June brings with it a host of new ingredients to whet our appetite. Chief among them are summer mackerel from the warmer seas, gooseberries and elderflower on the trees, new season potatoes from the ground and broad beans from the stalk. This is a joyful time to be cooking, and even more so to be eating. As I have mentioned many times in this column, the key to great cooking is not so much in the technique, but in the ability to source great produce. While cost is critically important when it comes to the weekly shop, I always try to spend my money on Irish produce when I see it. It supports a large ecosystem and local economy while ultimately offering better value for money and allowing us to cook seasonally without thinking about it. Mackerel and the Irish summer go hand in hand; this is where my passion for great food came from. They hunt in large shoals, chasing sprat into shallower, warmer water. Most people will be familiar with them being caught on feathers, designed to imitate their prey. As they travel in such large shoals, when you hit them, they are plentiful. In my opinion, fresh mackerel caught on a line is one of our best ingredients. They need to be eaten within a day, before the flesh turns soft and discolours. You can ask your fishmonger to fillet them for you to save yourself the hassle of removing any of the smaller bones. And then we have gooseberries, which go surprisingly well with seafood, as do many other sour berries. Here I’ve poached them in a simple pickle using elderflower cordial and vinegar, blending the very best summer ingredients in a very simple dish. The trick to crispy skin? Dust the fish in blended porridge oats before frying and keep some pressure on the skin as the heat increases. This stops the skin from curling.Mark Moriarty's lamb chops with broad beans and new potatoes. Photograph: Harry Weir The second dish today brings together new season potatoes, with their light jacket skin and sweet flavour, and broad beans, popped from their pods and bursting with sweetness. This recipe is as simple as it gets. You really don’t have to try too hard when the produce is top notch. The potatoes are boiled in some salted water and held while the beans get softened in a simple emulsion of butter and water held together with cornflour so it doesn’t split. Some seasoning and fresh mint finish it off and it’s topped with some pink cutlets of lamb. The roasting juices and rendered fat from the lamb make a meaty dressing that ties everything together. Irish cooking is simple, in fact most cooking is, especially in countries where we are fortunate enough to have brilliant producers. It’s people (and chefs!) who make it complicated. Keep it simple this summer and let the flavours do the talking.Recipe: Crispy-skin mackerel with gooseberriesRecipe: Lamb chops with broad beans and new potatoes