Strawberry & mint Scotch pancakes

Ingredients 100g Self Raising Flour, 50g Caster Sugar, 1 egg, 1 tbsp chopped mint, 5 strawberries, 1/2 cup milk.

Makes: 6 pancakes Preparation: 1 hour

I adore making pancakes. There's something so soothing about the ritualistic rolling of batter in a pan and whether you see these as Scotch pancakes or American style stacks, they are always a favourite breakfast treat in this house. I love to stand at my cooker, ladling slow bubbling circles of fluffy batter laced with different flavours. Speaking of flavour - what could be a more perfect summer breakfast combination than strawberry and mint?

1) Hull the strawberries and slice into quarters, then quarters again. Add to a bowl along with the chopped mint and add the sugar. Stir through and leave to macerate for 20 minutes until a beautiful strawberry syrup begins to seep out.

2) Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and egg into a bowl and whisk into a batter. Leave to puff up as the milk cools, then whisk in the milk and minted strawberry syrup and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.

3) Stir through and ladle a spoon full of batter into a hot pan. Using a spatula, work round the edges, then when bubbles begin to appear in the surface of the pancake batter, flip over.

4) Each side should cook in about 2 minutes, giving you light, fluffy pancakes with juicy strawberry pieces. I served with a little of the leftover strawberries but these work perfectly with my Pimms (strawberry, orange cucumber & mint) jam.

Ginger beer battered avocado

Ingredients  Avocado, plain flour, ginger beer, oil for frying (I used ginger flavoured Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil).

Preparation: 10 minutes

The secret to good tempura batter is to use ice-cold water to make it extra crispy. Another trick is to use carbonated liquid - my beer batter or gin and tonic batter for example is fabulous. Ginger beer gives this the double threat of crispiness and flavour, and oh what flavour - ginger and avocado are wonderful partners and frying this in ginger oil only increased the taste combination.

1) Bring your oil to the boil, yo.

2) Whisk plain flour together with cold ginger beer - the batter should be a thick, stiff consistency in order to stick to the avocado.

3) Slice the avocado in half and use a tablespoon to scoop it from the shell. If the avocado is ripe enough the stone will pop out with a spoon but another good method is to prick it with a knife and pull it out. Slice the avocado into chunks and dunk into the batter - using a skewer to dip will ensure maximum coverage. Deep fry until the batter is golden, then serve immediately.

I served this with yoghurt dip - Rachel's Organic Greek yoghurt, salt and pepper and chopped fresh mint.

Ginger beer battered halloumi

Ingredients Halloumi, plain flour, ginger beer, oil for frying (I used ginger flavoured Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil).

Preparation: 10 minutes

The secret to good tempura batter is to use ice-cold water to make it extra crispy. Another trick is to use carbonated liquid - my beer batter or gin and tonic batter for example is fabulous. Ginger beer gives this the double threat of crispiness and flavour which works wonderfully with the mild, squidgey melting halloumi.

1) Bring your oil to the boil, yo.

2) Whisk plain flour together with cold ginger beer - the batter should be a thick, stiff consistency in order to stick to the halloumi.

3) Cut the halloumi into chunks and dunk in the batter - using a skewer to dip will ensure maximum coverage but be careful not to break the cheese in half! Deep fry until the batter is golden, then serve immediately.

I served this with yoghurt dip - Rachel's Organic Greek yoghurt, salt and pepper and chopped fresh mint.