With the bank holiday weekend looming up why not try these salmon burgers from my book An Appetite for Ale? I got the idea from browsing the aisles of the Wholefoods market in Denver during the Great American Beer Festival a couple of years ago!

Serves 3-6, depending how hungry you are

450g skinless filleted salmon, cut into chunks
80g young, unrinded goats cheese
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
80g Sunblush* or other roasted dried tomatoes in oil, finely chopped
A handful of  fresh basil leaves
40g natural dried breadcrumbs
Salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of paprika
Oil for frying or coating the burgers

Chop the salmon finely or pulse 4 or 5 times in a food processor. Break up the goats cheese with a fork and add it to the salmon along with the chopped spring onions and Sunblush tomatoes. Mix well or pulse again (keeping some texture - you don’t want to reduce the mixture to a paste) Finely chop the basil and add along with the breadcrumbs. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of paprika, mix again and set the mixture aside for half an hour for the breadcrumbs to soften and absorb the moisture. Divide and pat out into six burgers. Fry in a little oil or rub both sides with oil and barbecue over an indirect heat for about 6-7 minutes turning once or twice during the cooking process. I quite like them on their own with salad and a salsa but you could put them in a bap or bun with lime-flavoured mayo, sliced cucumber and shredded lettuce

* I like to use the new generation of chilled sundried tomatoes which are sweeter and less pungent than the traditional  Italian ones in jars

What to drink:  A Blonde or golden ale or lager pairs well with these burgers or you could drink a Chardonnay.

Photograph by Vanessa Courtier