Meringue nest pie

This is basically the Delia Smith recipe for meringue nests, but I have just made a single meringue base instead of lots of little nests. A nest for a big bird, perhaps.

The joy of meringue is that, apart from being delicious, you can make it a week in advance if you’re short of time. But put the filling in no more than half an hour before you are ready to eat, or the meringue will go soggy. We had this with good friends, and they were more than happy for me (and the children) to assemble it at the dinner table, after a wonderfully long Sunday lunch.

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites
• 110g caster sugar

Set the oven to 150C.

Place the egg whites in a large bowl and whisk until the egg whites reach the stiff-peak stage. Next, whisk the sugar in on fast speed, a little at a time (about a tablespoon), until you have a stiff and glossy mixture.

Spoon the mixture on to a prepared baking sheet then hollow out the centre to create your nest.

Put it on the centre shelf of the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 140C. Leave it for 30 minutes.

After that, turn the oven off and leave the meringue to dry out in the warmth of the oven until it is completely cold (usually about 4 hours, or overnight).

Whipped cream, strawberries and raspberries make a perfect filling.

Mediterranean sea bass

This is a lovely, colourful fish recipe for a summer’s evening.  I got my fishmonger to fillet the fish, and it does make for a more pleasurable experience. Spitting out bones is such a bore.

I always think of this as a rather sophisticated fish dish, but it is very easy to put together, and so pretty.

Ingredients

• 2 sea bass, cleaned and filletted
• 1 small bulb of fennel, sliced
• a handful of cherry tomatoes
• 1 lemon
• 5 cloves of garlic
• a handful of black olives
• 1 glass of white wine
• a sprinkling of basil leaves

Pre-heat the oven to 200C.

Slice the fennel, and sprinkle it in the bottom of a heat-proof dish. Lay the fish over the fennel. Arrange the tomatoes, lemon slices, garlic and olives around the fish. Pour in the white wine, and sprinkle the basil over the fish.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Do not allow to dry out – sometimes I put a sheet of tin-foil over the dish for the first ten minutes of cooking.

I serve with brown rice.

SERVES 2.