*This post is part of a sponsored collaboration with Fenwick*
It now really feels like summer is edging that little bit closer, and while I’m not one to rush through the seasons – spring is actually my favourite time of year – I’m already getting excited about those balmy days and nights, and the prospect of getting people together for small outdoor gatherings, when the jugs of cocktails and chilled bottles of wine will be free-flowing and delicious food will be shared with equally delicious laughter and much-needed catch ups.
A couple of weeks ago, having a barbecue outside with my immediate family was the next best thing, a cause for celebration in itself, and it’s been incredible fun teaming up with Fenwick to create a beautiful outdoor table set up and barbecue recipe that I hope will come in useful for your own family and, when possible, social plans as we start to spend more time outside in the elements.
Seafood is always such a treat, and having moved to the coast after years of dreaming about it, I’m paying my excellent local fishmonger regular visits. The recipe below is a celebratory barbecued seafood platter, mixing up sweet scallops, langoustines and squid, all cooked over coal on the Weber Kettle barbecue, and elevated by the addictively-good tarragon and charred chilli butter which had us all fighting over the bowl when we shared it. The whole lot is served with smoky new potatoes and caramelised fennel, whose anise is nicely mirrored by the tarragon butter. We drank Fenwick Sparkling English wine, a balanced, sprightly blend of pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay – basically champagne in all but name, and ate simply with a green salad, peppery radishes (also great for dipping in the butter) and crusty bread for mopping up. You can find the full recipe below.
Creating a beautiful, magical ambiance is a way of really making the most of these precious meals we share together outside, and it’s always nice to make a bit of an effort. After admiring Bordallo Pinheiro’s ceramics since I first came across them on a work trip to Lisbon, it was wonderful to finally get to use them for this set up, and I absolutely love the quality of the pieces and the fact they’re inspired by ingredients. The cabbage plates are iconic and pairing them with the small cabbage bowls which we used as finger bowls for the seafood was really effective. The watermelon platter and salad bowl are both striking and really big, which make them ideal vessels for entertaining, and perfectly paired with the Nordal black salad servers and cutlery, and I also used the beautiful pea pod platter and cabbage dish for the radishes and bread. The cabbage creamer jug was perfect filled with soft spring flowers – I opted for tulips and white ranunculus, and wore a stunning floral silk dress by See By Chloe, which was kindly also provided by Fenwick.
For glassware, I dressed the table with pretty pink Fleur de Lys tumblers for water, with Nude tulip champagne glasses for the fizz, and elegant Borough white wine glasses, whose stems are incredibly delicate. I filled the gold-rimmed Chloe glass jug with water and fresh mint, but I’ve got my eye on this next time for cocktails. I’ve shared some more hints and tips below on how to create a perfect al fresco setting, and you can shop the full Al Fresco Entertaining edit here.
My Top Tips for a perfect Al Fresco Set Up
* use throws and cushions to soften the hard edges of garden furniture and create comfort and potential warmth for if the weather turns
* Invest in a lantern for soft lighting as the evening progresses
* Woven baskets add texture and are really useful for storing extra cushions and blankets in case people want to lounge or spread out in the garden
Barbecued seafood platter (squid, scallops, prawns) with smoky new potatoes and charred chilli, lemon and tarragon butter
400g squid
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Juice of half a lemon
White pepper
Sea salt
A dash of Worcester sauce
8 scallops on the half shell
8 raw langoustines (fine to use frozen, just make sure they’re fully defrosted)
Two handfuls of samphire, to serve
Smoky new potatoes and fennel
1 bay leaf
A slice of lemon
1 fennel bulb, hard core removed and cut into wedges
400g new potatoes (preferably Jersey Royals)
For the charred chilli, lemon and tarragon butter
½ shallot, finely chopped and soaked in lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp tarragon leaves, picked
1 garlic clove, grated
120g softened salted butter
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 red chilli
½ lemon
Start by preparing your seafood. Prep your cleaned squid by cutting the body open, wiping out any goop with kitchen roll, and lightly scoring the underside in the crosshatch, then cutting it into rectangles. Cut the tentacles in half. Put in a bowl with two crushed cloves of garlic and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon, season with salt, white pepper and a splash of Worcester sauce, and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least half an hour. Split your langoustines down the middle with a sharp knife and remove any gunk and the digestive tract with some kitchen roll. Season with sea salt. Give your scallops a clean with some damp kitchen roll to remove any grit and season with sea salt and white pepper. Keep all the seafood in the fridge until you’re about thirty minutes off cooking it.
Poach your potatoes and fennel. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the bay leaf and lemon. Poach the fennel for four minutes, then remove to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add the potatoes to the water and boil for 10-12 minutes, until tender when a knife is inserted. Remove to a plate and allow to cool.
To make the butter, find an ovenproof bowl and slide in the shallots. Pour over the lemon juice and season with sea salt. Meanwhile finely chop your tarragon and grate the garlic and add those in. Scoop in the butter and pour over the oil, smooshing it all together until well combined.
Take your seafood out of the fridge to come up to room temperature while you light your barbecue and, once lit, bank the coals on one side, allowing them to cook down until glowing white – about twenty minutes. Heat your oven to 50 degrees, and place the butter bowl on the bottom shelf, to melt.
Put your potatoes and fennel into a foil or enamel tray and coat with a little rapeseed oil, then place on the barbecue grate and cook, turning with tongs, until caramelised. At the same time, char your chilli until blackened in places and soft. To infuse everything with an extra hit of smoke flavour, you can throw in some soaked wood chips (I like applewood) on top of the coals and pull the lid down for five minutes. Remove and finely chop the chilli, seeds and all, then stir into the melted butter. Remove the potato tray and brush with some of the butter, then keep warm in the oven while you cook your seafood. Arrange the samphire on your serving platter in anticipation.
Put your lemon cut side down on the grate, at the edge of the coals and arrange the langoustines and scallops on the grate over the coals, shell side down, and cook, brushing and basting repeatedly with the butter, until the flesh is opaque and cooked through – about four to five minutes. Remove them to a warm plate or push to the edge of the barbecue away from the coals while you cook your squid. Barbecue the squid on the grate for four to five minutes, until curled, charred in spots and cooked through.
Arrange the potatoes and fennel on the samphire and top with the seafood. Give everything a bit more butter and squeeze over the caramelised lemon, then serve on the table for everyone to help themselves. I love to serve this with hunks of crusty bread and the extra butter, for dipping.