!

-It's all very simple, isn't it?

Are you going to push the button underneath there in a minute?

Does that look a good colour to you?

It's very pink, it's a lovely colour.

And very purple.

Where did the nuts come from?

They're not nuts, they're just a few seeds on the top there.

I think it would be sensible if I put that in a jug to pour it.

So shall we pour those into the glasses?

Not too much!

That was a bit too much, but we'll try, see if you can do it better.

I think that's just about right, do you think?

And there's some left for Granny here.

So what's the verdict, then?

Good.

Mmm!

And it's nice, because it's very cold,

but the best thing of all

is that it's all fruits that we've all picked.

-But what do you think?

-Well, I think it's ten out of ten.

-What do you think?

-He's grown a moustache!

-Cheers.

-Cheers!

-Cheers!

I always like to use fruits when they're in season.

And summer fruits are essential for making one of my favourite puds,

a rich and colourful summer pudding.

My summer pudding is absolutely packed with fruit.

I've got a lovely selection here.

Some of them I cook first, and those are the redcurrants.

They're little red jewels, aren't they?

And then some blackcurrants and some blueberries.

You want the total amount of fruit to be a kilo.

So I need sugar in there, 250g of caster sugar.

That helps to make a wonderful sweet juice to go with it.

And a little water, about a couple of tablespoons.

Stir the fruit until all the sugar has dissolved

and the juices from the berries

have turned the mixture to an intense purple colour.

Then add the blackberries.

Seeing these blackberries remind me of when we were young.

Picking blackberries was an essential part of the year.

Dad built a boat, a sort of a clinker boat,

and we used to go on the Avon near Bath,

and then we'd leap off onto the bank

to special places where we knew blackberries were.

And we'd come home and make all sorts of things

like summer pudding, blackberry jelly.

And of course they were free.

So, lastly, the raspberries.

They don't need cooking, so all in in one go.

I'm going to move that off the heat and get on with the bread part.

Trim the crust from a two-day old loaf.

Being stale, the bread will be easier to cut

and will absorb the fruit juices better.

Then cut into slices large enough to completely line a 1lb loaf tin

which has already been lined with a double layer of clingfilm.

It's essential to get all that bread soaked up with the juice,

so in the very base I'm going to put some of that juice

so it goes under the bread.

So I'm going to take some bread and press it firmly down.

Line the tin completely, cutting the bread to make a tight fit.

But do make sure that you reserve a slice for the top.

And you want to pack as much fruit as you can in there.

So in it goes.

You can still see the shape of those raspberries

and the blackberries, too.

So press that down as much as you can,

pushing it into the sides, cos I want it very, very fruity.

Now, take some of this juice and just drop it down the side there

to make sure that it's really well soaked in.

It's worth going all the way round doing that.

Now I'm going to put the last piece of bread on top.

Squash the bread in tightly, pour over any remaining juice,

then wrap it all up in the clingfilm.

So there's our summer pudding.

I usually make it the day before, put it in the fridge,

and then it's ready to turn out on the day.

By then, it will have soaked up all the juice.

Cover the pudding with a weight to help it set firm

and ensure it won't fall apart when you cut it.

You could use tins of baked beans or, like me, a large mortar.

Then it's into the fridge to chill overnight.

The next day, turn out

and present on a white serving dish to really show off

the deep, rich purple colours of this summer pudding.

So there you have it,

my collection of dishes to serve for a summer lunch.

I hope that you'll give them a try when your friends come over.