Tahini BBQ lamb chops with fresh plums and spiced plum sauce

Barbecue no longer automatically means burgers and ribs as Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich of Honey & Co's recent book Chasing Smoke amply demonstrates. This is a gorgeous way of grilling and serving lamb chops

"If you can, buy nicely trimmed lamb racks without too much of a fat cap, so that you don’t need to worry about rendering fat off them before dividing into individual chops" they advise. "Be forewarned, though: there will be a fair amount of smoke while cooking these, so they are best grilled outside. We use tahini in a few different versions of BBQ sauce, as the sesame paste lends itself so well to roasted meats, adding a rich nutty note. Here we include anchovies for a savoury touch and pomegranate molasses for sweetness.

The accompanying plum sauce is like a chutney or Chinese plum sauce, with its sweet, sour and spicy flavours. It partners perfectly with these rich BBQ chops, and also works amazingly with a simple roast chicken or duck. The BBQ and plum sauces can either be made shortly before grilling the chops, or up to a couple of days in advance.

A feast for 4–6

2 racks of lamb, divided into 12–14 single chops
100 g / 31⁄2 oz baby red chard (or lamb’s lettuce
4 plums, halved and stones removed)

For the tahini BBQ sauce

150 g / 5 1⁄4 oz tahini paste
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced

2 salted anchovies, chopped

1 tsp pul biber or Aleppo chilli flakes
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses

100 ml / 3 1⁄2 fl oz water, plus more if needed
1 tsp flaky sea salt

For the spiced plum sauce

Use a stick blender or a small food processor to blitz the BBQ sauce ingredients to a smooth, thick paste. You may need to add a little more water to reach the desired custard- like consistency, depending on the variety of tahini. You can use the BBQ sauce straight away or keep it in the fridge for a day or two until needed.

Put the plum wedges, sugar, garlic, spices, bay leaf and pomegranate molasses in a small frying pan, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Cook for 5 minutes until the plums soften and start falling apart, then remove from the heat and stir in the salt and vinegar. You can use this straight away, or cool and store in the fridge for a few days.

When you are ready to cook, brush half of the BBQ sauce over the chops, coating both sides. You will need the rest of the BBQ sauce to brush on the chops as they grill. Place the chops one by one on the rack above a hot BBQ. Grill for 2 minutes, then turn them over and brush with some more sauce. Grill for another 2 minutes before turning them back over and basting again. Repeat the grill-turn-baste process until the chops have cooked for a total of 6 minutes on each side. Remove to a serving platter with the baby chard spread over it.

Pop the plum halves on the BBQ, cut-side down. Grill for a minute or so just to warm a little, then add to the platter with the chops. Serve with the plum sauce on the side.

To cook without a BBQ

Use a lightly oiled, preheated griddle pan on your stove and cook just as you would on the fire. But have your extractor fan on full blast, as it will get very smoky!

What to drink: A robust modern red with a touch of sweetness. A Spanish garnacha would fit the bill. FB

From Chasing Smoke: Cooking over Fire around the Levant. Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich published by Pavilion at £26. Photograph ©Patricia Niven.

Rabbit Richard Olney

Maybe its because I've just been to Provence but one of the nicest books to arrive through my letter box this summer is Alex Jackson's Sardine which is full of recipes he cooks at his London restaurant of the same name. I've been there a couple of times and really loved it.

I picked out this one for two reasons - one, I love rabbit and think it's much underrated and also regard Richard Olney as a bit of an icon. (Why is it some of the greatest writers about French food are American?) I haven't cooked it but I mean to and thought you might enjoy it in the meantime.

Alex writes: "This wonderful recipe is a Richard Olney classic: rabbit slow-cooked in rosé, saffron, cucumbers, tomatoes and basil. Cooked cucumber is somewhat unconventional, but delicious. Breaking down far enough to avoid being watery, the texture is a bit like a soft-braised courgette (zucchini), which would make a nice substitution if cooked cucumber feels like a step too far. Remember that in this case a little saffron goes a long way; the other flavours are delicate and too much spice might overpower. This is a light, summery braise, full of the flavours of Provence."

A leafy salad, nothing with too much crunch, and some bread will be enough, as well as enough additional rosé to keep the whole table happy.

Serves 4

4 rabbit legs or 1 whole rabbit, jointed

Olive oil

1 medium sweet white onion, halved and finely sliced into half moons

1 head garlic, cloves separated but not peeled

4 bay leaves

A small pinch of saffron

1⁄2 bottle (375ml/13fl oz) dry rose

2 small cucumbers (Lebanese if possible)

4 juicy tomatoes

1 bunch of basil, leaves picked

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Season the rabbit well with salt and pepper. Place a wide heavy-based ceramic pan, something with a tight-fitting lid, over a medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Brown the rabbit pieces until a light golden brown all over.

