Gary Rhodes Kitchen Confidential

Home-grown tomatoes, sweet peppers and plump cherries are what summer is all about, says Gary Rhodes

Cooking With

July is one of the most exciting months for chefs; we’re spoilt for choice as everything hits its absolute prime. It’s definitely an inspirational time to be cooking. We’ve got all of the lovely English tomatoes, rich in colour and strength and depth of flavour. For once, our tomatoes stand their own against the Italian and the Spanish. Courgettes are coming through and, by late July, home-grown aubergines are in too, as are sweet peppers.

We’ve still got lettuce leaves, new potatoes, peas, broad beans, baby carrots and baby turnips, so the possibilities are endless. This is the month to make the ultimate ratatouille as courgettes, peppers, aubergines, tomatoes and even the onions and garlic are at their most flavoursome. Summer garlic is not as pungent and has a touch of sweetness. Try working ratatouille into different vegetarian dishes. For example, you could put a lightly softened ratatouille into a pastry case then top it with some Parmesan or pecorino and a little grating of Cheddar. Or add large chunks of bitter-sweet grilled vegetables into a frittata along with some slices of new potatoes.

Strawberries are at their most delicious - rich and sweet. One bite and you’ll never eat a white and tasteless out-of-season one again. Nectarines and peaches are amazingly juicy now as are raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, blueberries and cherries. I adore English cherries, which arrive in June but find their peak in July. Make cherry clafoutis or a cherry and almond sponge. Try a twist on Black Forest gâteau by serving a chocolate fondant with poached cherries and vanilla cream or ice cream. The fruit works equally well in savoury dishes, such as the classic duck with cherries. Simmer them in a little red wine and a dash of red wine vinegar. You won’t need to add sugar but a teaspoon of a good quality cherry jam along with the duck jus works wonderfully. Serve with baby summer turnips - their bitterness works well against the sweet sauce. Chop them straight into a salad and serve with charcuterie for a colourful, flavoursome dish.

Sea trout and wild salmon are in season this month. They’re expensive but they’re worth it. Mackerel is good too as it is sweeter on the palate. Sorrel is one of my all-time favourite ingredients and I love to eat wild salmon with sorrel hollandaise. Simple yes, but that’s the beauty of the season: you need to do very little to the food to show it off.

Who i'm using

For meat, I have used the excellent butcher Aubrey Allen for many years while for fish and seafood, I’ve worked with Bobby at Daily Fish for 20 years or more. He’ll source the best there is from around the UK. Top Catch in Cornwall gets me lovely Cornish sea bass and even scallops. I live in Kent, which has some fantastic farm shops. I love The Barn Yard in Upchurch, which is a glorious converted barn that is an Aladdin’s cave of stunning fruit and vegetables. They have a café with all sorts of home-made bits and pieces and you can head out to pick your own.

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Recipe

This recipe for liqueur-steeped summer fruits with lemon curd cream can be made with raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, black and redcurrants (serves four).

Put 450g mixed summer berries into a large bowl. sprinkle with three tablespoons of caster sugar and three tablespoons of raspberry or strawberry liqueur (crème de framboises or fraises or a fruit-flavoured eau de vie work well) and leave to steep for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring gently every 5 minutes to ensure all are coated and flavoured. If you're prepared to wait an hour or two, it will taste even better.

Whisk together 125ml double cream and 5 tablespoons of chilled, good quality lemon curd to a soft peak. Top the steeped fruits with the lemon curd cream and drizzle over the sweet liqueur syrup.