Paper Palate

After last months lacklustre and unexciting issue - so uninspiring I didn’t make a thing from it - Delicious returns to form with the June issue.

Maybe it’s the ’summer’ foods - bring on the asparagus, the radishes, the barbecue foods - but there are loads of recipes in this issue that are making my mouth water. Asparagus and Lemon Risotto was a hit last week (match it with a Sauvingon Blanc from Vergelegen for a most enjoyable pairing) while the weekend treat, a simple Blueberry Trifle, was everything a trifle should be (pictured). Sunday’s roast chicken was a hit with a creamy sweetcorn bake. While the Delicious recipe suggested placing chicken breasts on the sweetcorn (and topping with bacon) and roasting for 30 minutes, I just mixed the sweetcorn with the other ingredients (250g frozen sweetcorn, 20g grated parmesan, 150ml double cream, 75ml white wine, seasoning) and threw it in the oven as a whole chicken finished roasting. A delicious accompaniment and so much more interesting than plain boiled sweetcorn.

Other dishes yet to grace my table include Tequila Chicken with Pink Grapefruit Salad (I used to hate fruit with green salad but love it now!) and Pea and Goat Cheese Tarts. The latter I imagine going beautifully with a Sauvingon Blanc (the wine for summer in my opinion) and can’t wait to crack open another bottle of the Iona Sauvignon Blanc, again a crisp and delicious South African wine.

Now I love a risotto but do not recall ever making one with beetroot before. The Oven Cooked Beetroot Risotto is soon to hit my table; just a shame that the only beetroot I could find yesterday were at the supermarket (think inflated prices) and came without the green leaves. These, which I didn’t realise, you can eat and are used to top the risotto. Delicious suggests stir-frying or steaming them too. Something else, really summery, I must try!

Summer isn’t summer without a fruit pudding so the Mango and Lemongrass Tart with Coconut Pastry looks like a ‘must try,’ as do the Baklava Tarts with Berries and the Bananas with Coconut Butterscotch Sauce and Macadamia Praline, and I don’t even like bananas!

Perhaps a Summer issue is a little premature; but at least it expands the season long enough to try all these wonderful recipes.