Sunday, August 05, 2007

Seriously simple summer berry brulées

I'm sitting at the desk with an excellent glass of Coteaux de Giennois from Domaine de Villargeau, enjoying a touch of peace and quiet following the departure of my 19-month old nephew who has been staying for the weekend. Food at the weekend was speedy and simple, the focus being on trips to the swings and the zoo. I made some especially tasty burgers last night for a friend, which we enjoyed in the garden (first time since April - hoorah for the sunshine). Rather annoyingly, they were so good that we had devoured them before I remembered to take a photo. There are two spares in the fridge though so perhaps I'll cook and photograph them tomorrow night.

Anyway, a spot of pudding was needed on Friday night. I had some berries lurking about - raspberries and blackberries. Summer fruits have been disappointing this year due to the weather. I have yet to taste any really sweet, flavoursome berries from this year's crop. The weather has hardly been suitable. (There is an exception though. My sister planted some strawberry plants earlier in the year - we tasted the only four berries produced at lunch today. They were extremely delicious - somewhat pricey though when you consider the cost per plant versus the yield!).

The berries lurking in the kitchen were lacking sweetness but were reasonably flavoursome. I didn't really fancy eating them on their own. Instead, I just popped them in ramekins, dolloped over some yoghurt mixed with a teaspoon of really good lemon curd, sprinkled them with demarara sugar and popped them under a hot grill (though a blow-torch would have done a better job).

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