This main-course salad is based on what I gather is a classic Vietnamese sauce called Nước chấm. It’s a combination of lime juice, a bit of sugar, and fish sauce. It’s sharp, salty and addictive. The recipe combines slices of lightly-cooked steak with a salad of shredded vegetables. You can also make it without the steak, in which case I’d recommend adding some toasted peanuts. You can also make this more hearty still by serving it alongside some cooked rice, or rice noodles.
Vietnamese Beef Salad with Nước chấm
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 red chilli peppers (or to taste)
½ cup fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime zest
⅓ cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
2 tablespoons dark muscovado sugar
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
600g rump steak or ¾ cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
½ cucumber
6 carrots, peeled and shredded
½ medium white cabbage, finely shredded
8 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 bunch coriander, coarsely chopped
roasted peanuts (if you’re not using steak)
an additional lime half, for garnish (optional)
Preparation
De-seed and finely chop one chilli pepper. In a small bowl, combine the chopped chilli, fish sauce, lime zest, lime juice, brown sugar, ginger and garlic.
If you’re using the steak, then pour 1/2 of the mixture into a sealable plastic bag and add the steak, if you’re using it. Seal, and leave to marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes (or refrigerate for up to 24 hours). Let meat come to room temperature before cooking if necessary.
De-seed the second chilli pepper and slice it finely. Slice the cucumber into thin matchsticks. Toss the sliced chilli, sliced cucumber, shredded carrot and cabbage, spring onions and almost all the coriander together to mix. Keep a little coriander back to garnish the top of the salad.
If you’re not using the steak, simply add the peanuts, pour the dressing over the vegetables, toss, garnish with a little more coriander, and serve.
If you’re using the steak, toss the salad with the remaining dressing and then spread the salad out onto a serving platter and set aside.
When you are ready to eat heat a cast iron pan (or other sturdy frying pan) to very hot and add the steak. Cook for 75 seconds on each side, unless you don’t like your meat rare, in which case cook it for perhaps 2 minutes a side, or however long you favour cooking steak. I like steak very rare . . .
Remove the meat from the pan and let it sit for 3-5 minutes on a cutting board. Then slice the steak very thinly, and place the slices over the top of the salad. Scatter the sliced red chiles and reserved coriander over the top and serve with an additional sliced lime on the side, in case anyone wants more lime.
Recipe adapted from Melissa Clark, New York Times Cooking.
Here, in honour of Canalside’s surprise Jerusalem artichoke harvest, is a simple recipe. Jerusalem artichokes originated in North America; they were one of the many new foods that reached Europe in the aftermath of Columbus’s 1492 voyage to the Americas. Their name has nothing to do with the Middle-Eastern city. Rather, it reflects the fact that Jerusalem artichokes are botanically related to the sunflower, or girasole in Italian. ‘Jerusalem’ is an approximation of the Italian name. The ‘artichoke’ bit reflects the vague similarity in taste between globe artichokes and our little tubers. In French the name . . . , well, that’s probably enough history.
Jerusalem Artichokes with Cream and Herbs
Serves 4 as a side dish.
Ingredients
500g Jerusalem artichokes
4 shallots, peeled
2 cloves of garlic
150ml crème fraîche
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 lemon
150g medium-hard cheese, grated. You could use Emmental, gruyère, Jarlsberg, or Gouda, for instance. Cheddar would work too.
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, or about 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
a handful of parsley, chopped
Preparation
Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Bring a large pan of water to the boil.
Once the water is boiling drop in the Jerusalem artichokes and boil gently for 15 minutes, and drain. This allegedly reduces the tuber’s gas-inducing tendencies.
While the Jerusalem artichokes are cooking cut the shallots lengthwise into boat-shaped pieces. Finely chop the garlic.
Cut the drained Jerusalem artichokes into chunks.
Combine everything aside from the parsley and tip into an ovenproof dish.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until the Jerusalem artichokes are tender. The top should turn an appetising golden colour but keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn.
Remove from the oven and top with the chopped parsley and an additional grind or two of pepper.
Recipe adapted from http://www.jarlsberg.com/uk/recipes/jerusalem-atichokes-au-gratin
This is a great way to use up odds and ends of fresh veg, and leftovers too. You can use more or less whatever you fancy from the list, though I do think some kind of onion is essential. As the egg is poured straight into the roasting dish full of hot veg, you don’t need to fry this frittata at all, but it helps to have a heavy ceramic or cast-iron dish, which retains the heat well. And the eggs should be at room temperature, not cold from the fridge.
