Ireland's Blue Book Blog

Melon Salad

This is very simple and ideal for a hot summer day. Chill all the ingredients. The salad looks brilliant when served in a large glass bowl in the centre of the table. I am using it here as a dessert but adding some Parma ham turns it into a great starter. 

Ingredients:

1 honeydew melon 

1 small watermelon 

1 Galia melon 

3 tablespoons honey 

200ml orange juice 

Fresh mint 

200 g natural yoghurt 

Zest of 1 lime 

Icing sugar to taste 

Method:

Cut the melon flesh into whatever shapes you like.

Mix the honey and orange juice together and finely chop the mint. 

Combine the yoghurt, lime zest and icing sugar, checking for sweetness. 

Toss the melon and mint in the orange dressing and serve with a dollop of lime yoghurt.

Roast hake wrapped in Parma ham scented with lemon & herbs and parmesan butter

Serves 4

Tip from L'Ecrivain: This dish goes well with a Sauvignon Blanc or a Chenin Blanc. However, for red wine lovers a Pinot Noir would be a good match too!

Ingredients:

For the hake                                                                                                                                   

640 g fillet of hake, skinned, pin bones removed                                                                              

1 tablespoon salt                      

1 lemon

1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley chopped                                                                                                

1 tablespoon coriander chopped

½ clove of garlic peeled & crushed

4 slices of Parma ham

salt & freshly ground white pepper        

25 g butter

1 tablespoon olive oil                            

For the parmesan butter:                                                                                                               

100g broad beans, podded

50g butter, softened        

20g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

juice of ½ lemon                                                                                                                               

½ clove of garlic, peeled & crushed

1 tomato, skinned, deseeded & chopped

1 small bunch of mixed herbs (flat leaf parsley, chervil, chives), chopped                                   

pinch of freshly ground black pepper & salt           

Method:  

For the hake:                                                                                                                                   

Roast hake wrapped in Parma ham scented with lemon & herbs.                                                

Bring a medium-sized saucepan of water to the boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the lemon.

Cover the saucepan and simmer the lemon for 1 hour to make a lemon confit.                           

Cool the lemon, remove the skin and pith, and chop the flesh. Mix the chopped lemon with the parsley, coriander and garlic.

Lay a strip of clingfilm 65 cm x 25 cm on a work surface.

Cover with a layer of slightly overlapping Parma ham. Lay the hake across the Parma ham and make a 1 cm incision left to right across its middle.

Rub the lemon and herb mix into this and season with salt and pepper.

Roll up the hake and Parma ham, securing with the clingfilm and tying both ends as tightly as possible.

Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Remove the clingfilm and cut into four equal cylindrical portions.

Heat an ovenproof frying pan.

Heat the butter and olive oil in the pan and sear the ham-wrapped hake for 1 minute each side, then transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 10 minutes.

For the Parmesan butter:

Blanch the beans in a medium-sized saucepan of boiling salted water for 1–2 minutes.

Drain the beans and skin them, using a small, sharp knife.

Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl.

To serve:

Place a portion of cooked hake in the centre of each warm plate and top with a teaspoon of softened Parmesan butter.