Sunny suppers

Outdoor entertaining doesn't have to mean barbecues – try these easy recipes for a classier affair, writes DOMINI KEMP

Chilled avocado soup

Serves 4-6

This is rich, but is perfect as a shot of something delicious to take the edge off everyone’s hunger.

Garnish

4 tomatoes, finely chopped

1 red onion, peeled and very finely diced

3 pieces celery, very finely sliced

Splash olive oil

Squeeze lime juice

Salt and pepper

Mix together and chill until ready to serve.

Soup

4 very ripe avocados

300ml cold vegetable stock

500g plain yoghurt

Few shakes Tabasco

Juice of 4 limes

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Blend until silky smooth. Season and chill until ready to serve with the garnish sprinkled on top.

John’s wine match

Soup is not the easiest thing to match with wine. Either leave it out completely, or head straight to sherry; an Oloroso with hot soups, and Fino or Manzanilla with cold. The Fino or the La Goya I recommended a few weeks ago would work well with this, or the Lustau Jarana. Alternatively, why not try a Bloody Mary, with or without the vodka (see recipe overleaf). If you prefer something light and refreshing, a crisp dry white, light in alcohol, will not go amiss.

Marinated skirt steak

Serves 4

I used skirt steak for this recipe; it’s tasty but can be a bit tough if your butcher doesn’t hang meat long enough. If I was going to splurge for about 10 people, I would get a whole fillet and cook it in one long piece, allow it to rest and slice it thinly for guests.

It would be expensive, but this marinade is so gutsy, it would be delicious with the bland but beautifully tender fillet. This is adapted from a Valentine Warner recipe.

1kg skirt steak, cut into two pieces

Handful rosemary leaves, very finely chopped

1 head garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tin anchovies

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp English mustard powder

Lots of black pepper

1 tsp Demerara sugar

½ bottle red wine

Chuck the rosemary, garlic and anchovies (including the oil) into a saucepan and heat gently while you squish the anchovies with the back of a spoon. Turn up the heat and gently sweat. Add the mustards, pepper and sugar. Mix well, pour in the wine and bring to the boil. Simmer gently until it reduces by half. It will look like purple hoi sin sauce. Allow the marinade to cool fully. Roll and rub the beef in the marinade and leave for a few hours. Turn the meat occasionally while it marinates in the fridge. Heat a barbecue or char-grill and cook the meat for five to seven minutes on each side. Allow it to rest for at least five to 10 minutes. Carve at an angle, against the grain, in thin slices.

John’s wine match

Yum! This recipe combines a number of my favourite ingredients – anchovies, garlic and red wine, with a tasty barbecued steak. Here we need a big beast of a red, and the bigger the better. From France, think of the southern Rhône, but an Argentinian Malbec or a Barossa Shiraz would also be perfect.

Herb couscous salad

Serves 4

300ml vegetable stock

300g couscous

1 red onion, peeled and diced

1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

Good splash olive oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

70g-100g shelled pistachios

Bunch spring onions, finely sliced

Heat the stock until boiling. Pour on to the couscous and leave in a bowl with a cover for 10 minutes until tender. Allow it to cool and stir occasionally.

Sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft, but don’t allow to colour. Add the cumin and coriander and mix well. Cook for a minute or two and then pour onto the couscous and mix well. Save the pistachios and spring onions for the last minute, to garnish.

Dressing

Big bunch parsley

Big bunch coriander

Small bunch tarragon

Small bunch dill

Small bunch mint

100ml olive oil

Salt and pepper

Whizz in a food processor with a few tablespoons of water. When the couscous is at room temperature, mix with the herb dressing. You may not need all of it. Season and garnish with spring onions and pistachios.

Greek-ish salad

Serves 2-4

1 green pepper

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp dried oregano

Juice of 2 lemons

120ml olive oil

120g good black olives (approx 12-15 stoned olives)

100g feta, crumbled

1 cucumber, sliced

1 red onion, very finely sliced

Bunch mint, roughly chopped

Punnet cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Approx 150g mixed leaves

If you have a gas hob, stick the green pepper over a gas flame and char the skin. Alternatively you can rub the skin with a little oil and char under a hot grill. Remove the skin, or be lazy and leave it on. Slice it finely. Toast the cumin seeds in a frying pan for a minute or two until you start to get a good roast smell from them. Allow them to cool slightly.

Whisk together the cumin, oregano, lemon juice and olive oil. Season well and add a pinch of caster sugar if the dressing is too sharp. Toss the salad leaves with a little dressing and layer the other salad ingredients. Drizzle some more dressing on top and serve straight away.

John’s wine match

Try a crisp dry white with these salads. A crisp tangy Greek white (not easy to find, but Oddbins and the Celtic Whiskey Shop have stocks) would be ideal; otherwise a really fresh Chilean Sauvignon or a dry white from Italy would do nicely.

However, the Domaine de Pellehaut (see opposite) is a perennial favourite and perfect summer drinking.

Strawberry and black pepper ice cream

Serves 6-8

600g strawberries

Juice of 1 orange

Juice of 1 lemon

500ml cream

200g caster sugar

Black pepper

Hull the strawberries and chuck them into a food processor and blitz on pulse for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and whizz until the cream thickens a bit. Season with lots of black pepper and freeze in a plastic container.

Brown sugar meringues

Makes 6-8 big ones

6 egg whites

200g Demerara sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat an oven to 110 degrees/gas mark ¼. Line two baking trays with baking parchment, which you should rub with sunflower oil. Whisk the egg whites and when they form soft peaks, add in the sugar in stages and continue to beat until all the sugar is added and the meringue is stiff. Add the vanilla extract.

Spoon big blobs of the meringue on to the paper and bake for about two hours. Let them cool down in the oven. Store in an airtight container and serve with the ice cream.

dkemp@irishtimes.com See also itsa.ie

John’s wine match

Strawberries go brilliantly with red wine; for something completely different try a lightish Bordeaux. Add in the ice cream and you will need a sweet wine: I’ve recommended Italian Moscato before, but would not hesitate to do so again. Otherwise, a Prosecco would be a nice way to end the meal.

Food cooked and styled by Domini Kemp and Peaches Kemp. Tableware from The Wedding Shop, Brown Thomas.