Dazz Switalla Flavour Secrets No.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz

The summer sun has made its presence felt – and it's been hot enough to ripen strawberries I have hanging from my plastic tunnel house walls, which are
the producing tasty red berries already.

There is something about harvesting enough strawberries for a decent bowlful that I haven't quite managed yet.
But with eight new strawberry plants just in, the chances have increased.
Strawberries are a delight to small children and birds, so if you're going to plant them, a dozen plants may only be enough for a small household. As usual, the cost of strawberries soars at Christmas time, so get planting now.
Speaking of planting, Another Green World's rustic seedling stall is open on the corner of Selwyn and Williams streets behind the fire station on Cameron Rd, mostly selling selected herbs and vegetables that were microgreens but they kept on growing.
Back to the strawberries. As a youngster I can remember devouring them at Christmas time like a special treat with ice cream sprinklings of icing sugar and runny cream. Homemade shortbread was always on the dessert table; and being an aspiring chef combining the two seemed obvious. This week, I have added a lemon curd that adds a zingy binder to a flavoursome gluten-free shortbread I have perfected.

Strawberry and lemon curd shortbread sandwich

Serves 6
2 punnets strawberries

Gluten-free shortbread:
Ingredients
230g icing sugar
200g ground almonds
175g Edmonds gluten-free custard powder
200g fine Polenta
300g butter (half-melted Strawberry and lemon curd shortbread sandwich)

Method
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, then mix in the half-melted butter and press into a baking tray. If the mixture seems too dry, add a few drops of water. Score into squares before baking in oven for about 25 minutes until golden and firm to the touch. Cool in the tin, then place on a wire rack.

Lemon curd:
Ingredients
80g butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
¾ cup lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Method:
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about two minutes. Slowly add eggs and the yolks and beat for one minute. Mix in the lemon juice; the mixture will look curdled, but it will smooth out as it cooks.
In a medium-size heavy-base saucepan, cook the mixture over a low heat until it looks smooth. Increase the heat slightly and cook stirring constantly on the bottom of the pot (a rubber scrapper works well). The mixture will thicken in 12-15 minutes. Don't let the mixture boil. Keep stirring, removing from the heat occasionally also helps. When it leaves a path after a spoon is pulled through the mixture transfer the curd to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until required.

Assembly:
Dust shortbread squares with icing sugar. Spoon on big glob of lemon curd top with strawberry and another slab of shortbread. And, there's your summer sandwich. Optional extras include serving it with runny cream and, or, ice cream.