Add the sliced onions, garlic cloves, bay leaves and saffron, followed by the rose. The rose should cover the rabbit pieces; if not, top up with water to barely cover the meat. Cover the pan with the lid and bring to the boil. Just as the liquid in the pan has started to boil, place the pan in the hot oven for around 1 hour 30 minutes, or until the meat is soft and starting to fall off the bone.

After an hour of the cooking time, check whether there is enough juice left in the pan. If too much has evaporated, add a splash of water.

Top, tail and peel the cucumbers, then slice them in half. Scoop out most of the watery seeds, then slice on a slight angle into 1.5-cm/1⁄2-inch thick pieces.

Cut the tomatoes into small, angular bite-size pieces. Season both the cucumbers and tomatoes with salt and, once the rabbit is soft, add them to the stew. Drizzle the whole thing lightly with olive oil. Return the pan to the oven, this time uncovered, for a further 20 minutes, or until the rabbit has caught a little more colour and the vegetables have softened.

Remove the pan from the oven and assess the stew: it should not be too watery, but there must be enough strongly flavoured juices to mop up with bread and salad. If the stew seems a touch thin, cook it for a few more minutes, uncovered, over a low heat. If it seems a bit thick, add a glug more water. Taste the juices, as well as a small piece of rabbit, for seasoning, and if you think it needs it, add salt, a small knob of cold butter or an additional glug of extra virgin olive oil. Roughly tear the basil leaves into the stew, and it’s ready.

What to drink: Alex suggests a Provencal rosé and I'm totally happy with that. Maybe a Bandol rosé

From Sardine: Simple seasonal ProvenÒ«al cooking by Alex Jackson, published by Pavilion Books. Image © Matt Russell.

Spiced, Grilled and Swaddled Chicken Thighs with the Works

A great recipe from US food writer Molly Baz's brilliant new cookbook Cook This Book which is full of clever hacks to help you become, as they describe it on the cover, 'a smarter, faster, more creative cook'

Molly writes: I’ve always dreamt of somehow jerry-rigging a shawarma spit setup in my home kitchen. I mean, how amazing would it be to bring the intoxicating scent of spit-roasted meat (if you're a New Yorker, you know – nothing is more delicious than the smells that waft off a shawarma cart) into your home kitchen and to shave off in real time for your guests when you entertain?! Sadly, in a Brooklyn apartment kitchen, that is far from realistic. So when the craving hits, I take things outdoors and make a version of these spiced and griddled chicken thighs, swaddle them in warmed pittas with piles of herbs and pickled onions, and forget, for a second, just how far I am from realising that dream.

Serves 4

PRODUCE

2 medium red onions

5 garlic cloves

2 lemons

1 bunch mint or corianader

DAIRY

420g plain whole-milk yogurt

MEAT

1kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6 small thighs)

PANTRY

250ml distilled white vinegar

100g sugar

Coarse sea salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for the grill

1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika

1 tablespoon ground cumin

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 pittas

1. Pickle the red onions:

• Slice 2 red onions crosswise into 2mm-thick rings.
• In a small saucepan, heat 250ml white vinegar, 375ml water, 100g sugar and 1 tablespoon salt over medium heat, stirrinq often to dissolve. Once the vinegar mixture comes to a simmer, remove from the heat and immediately add the onions. Let cool to room temperature. The onions can be made up to several days in advance; they only get better with time.

2. Make the garlic yogurt:

• Finely grate 1 garlic clove into a small bowl and stir in 245g plain yogurt. Season with salt and set aside for serving.

3. Marinate the chicken:

• Finely grate 4 garlic cloves into a large bowl.
• Stir in 175g plain yogurt, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 2½ teaspoons salt, 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, 1 tablespoon cumin, ¾ teaspoon cinnamon and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper and whisk well to combine.
• Add 1kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs to the marinade and turn to coat. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes white you prepare a barbecue for medium heat (or heat a cast-iron griddle pan over medium heat. If you're going to marinate them longer (which you totes should; they only improve with time), cover and keep chilled in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours and pull them out 30 minutes before cooking.