Oven-roasted roots frittata
Ingredients
About 600g mixed winter veg, such as onions, carrots, squash or pumpkin, parsnip, celeriac, beetroot, jerusalem artichokes, black spanish radish, potatoes
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
3 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
7 large or 8 medium eggs
A handful of mixed herbs, such as curly parsley, chives and thyme, finely chopped
About 20g Parmesan, hard goat’s cheese or other well-flavoured hard cheese, grated
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5. Meanwhile, prepare your chosen veg: peel shallots or onions and quarter or thickly slice; peel carrots and cut into 5mm slices; peel squash or pumpkin, deseed and cut into 2–3cm cubes; peel parsnip, celeriac and beetroot and cut into 1–2cm cubes; cut potatoes into 1–2cm cubes.
Put all the veg into an ovenproof dish, about 23cm square. Add the garlic, oil and plenty of salt and pepper and toss well. Roast for about 40 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the veg are all tender and starting to caramelise in places.
Beat the eggs together with the chopped herbs and some more salt and pepper. Take the dish from the oven, pour the egg evenly over the veg and scatter over the grated cheese. Return to the oven for 10–15 minutes until the egg is all set and the top is starting to colour. If your oven has a grill, you can use that to accelerate the browning of the top.
Leave to cool slightly, then slide the frittata out on to a plate or board. Serve warm or cold. Perfect lunchbox fare…
Thanks to River Cottage
Celeriac rémoulade, shredded celery-root salad, is a familiar sight in French delis, alongside shredded carrot salad. It’s very easy to make and surprisingly elegant. The fresh, wood-sy taste of the celeriac provides a good contrast to richer flavours, so this goes particularly well with pork, and also lentils.
The only trick is to make sure you use a good mayonnaise. If you have a stick (immersion) blender, then it couldn’t be easier to make some yourself.
Celeriac remoulade
Serves 2-3 as a side dish.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons good mayonnaise
1 tablespoon good mustard. I like to use a grainy variety
3 tablespoons double cream, crème fraîche, or wholemilk yoghurt
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 medium celeriac (about 450g)
juice of half a lemon—and perhaps the other half as well
1-2 tablespoons capers, optional
1-2 tablespoons gherkins, chopped, optional
salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation
Mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, cream or yoghurt, and parsley.
Peel the celeriac, either with a knife or a robust vegetable peeler. Shred it into shreds. The size is up to you—aim for anything between a matchstick and the coarse side of a standard box grater. Toss them with the lemon juice so that they don’t discolour.
Toss with the mayonnaise dressing. Add the capers and/or gherkins, if you wish, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Check to see if you think it would benefit from a bit more lemon juice, or a bit more mustard.
It’s better if you leave it for about 30 minutes, but it’s pretty good just as it is.
Recipe adapted from Nigel Slater.
Warm herb-coated salmon in a winter salad of potatoes, beetroots and sharp greens, with hard-cooked eggs. The fish is cooked in a way that makes it extra-moist.
The recipe has a lot of separate steps but it’s very easy and you can prepare almost everything in advance. The result is delicious and beautiful, so it’s a fine choice if you’re entertaining. The only thing you need to do after your guests arrive is put the fish in the oven 30 minutes before you’d like to eat.
Serve with lots of good bread and a bottle of white wine for a luxurious weekend lunch. When I made it last week we had poached pears for pudding, which rounded things off nicely.
Wild Salmon Salad with Beetroot, Potato, Egg and Mustard Vinaigrette
Serves 4.
A US cup measure is 8 fluid ounces.
Ingredients
For the Salad
500g beetroots, more or less
6 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon, zest grated first
500g potatoes, more or less
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
3 extra-large eggs
½ cup shallots, minced
2 tablespoons dill, minced
1 tablespoon tarragon, minced
¼ cup parsley, minced
1kg salmon fillet in one piece. The recipe calls for wild salmon and if you can find that it is indeed tasty.
200g salad leaves, or more if you like a very leafy salad. Rocket and other sharp-tasting greens are best. In the summer you can use dandelion.
For the Dijon Vinaigrette
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¾ cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200C.
For the vinaigrette
Whisk the egg yolk in a small bowl with the mustard, vinegar and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste. You might not use it all; the extra can be kept in the fridge for at least a week.
