Can you believe summer is already on top of us along with some volcanic ash and the arrival of another one of our nation’s biggest boasts, the red fruit season. Scotland has been for many a long year a champion in the world of berry growing. This is due to our cool moisture filled climate and rich fertile land. Now anybody who‘s eaten a home grown strawberry will tell you there really is no substitute and especially not from the mass producing supermarkets selling cheaper foreign fruits. They often look very nice, plump and juicy but more often are a disappointment and not to mention lacking in taste and goodness. So now that I’ve given the Scottish berry a big plug, I’m going to use a couple of my favourites in my next dish.

Pavlova with Vanilla Bean Cream & Macerated Scottish Berries

Serves 8

Ingredients

6 egg whites
350g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons cornflour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
600mls double cream
2 vanilla beans
Macerated Berries
1 punnet Scottish Strawberries hulled & quartered
1 punnet Scottish Raspberries hulled & quartered
Mix the berries together thoroughly with 80g of caster sugar and leave to sit in the fridge for a couple of hours, giving them the odd stir.

1. Preheat oven to 140 deg C/275/gas mark1
Lightly grease and line a large baking tray with non stick parchment paper
2. Whisk egg whites and salt using an electric mixer or hand whisk until firm peaks are formed.
Gently whisk in the sugar (pour sugar in a steady slow stream) to form a thick and glossy meringue.Smoothly blend together cornflour and lemon juice and whisk into the meringue and keep on whisking for a couple of minutes.
3. Tip out meringue on to your lightly greased tray and make a large round of about an inch and a half in thickness with a palate knife. This can be bit rough around the edges.
4. Bake for 45 minutes and leave to cool in the oven with the door left slightly ajar
5. When cool, very gently slide the pavlova base onto a large plate
6. Now, into a clean mixing bowl pour in the cream. Split the vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and add seeds to the bowl.
Whisk cream to firm peaks and evenly spread all over the surface of the meringue almost to the edge. Spoon on the macerated berries, this time almost to the edge of the cream. Add a spritely sprig of mint and dust with a little icing sugar and serve to your adoring guests　 　

　




Here is a great dish that I love and often serve when entertaining guests.The lingering flavours of the sage, smoked bacon and lemon melt beautifully into the sizzling sweet scallop.

Grilled hand dived scallops with Smoked Bacon, Sage and Lemon

Ingredients
Serves 4

16 prepared ½ shell hand dived scallops (You will have to pre-order your scallops from your fish monger and explain that you want them to be cleaned but with the meat and roe still attached to the shell)
 About an egg cup of melted butter 
 Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 thick rashers of smoked local bacon cooked and cut into ½ cm strips
 Chopped fresh sage. You will need a small pinch per scallop
Lemon wedges to garnish, for squeezing over your scallops

1. Pre-heat grill to high (clean your grill pan first!)
2. Place all of your scallops on to baking tray, brush scallop meats with melted butter and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
3. Grill for about 2 minutes
4. Take scallops out of the grill and place a couple strips of bacon and a small pinch of sage onto each scallop and return to the grill for 1-2 minutes.
5. Place scallops on to a large serving dish along with your lemon wedges and serve immediately