Herdwick Lamb in the Mediterranean Style -ish

This was also featured on the Borough Market episode and one of the best things about this dish is the incredible smell it gives off as it gently frazzles on the barbecue. The combination of grilling meat, lemon, garlic and herbs (and hopefully sunshine) is so evocative of everything summer should be. It also happens to taste very good indeed. I should add that the following quantities are very approximate. I'll leave it to your better judgement...

What you'll need:

1 leg, or 1/2 leg depending on numbers, of British lamb boned out (tee hee!) and 'butterflied'. Get your butcher to do this - that's what he's paid for.
Half a red onion, finely sliced.
A good bunch of thyme and/or oregano or marjoram.
I unwaxed lemon, skins and all, sliced.
A few gloves of garlic, crushed.
Ground black pepper.
A very generous slug of ordinary olive oil.
Whatever else tickles your fancy.
NO salt! Not just yet anyway...

What you'll do:

Thoroughly slather your baby sheep leg with all the other ingredients in a big dish and leave it in the fridge for a while. 24 hours is ideal, but half an hour would be fine too.

Light the barbie and let it burn for about half an hour, or until all the big flames have died down and then simply slap the meat on. I don't bother scraping all the bits off first - it's up to you. Now you need to keep an eye on it and watch out for flare-ups.

Have a sniff and enjoy.

After 6-8 minutes flip it over , salt the cooked side and let it cook for another 6 minutes or so until it's done to your liking.

Let it rest somewhere under some tin foil for about 10 minutes. This is essential as it ensures juiciness throughout and lovely tender meat.

Slice thinly and serve with new potatoes (our Jersey Royals were perfect) and a green salad. If you can't be arsed with that, hunks of good bread will do nicely.

Stand back, pour yourself a drink and bask in your culinary glory.

English Asparagus au Naturel (almost)

English asparagus only has a very short season, so my preference is to make the most of its wonderful flavour by giving it the simple treatment, as heard in my debut podcast on Borough Market.

For a starter, I'd go for about 10 to 12 spears each.

First, trim off any woody end bits. If your asparagus is really fresh there shouldn't be any. Simply chuck them into a large pan of rapidly boiling salted water for three to five minutes or until they feel tender to the point of a knife, drain, pat dry with kitchen paper and divide amongst white plates.

In the meantime gently melt some good unsalted butter and add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Splash generously over the asparagus, serve immediately and eat with your fingers - this is essential!

If you want to gild the lily, some very finely chopped tinned anchovies in the lemon butter work very well.

Munch With Mackers

If it's freeze-dried, vacuum-packed or air-lifted from Guatamala then for god's sake keep it away from Henry Mackley. Our Mile End Masterchef is here to tell you all about the delights of shopping and cooking with a clear conscience in his popular podcast series. Taking in some of London's best markets and independent shops, Mackers shows you how you can create delicious food whilst supporting British farmers and helping the environment. And, ethics aside, it all tastes pretty damn good too.

For those of you who've been enjoying the podcast show, here's a blog for all the recipes that appear on it. To listen to the podcasts, simply follow the link on the right, or go to The Mile End Massive's blog. Enjoy!