4. Back to grilling that chicken:

• Once the barbecue is preheated to medium (you should be able to hold your hand over the grate for about 5 seconds before it gets too hot) lightly oil the grill.
• Remove the chicken from the marinade with tongs, letting any excess drip back into the bowl, and transfer it to the grill. Cook, undisturbed, until it's nicely charred underneath and naturally releases from the grates, 5 to 6 minutes. Pay attention to the hot spots of your barbecue or griddle pan, and move the thighs around accordingly to ensure even browning. Flip the thighs and cook until just cooked through, 4 to 7 minutes longer, (An instant-read thermometer should register 75°C in the thickest part of the thigh.) This will vary depending on how large your chicken thighs are, so keep an eye on temperature more than timing in this case! Let the chicken thighs rest on a plate while you grill the pittas.

5. Warm the pittas and serve:

• Warm the pittas on the grill while the chicken rests, about 1 minute per side.
• Cut a lemon into 4 wedges and pick the leaves from 1 bunch of mint.
• Slice the chicken against the grain into 1cm-thick strips and serve on a big platter alongside the pittas, pickled onions, garlic yogurt, lemon wedges and mint for a build-your-own kinda sitch.

What to drink: You can see there are craft beers - possibly alcohol-free - in the pic and that seems a good way to go. Otherwise I'd go for a juicy gamay or other light red. Or a rosé.

Extracted from Cook this Book by Molly Baz published by Robinson at £26. Photograph ©Taylor Peden and Jan Munk.

Rosemary and basil aubergines in za'atar

One of the books I'm most enjoying at the moment is Mark Diacono's Herb which is perfectly suited to a man who is a great gardener as well as a cook (and the most engaging writer as well as taking all his own photographs. Sickening, really!)

This recipe is for one of my favourite ingredients, aubergines, and is wonderfully simple.

Mark writes: This is my favourite way with aubergines, and one that shows how they take beautifully to so many herbs. The oregano in the za’atar and the rosemary lend flavour to the cooking aubergines, while the fresh basil scattered to serve completes the picture. Adding the rosemary for the last few minutes aromatizes the aubergines;

I know ‘aromatize’ sounds like the sort of unwelcome thing a garage unexpectedly does to your car when you’ve taken it for an MOT, but I promise it is the best word for it. It is as if resinous smoke has been blown through every pore of the aubergine, without a trace of the bitterness that comes with roasting rosemary sprigs until they resemble the skeletons of sparrows’ legs.

Try this with roast lamb, griddled courgettes, couscous and pretty much any cold cuts.

Rosemary and basil aubergines in za'atar

Serves 4

4 aubergines (eggplant), quartered lengthways

4 tbsp olive oil

a few good sprigs of rosemary, broken into 3cm (1in) pieces

4 tbsp za’atar (see below)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

50g (2oz) tahini

1 tbsp yoghurt

juice of 1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

To serve

pomegranate molasses

hot sauce or chilli flakes

handful of Greek basil leaves, or other basil finely shredded

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

Lay the aubergine quarters in a single layer on baking sheets, brush with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven, turn the heat down to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4, and cook for 20–25 minutes until tender and brown.

Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together with 2 tablespoons water; use a little more water if required, to reach a consistency of double (heavy) cream.

Mix the rosemary, za’atar and a heavy grinding of pepper in a bowl. Remove the aubergines from the oven, top with the za’atar mix, drizzle with more oil and return to the oven for 5 minutes.

Drizzle with the tahini dressing, pomegranate molasses, hot sauce or chilli flakes and scatter with basil.

*ZA’ATAR

Depending on your threshold for authenticity, you may be frustrated in searching for the one true herb at the heart of za’atar. Hyssop, wild oregano and savory are among the prime suspects; all create a wonderful version of this classic blend. I usually go with the lightly citrus zing of Mexican oregano in summer, and hyssop or winter savory in the colder months. As with chaat masala, once you start making and using this, you’ll find yourself sprinkling it on everything from oily flatbreads to eggs on toast.

Makes a small jarful

3 tbsp sesame seeds

1½ tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp sumac

2 tbsp dried Mexican oregano, dried marjoram, oregano, savory or hyssop

1 tbsp salt

Lightly toast the sesame seeds in a pan over a medium heat, shuffling them around a bit to ensure they don’t turn too dark. Combine all the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle, as much as anything to encourage the flavours and scents to be released as they mix.

Store in a sealed jar, where it will keep for a few months, losing intensity over time.

What to drink: I'd be marginally inclined to go for a bright, fruity red like a young syrah or grenache with this but a herby Italian white like a verdicchio or a vernaccia or even an orange wine would work too. Or a strong dry rosé. Probably in the natural wine spectrum.

For other pairings with aubergines see here and wine matches for herbs here

Extracted from Herb by Mark Diacono (Quadrille, £26). You can read more about Mark - and indeed buy herbs from him - on his website Otter Farm.