All those laid-back summer lunches, the salads and cold cuts, smoked fish and simple tarts seem to cry out for a crisp, sharp accompaniment. The answer in this house is a tangle of bright young vegetables that has been left in a sweet and salty marinade. A pickle to bring out at will – I keep mine in the fridge – to complement whatever else is on the plate.
I take shavings of new season carrots, chunks of cucumber and sliced, white-tipped radishes and dress them with a little sauerkraut, juniper berries, rice wine vinegar and fennel seeds. The sharpness they bring is refreshing and the crunch of raw vegetables is always welcome, but especially at a sunny summer’s lunch.
The open sandwiches I make throughout the summer (prawn and avocado, gravlax and sauerkraut, hummus and watercress) all benefit from some curls of carrot and cucumber pickle. The dark rye bread and San Daniele that is such a favourite “quick fix” at lunchtime comes to life when I dig down into the pickle jar for twists of cucumber, curls of carrot and slices of radish. The pickle is easy to make – you just need a vegetable peeler and small pan to warm the marinade, and it will keep for a few days in the fridge.
The vivid sourness such a pickle offers can be extended to the first of the homegrown fruits – the catch-it-if-you-can gooseberry season that is here and gone in a flash. Once the annual crumble has been made, gooseberries will be tossed into cakes and batter puddings and tucked into pickles. This year, a delicious, layered biscuit of shortbread, crushed berries and a sweet, oaty topping has been a new addition – good as a dessert within a few minutes of baking or cut into bars as a mid-afternoon treat.
Carrot and cucumber pickle
A sweet-sour accompaniment, but also something to stuff inside sandwiches, and particularly fine with thin slices of air-dried ham in a crisp-crusted baguette or adding texture to a soft, doughy wrap. Makes 1 x 500g Kilner jar. Ready in 2 hours
cucumber 1, small
spring onion 1, large
carrot 1, medium
radishes 4
sauerkraut 6 heaped tbsp
For the pickle:
rice vinegar 6 tbsp
cider vinegar 6 tbsp
fennel seeds 2 tsp
black peppercorns 15
juniper berries 8
caster sugar 1 tsp
salt 1 tsp
Peel the cucumber, then slice it in half lengthways. Scoop out the core and its seeds with a teaspoon and discard. Cut the cucumber into 1cm-thick slices and put them in a large bowl.
Peel the spring onion, slice into thin rounds and add to the cucumber. Scrub the carrot then, using a potato peeler, shave into long ribbons. Add these to the bowl, then thinly slice and add the radishes and sauerkraut.
In a small, stainless-steel saucepan mix together the vinegars, fennel seeds, peppercorns and juniper berries. Add the sugar and salt and place over a moderate heat. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Pour the hot pickling liquor over the vegetables and toss gently together.
Let the pickle cool, then chill in the refrigerator. It will keep for a few days in a sealed jar in the fridge.
Gooseberry flapjack slice
It’s gooseberry crumble and shortbread and flapjack all rolled into one and it’s just wonderful. It is also far less trouble than it looks. We ate some of the slices still warm with a jug of cream and kept others for later, to eat more as a luxurious, fruity, crumbly biscuit. There are three stages, all very simple: a thin, shortbread base, a layer of cooked gooseberries and then a third layer of coarse oat-flecked flapjack. Makes 10 slices. Ready in 1 hour
For the base:
butter 125g
caster sugar 70g
plain flour 130g
cornflour 25g
For the filling:
gooseberries 700g
water 4 tbsp
caster sugar 90g
For the flapjack:
butter 140g
demerara sugar 125g
rolled oats 230g
sea salt flakes ½ tsp
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Line the base and sides of a deep 20cm x 20cm cake tin. Put a baking sheet in the oven to heat up. You will bake the slice on top of this. It will help the bottom to crisp nicely.
Make the base: put the butter and sugar into the bowl of a food mixer and cream until light and smooth, then mix in the flour and cornflour. Once combined, turn the dough out on to a lightly floured board and pat into a shape almost the same size as the cake tin base. Lift carefully into the tin, then press gently to the edges with your fingers.
Using a fork, prick the dough all over. Bake for 20 minutes, on top of the baking sheet, until pale biscuit coloured, then remove from the oven.
While the base bakes, top and tail the gooseberries, put them in a smallish saucepan with the water and sugar. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and let them cook for about 5 minutes until the berries start to burst their skins. Remove from the heat, tip into a coarse sieve placed over a bowl and leave to drain.
Make the flapjack crust: melt the butter in a small saucepan. Tip in the demerara and then the oats and salt and stir until the oats are sticky and glossy. Set aside.
Spoon the drained gooseberries into the tin, spreading them over the shortbread crust. Scatter the surface with the flapjack mixture to cover the fruit, but don’t press it down or compact it. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove and leave to settle for 10 minutes. Cut into 10 rectangular pieces (5 slices along one side, 2 on the other) then leave to cool. Lift the slices out carefully using a palette knife.
Follow Nigel on Instagram @NigelSlater
