Taking place in one of London’s most spectacular settings, the Summer Series at Somerset House runs from 10th – 20th July 2014. Three of the artists playing this year share their favourite recipes with DiS...

Francois & The Atlas Mountains

François and The Atlas Mountains have been selected to support Franz Ferdinand. Domino's first French signing, the band bring their tales of romance and fantasy on July 16th.

ROAD FOOD

I always try to avoid the services food, especially in France they are terrible. We often resort to preparing sandwiches at breakfast with the material available at the hotel in the morning. A big classic of ours is the cheese, butter and dried apricot sandwich. The other option is to not eat at all in the van... that is when we wake up late and have to jump directly from the bed to the van. Occasionally a fan is kind enough to bring us some homemade cookies or cupcake. Those go down a storm in the van.


HOME FOOD

When I’m back at home I try to balance out all of the bad snacks we've consumed backstage. I've had no gas at home for two months so I learned to cook with no cooker. I really got into marinated dishes. Here is what I’ve been eating mostly everyday:

Herring marinated in pepper, ginger, lemon and thyme

I love fish but salmon is a very polluted product, and tuna is not sustainable. At the local store that leaves sardines and herring. Trout and cod are good too but less cheap... I chop the herring and place it in a ramekin with a bit of oil, pepper, lots of lemon juice, and fresh thyme and gratted ginger. Cover it with cling film and leave it in the cooler for at least 24 hours.

Beetroot, almond & spinach salad with lemon, garlic and maple syrup dressing

The herring goes well with a rich salad. I like putting grated beetroot on top of spinach or rocket because it makes a good colour combination. You can add almonds on top, to make it crunchy.
 The dressing has to have lemon and garlic, a bit of maple syrup, salt and pepper, all mixed with olive oil of course. It's best to prepare the dressing in a little glass or a jar in advance, to let the garlic infuse in the lemon and oil. The ingredients I use the most in my cooking are thyme, garlic, ginger, almonds and maple syrup (or honey).

Put the salad on one side of the plate, the marinated herring on the other side, and a slice of grilled rye bread somewhere in the middle. And enjoy.

Allow yourself a coffee and square of chocolate for pudding after that


SURF FOOD

When I used to live in Bordeaux I'd often get up early to go surfing in the morning. My surf mate would meet me at home and we would drink this before driving to the coast.

The FRANÇOIS SMOOTHIE: bananas, dates and almonds
-2 ripe bananas
-100g of date paste
-a large cup of organic vanilla soy milk
-a glass of water
-a touch of grinded cinnamon
- a bit of fresh ginger
- two handfuls of almonds

Put it in the blender (use a strong blender, because of the almonds), pour the gloop into pint glasses. Enjoy !

Kyla La Grange - Mock Duck

Kyla La Grange joins Bastille for their date on July 15th. With the arrival of her Cut Your Teeth album, Kyla's music is brighter, bolder, and more colourful then before.

2 x tins of Mock Duck (you can find it in most Chinese supermarkets. if they don't have Mock Duck you can use Mock Abalone instead)
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon of hoi sin sauce
1 heaped tablespoon of sugar
2 tablespoons of pale dry sherry
1 teaspoon of 5 spice powder

Put everything together in a saucepan including the juices from the tins of mock duck and bring to the boil. Let simmer until the sauce is thick and dark (should take around 20 mins). Serve with noodles and stir fry veg!

Lucinda Belle - Lemon Risotto

London based singer-songwriter and world class harpist Lucinda Belle will bring her 'rockabilly gypsy jazz' to the Summer Series supporting The Cat Empire on July 13th.

“The lemon risotto is, I find, always a great starter or accompaniment for a fish dish - I discovered it quite a few years ago and it's a treat for me as I try to avoid carby type dishes. It's refreshing yet filling and always gets a good response in a dinner party.

The pineapple and mint recipe is a Jamie recipe and I'm a real stickler for ensuring I compliment my main course with a dessert. This is so easy and quick to prepare and super tasty/ it's great for summer and it has that nice effect on people having low expectations when they see pineapple and being super surprises when they actually taste it.”


Ingredients:
 2 shallots
1 rib celery
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/3 cups risotto rice, preferably Arborio or Vialone Nano
Approximately 1 quart vegetable stock
1/2 unwaxed lemon, zested and juiced
Needles from 2 small sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus more, for garnish
, 4 tablespoons heavy cream
Good grating black pepper, preferably white 
Maldon or other sea salt, to taste
.

Put the shallots and celery into a mini food processor and blitz until they are finely chopped. Heat half the butter, the oil and the shallot and celery mixture in a wide saucepan, and cook to soften the mixture for about 5 minutes, making sure it doesn't stick. Mix in the rice, stirring to give it a good coating of oil and butter. Meanwhile, heat the stock in another saucepan and keep it at the simmering point.

Put a ladleful of the stock into the rice and keep stirring until the stock is absorbed. Then add another ladleful and stir again. Continue doing this until the rice is al dente. You may not need all of the stock, equally, you may need to add hot water from the kettle.

Mix the lemon zest and the rosemary into the risotto, and in a small bowl beat the egg yolk, lemon juice, Parmesan, cream and pepper.

 When the risotto is ready - when the rice is no longer chalky, but still has some bite - take it off the heat and add the bowl of eggy, lemony mixture, and the remaining butter and salt, to taste. Serve with more Parmesan if you wish, check the seasoning and dive in.”

The Summer Series at Somerset House continues on these dates:

July 14 KELIS + JESS GLYNNE
July 15 BASTILLE + KYLA LA GRANGE
July 16 FRANZ FERDINAND + FRANCOIS & THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS
July 17 CHVRCHES + EMILIE NICHOLAS
July 18 SAM SMITH + MNEK
July 19 CLEAN BANDIT + RAE MORRIS
July 20 LITTLE DRAGON + SÉBASTIEN TELLIER

Tickets at £28.50 (plus booking fee) available online from www.somersethouse.org.uk