This week should, by the time you read this, have been an absolute scorcher. Certainly it’s getting warmer here at the start of the week, and the herb garden smells wonderful.
The wet but mild days of late, with the occasional burst of sunshine, have given all the delicate herbs a real boost, and now they’re up and ready for use. My chives are resplendent beneath their purple flower-crowns, ready to add that intense oniony-ness to salads and sauces.
The bronze fennel fronds are nodding in the breeze, and I can’t wait to get them into grilled fish dishes or paired with barbecued lamb. Those classic summery salads such as horiatiki (Greek salad) and caprese (tomato, and mozzarella) love the warmth of oregano and basil respectively, and there’s plenty of fragrant rosemary to mingle with grilled seafood, lamb or pork.
It’s a total joy to be able to wander out into the garden and snip some fresh herbs with which to make lunch or dinner, and I’ll miss them at the end of the year when I again have to rely on someone else to grow my little leaves for me.
I’m using a big handful of herbs today in a sauce we’re making to serve as a dip with a lovely summery snack, zucchini fritti. I absolutely love deep fried courgettes, whether it’s the rare flowers (such a treat to find these on menus occasionally, stuffed with all manner of delicious fillings), or the vegetables themselves.
They’re great as a starter or snack, or as an accompaniment to all sorts of main courses. I love their crunch with thick slabs of grilled white fish, or nuzzling up to a nice rare rib-eye steak. They’re easy to prepare, if a little messy, but I guarantee a bowlful of these, plonked down on the dinner table, will not last long.
Make plenty, because they’ll be gone in a flash. For the sauce, I wanted something cooling and fresh, but with bags of flavour to set against the delicate nature of the courgettes. For a while I was thinking of a nice chunky tomato recipe, and that would be lovely, but I really thought a nice cool dairy-based dip was what I was after for this recipe.
So I decided to use yoghurt, with plenty of fresh herbs and the added piquancy of capers. A splash of lemon, a tingle of grated zest and that’s pretty much all we need. It’s a great sauce to spoon over fillets of fish, or even into a baked potato, and is quick and easy enough to be made in minutes, should the need arise.
Alongside the crunchy courgettes and cooling, piquant dip, we’re going to serve some grilled lemon wedges. The grilling is the masterstroke here, and it’s a great way of preparing them if you’re cooking roast chicken or all sorts of fish and seafood. The heat caramelises parts of the lemon flesh, caramelising the sugars, giving a sweet-sour aromatic flavour that, along with nothing more than a drizzle of good, grassy olive oil and a flake or two of parsley, makes a scallop or fillet of sea bass sing arias of joy.
Once you try squeezing a grilled lemon wedge over almost anything, you’ll not want to go back. Don’t worry if you haven’t got a grill pan; the lemon wedges sear well in a standard frying pan or, better still, on the barbecue.
So there you go; a lovely, crispy summertime treat. Just cross those fingers for more of that gorgeous weather.
FOR THE ZUCCHINI:
6 firm courgettes
4 tablespoons ‘00’-grade flour, plus a little extra for dipping
6 eggs
Maldon salt
Sunflower oil, for frying
FOR THE SAUCE:
500g yoghurt
1 small jar capers
A small handful fresh oregano, finely chopped
Small handful curly parsley, very finely chopped
A few chives, finely chopped
The zest and juice of 1 lemon
A little freshly-ground black pepper
FOR THE LEMONS:
4 large unwaxed lemons
A little olive oil
A griddle pan
METHOD:
First, make the dipping sauce; remove the capers from their brine, and rinse in several changes of cold water, then drain until dry. Chop roughly and place in a bowl with the yoghurt.
Add the lemon zest and juice and mix well, then add the chopped herbs and a grind or two of pepper. Season according to your preference, adding more herbs if you like.
To grill the lemons, take off the very ends of each lemon and stand upright. Cut the lemon lengthways into quarters. Take each quarter, and trim off the pithy part that used to be the centre of the fruit. This will allow you to pop free any pips that may lurk within.
Heat the griddle pan until very hot, and brush on a little olive oil. Sizzle the lemon pieces until deeply marked and charred. Set aside.
Now for the courgettes. Trim the rounded ends off each courgette and cut the vegetables into batons about 8cm long and 1 cm thick. Pop them in a colander or large sieve, sprinkle generously with salt and set over a wide bowl.
Allow them to sit for half an hour, gently turning every now and then. This helps draw out the excess moisture which should yield a crispier final result. Rinse under a tap to get rid of the salt, and gently pat with a tea towel.
Leave the batons to dry out for several minutes. As they dry, make the batter, sift the flour into a bowl and add a tiny pinch of salt.
Separate two of the eggs and whisk the whites to a medium peak. Whisk the remaining yolks and whole eggs together, and slowly add to the flour, whisking all the time until you have a smooth mixture.
Gently fold in the whisked whites. Heat the oil to about 190ºC, or until a small piece of bread sizzles upon contact.
Take handfuls of the courgette batons and dredge in a little flour, shaking any excess loose, then dunk into the batter.
Allow most of the excess to drain away and immediately pop into the pan of oil.
Fry the courgettes in small handfuls for a few minutes per batch, until crispy and golden, then drain and set over thickly-layered kitchen roll to remove as much of the excess oil as possible. Season with a little salt and keep warm in a low oven.
When you’ve finished all the courgettes, serve immediately with a big bowl of the caper sauce and the grilled lemons for drizzling.