Nigel Slater’s recipes for salmon, buttermilk ice-cream and rose-sugar shortbread

I am rather hoping to eat outside this weekend. Coronation chicken, to the recipe devised by Rosemary Hume in 1953, might be appropriate, but I would prefer something lighter and more refreshing. I have updated the recipe with a less-rich sauce, swapping some of the mayonnaise for yoghurt and introduced a cool crispness with green grapes and mint. Even changing the chicken for baked salmon, I feel the dish carries something of the spirit of Rosemary’s original recipe.

There is always a temptation to end our lunch with some sort of homegrown fruit dessert, but early May is hardly the best time for that. I am making an old-fashioned milky ice instead, mercifully unsweet, with a gentle citrus note in the background. I’m using buttermilk, which thankfully the major stores are now stocking again (if not, try your nearest whole food shop). The ice-cream will be eaten with buttery shortbread, rolled in pretty, rose-scented sugar.

Salmon with grapes and mango chutney

If perfect tart green grapes prove elusive, use cucumber for its cool crunchy quality. Peel it, remove the seeds and cut it into thick slices. While coriander might be my favourite herb, it is worth bearing in mind that it is not for everyone. If you are making this for a large group of people, it is best to check first or to play safe and use parsley instead. If you feel an accompaniment is necessary, nothing is more appropriate than some steamed rice, left to cool, then dressed lightly with a little rice vinegar and grated lime zest. Serves 6

salmon fillet 750g
olive oil 2 tbsp
bay leaves 2
curry powder 2 tsp, mild or hot
ginger 1 x 25g piece
natural yoghurt 150g
mayonnaise 100g
coriander leaves 3 tbsp, chopped
mint leaves 2 tbsp, chopped
mango chutney 3 tbsp
green grapes 250g

Cook the salmon: preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Put the salmon skin side down on a foil-lined baking dish. Pour over the olive oil, season lightly with salt and the bay leaves, then pull up the edges of the foil and squeeze loosely together to seal. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to rest, still in its foil.

To make the sauce put the curry powder in a mixing bowl, peel the ginger and grate it very finely to a paste (if you have a ginger grater, use that), then add to the curry powder. Stir in the yoghurt, mayonnaise, coriander and mint leaves then add a little salt. Stir in the mango chutney.

Check the seasoning. The sauce should be creamy with a warmth from the curry powder, but fresh tasting from the mint and yoghurt.

Halve the grapes, remove the seeds and add to the sauce. (I genuinely don’t think you need to skin the grapes – life is too short – but by all means do so if you wish.) Break the salmon into large pieces and add the sauce, mixing very gently and taking care not to break the fish up. Spoon on to a serving dish, scattering with a few whole mint and coriander leaves if you wish.

Buttermilk ice-cream

Buttermilk, the liquid that is drained off when cream is churned into butter, has a slight sharpness to it that brings a freshness to ice-cream. It is lighter and less sweet than a custard-based ice. In the past week or two, I have eaten it with poached apricots and with raspberries and will, no doubt, be making it all summer long. Serves 10

crème fraîche 500ml
caster sugar 125g
lemon 1
vanilla extract 2 tsp
buttermilk 500ml

Put the crème fraîche in a medium-sized, nonstick saucepan with the sugar over a moderate heat. Finely grate the lemon zest and add to the crème fraîche, then warm until the sugar is dissolved, stirring regularly.

Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract and set aside to cool. When completely cold, stir in the buttermilk, pour into an ice-cream maker and churn until almost frozen.

Have a plastic freezer box in the deep freeze. When the ice-cream is almost frozen remove the churn from the machine and scrape the mixture into the freezer box. Cover and freeze until firm to the touch.

Take the ice-cream out of the freezer about 15 minutes before you intend to serve it. Place scoops of it into bowls. Serve it with the cubes of sugared shortbread (below).

Rose-sugar shortbread

This makes a sweet, soft-textured shortbread. If you like yours a little crisper, then bake it for a further 5-7 minutes.

48 small pieces, serves 10-12

butter 300g
caster sugar 190g, plus 50g to decorate
plain flour 300g
semolina 150g
crystallised roses 25g, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3½. Put the butter and sugar in the bowl of a food mixer fitted with a flat paddle and cream until soft and creamy. Line the base of a 30cm x 20cm shallow baking tin with baking parchment.

Add the flour and semolina to the butter and sugar and mix briefly. (If you work the dough too much your shortbread will be tough.) Bring the dough together into a ball.

Push the dough into the tin, press it tenderly into the corners with your fingers or a floured spoon, taking care not to compact the mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. The surface should be pale gold and slightly firm. Remove from the oven, then score into 48 small squares with a knife.

Crush the rose petals roughly using a pestle and mortar or the end of a rolling pin, then mix with the extra caster sugar. Alternatively, blitz them to a powder in a food processor.

Break or cut the shortbread into pieces and toss gently with the rose sugar.

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