With British Summer Time finally upon us and the Government urging us all to holiday at home to celebrate the Jubilee and the Olympics, it's time to savour the great British seaside.

So says Martin Dorey, bubbly author and presenter of last year's BBC Two series One Man And His Campervan, whose follow-up book, The Camper Van Coast, is packed with seasonal recipes and useful advice.

"I wanted to unlock some of the secrets of the seaside and all the stuff we take for granted," he says. "You really don't have to eat baked beans again and again when you're camping," he says.

Martin eats as locally and as seasonally as possible whenever he's on the road, picking up fresh veg from roadside stalls and making sure his van's stocked up with essentials like rice, couscous and chorizo so he can whip up a delicious, nutritious meal wherever he happens to be.

All the recipes in the book are easy to prepare and designed to be cooked on just two rings, with minimal washing-up.

Try these great-tasting spring recipes in your own camper van or just at home ...

Crab, Watercress, Tomato and New Potato Hash

9 or 10 medium-sized new potatoes (500g)

2 onions
Butter and olive oil, for frying
2 medium tomatoes
Zest of a lemon
1 red chilli, if you fancy it
2 or 3 handfuls watercress
Meat from a medium-sized dressed crab
Sea salt flakes

(Serves 2)

1 Boil the potatoes in salted water for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool before halving or cutting into chunks. Meanwhile, peel and chop the onions.

2 Heat the butter and a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and when foaming, tip in the onions - cook for 10-15 minutes or until softened.

3 Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes, then halve, deseed and finely chop the chilli, if using. Roughly chop the watercress.

4 When the onions are ready, tip them into a bowl and add the tomatoes, lemon zest, chilli, watercress and crabmeat. Toss together.

5 Add another slug of oil to the frying pan and fry the potatoes over a high heat until golden. Tip in all the other ingredients and toss everything together over the heat until hot and sizzling, adding salt to taste.

6 Eat straight from the pan or pile onto two plates.

Pan-Fried Sea Trout with Lemon Parsley Salsa

1 smallish lemon
20 baby plum or cherry tomatoes
Small bunch flat leaf parsley
Olive oil
4 slices air-cured ham
2 skinless sea trout (or salmon) fillets, each about 150g
Butter and oil, for frying

(Serves 2)

1 For the salsa, using a knife, peel the lemon, removing and discarding as much of the pith as possible.

2 Halve or quarter the tomatoes and chop the parsley, discarding the tough stalks.

3 Toss the lemon pieces in a bowl with the tomatoes, parsley leaves, a dash of olive oil and a pinch of salt.

4 Wrap each fish fillet in two slices of ham.

5 Heat a knob of butter and a dash of oil in a frying pan and, when sizzling, fry each fillet for 4-5 minutes on each side until the ham is crisp and the fish is cooked through.

6 Eat with the salsa.

Rhubarb & Custard Pots

5 trimmed stems (400g) rhubarb
4tbsp caster or soft brown sugar
2tbsp ginger cordial
Juice of an orange
150ml double cream
250g thick ready-made custard
4 ginger nut biscuits
(Serves 4)

1 Cut the rhubarb stems in half lengthways, then into short lengths, about 2cms. Tip the pieces into a pan, scatter over the sugar and drizzle with the ginger cordial and orange juice.

2 Mix together, then gently cook, partially covered, for five minutes or until the rhubarb is just tender. You want the pieces to retain their shape.

3 Leave to cool, then remove the rhubarb from the pan, leaving the cooking juices behind.

Bubble the juices over a high heat until reduced, thick and syrupy.

4 When the rhubarb is cold, divide it between four glasses or pots. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, mix with the custard, and add a quarter to each glass or pot.

5 Just before tucking in, drizzle each with rhubarb syrup and crumble a ginger nut biscuit on top.

The Camper Van Coast by Martin Dorey, with recipies by Sarah Randell, published by Saltyard Books, £12.99.