JULY
 

Hello!

Can you believe it’s July? This month brings a huge number of beautiful seasonal ingredients with it. Both of this months recipes make great picnic dishes, so now that lockdown is easing, hopefully you too will be able to enjoy them in the park with some good company (and some beers!). July brings with it some wonderful foraging opportunities too. Bilberries, which are traditionally first picked on the last Sunday of July - known as Bilberry Sunday - can be found in high ground and heathland. Marsh samphire can also be foraged this month - this crop must, by law, be cut and not uprooted, so remember your scissors! 

Emma x

Nectarine, Raspberry and Mint Galette

This galette is so easy and makes the perfect summer pudding. I’ve gone for nectarines and raspberries as the filling for this one as they’re at their best this month, however you could use any fruit you wish! I know the thought of making pastry sounds like a lot of effort, but trust me, this one is super simple. If you’re short for time though, the homemade sweet pastry could be swapped out for some shop-bought puff pastry. 
 

Ingredients:
100g of fridge cold butter, cubed
180g plain flour (plus one extra tbsp for the fruit)
¼ tsp cinnamon 
¼ tsp salt
25g granulated sugar (plus 1 tbsp for the fruit)
4 tbsp ice cold

3 nectarines - sliced
100g raspberries 
1 tbsp lemon juice 
Handful of mint leaves

1 egg, whisked
1 tbsp Demerara sugar

Method:

  1. In a bowl, mix flour, salt, cinnamon and sugar until well combined.

  2. Add the butter and rub into the dry ingredients until you achieve a sand-like texture. 

  3. Add the ice water. Tip the dough onto a surface and bring it together, try not to work it too much. Wrap it in cling film, or beeswax wrap and chill in the fridge for at least one hour.

  4. Add the fruit to a bowl and toss with 1 tbsp each of sugar, lemon juice and flour. Cover and put to one side until needed.

  5. After the dough has finished chilling, preheat oven to 190C. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out on a piece of greaseproof paper. Roll to roughly a 28cm circle - don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be too precise!

  6. Chill the rolled out dough for a further 10 minutes. 

  7. Add the fruit to the centre of the pastry, leaving a small border. Fold the pasty border up to envelope the edge of the fruit.

  8. Brush the crust with egg and sprinkle the spoonful of Demerara sugar onto it.

  9. Cook for 30 minutes in the centre of the oven, rotating half way through.

  10. Scatter the mint leaves and serve with cream or ice cream
 

Download the printable version here and stick it on your fridge!
 

Smoked Aubergine and Sweet Pepper

This Summer dish is perfect served straight away, or equally, as part of a picnic spread! Serve with couscous and some flatbreads for a real feast. The smoked aubergine has such a great flavour, the herbs and crunchy pepper make it fresh enough to be eaten, even on the hottest of days. Find the recipe here!
 

Here are some of my favourite Instagrams from the last month. I am very much in love with absolutely everything on Pottery and Poetry’s page -especially this serving platter! Lucy Turnbull has made the ultimate Summer treat, a cinnamon sugared doughnut with fig leaf ice cream. YES PLEASE! And finally, this cute little set up from Liv Purvis, so dreamy.