For the beetroot
Toss the beetroot with 2 tablespoons of oil and some salt and pepper. Place in a roasting tin with a splash of water, cover with foil, and roast until tender then poked with a fork. How long this takes will depend on the size of your beetroot. Small ones will cook in about 30 minutes; very large ones could take over an hour. When they’re done, let them cool, and then peel them, and cut into bite-sized chunks. Season with 1 tablespoon of oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and some salt and pepper.
For the potatoes
While the beets are roasting, prepare the potatoes: cut the potatoes into 3cm chunks (approximately), or leave whole if they are tiny. Toss in a roasting tin with one tablespoon oil, the thyme, and some more salt and pepper. Cover with foil and roast for about 30 minutes, or until tender. Leave to cool and then mix them with some salt and 2 tablespoons of the Dijon mustard vinaigrette.
For the eggs
Bring a small pan of water to the boil and carefully lower the eggs into it. Turn the heat to low and simmer for exactly 9 minutes. Remove the eggs and plunge them into cold water to prevent their cooking any further. When they are cool, cut them in half. Season them with a little salt and pepper.
For the salmon
Mix the lemon zest with the shallots, herbs and 2 tablespoons of oil in a small bowl.
Put the fish skin-side down on an oven-proof rack set over a baking tray or roasting tin. Pat a little of the herb mixture onto the non-skin side of the fish, turn over, and pat the remainder onto the skin side. Season with salt and pepper. You can now leave the fish in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it. Just take it out an hour before you’d like to eat, so that it comes to room temperature.
When you are ready to cook the fish: Preheat the oven to 120C and boil a kettle of water. Pour the water into a shallow pan in the bottom of the oven, to create a humid environment in your oven. This will make the fish moist and custard-like. Put the fish, on its rack and tray, into the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. It’s done when it starts to separate into flakes. The centre should be slightly translucent. Try not to overcook it.
To assemble the salad
Scatter the salad leaves over a large serving platter and drizzle with ¼ cup of vinaigrette. Nestle the beetroot and potatoes amongst the greens. Arrange the eggs on top. You can do all this in advance, so that all remains to be done is add the warm salmon.
Once the salmon is cooked, use your hands to pull the warm salmon into chunks over the salad. Drizzle with another ¼ cup of vinaigrette, season with a squeeze of lemon juice, and serve. The additional vinaigrette can be served at the table in case anyone wants more.
Recipe adapted from Susanne Goin, Sunday Suppers at Luques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table (2005).
An Ottolenghi take on the Brussels sprout: the sprouts are roasted and then mixed with citrus and a sticky, anise-flavoured syrup. The result is totally unexpected and very delicious.
Pomelo is a large citrus fruit that looks like an outsized grapefruit. It sometimes comes shrink-wrapped into its own little mesh bag; you can usually get them at Richard Clarke’s greengrocer on Warwick Street, in Leamington, and at most supermarkets. If you can’t find one, though, you can use two grapefruits. Just reduce the lemon juice a little, as grapefruits are sourer than pomelos.
Yotam points out that you can add the leftover syrup to a fruit salad.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomelo and Star Anise
Serves 4.
Ingredients
100g caster sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
5 star anise
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pomelo
600g Brussels sprouts, trimmed
250g shallots, peeled
5 tablespoons olive oil
10g coriander leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation
Place the sugar, cinnamon and star anise in a small saucepan with 100ml of water. Bring to a light simmer and cook for one minute, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add ONE TABLESPOON of lemon juice. Set aside to cool.
Peel the pomelo and divide it into segments. Release the flesh from the surrounding membrane around each segment and then break into bite-sized pieces. Make sure you remove all the bitter white pith. Place the pieces in a bowl and when the syrup has cooled a little, pour it over the pieces of pomelo. Let it marinate for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.
Preheat the oven to 220C.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the sprouts and shallots and boil for 2 minutes. Drain and run some cold water over them to stop them cooking any further. Pat them dry.
Cut each sprout in half, lengthwise, and halve or quarter the shallots so that they are the same size as the sprouts.
Place the sprouts and shallots on a baking tray with 3 TABLESPOONS of olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and some black pepper. Toss them to mix, spread them out into a single layer and then roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the sprouts are golden brown but still retain some bite. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, pick the coriander leaves off their stems, but don’t chop them up.
Remove the star anise and cinnamon sticks from the syrup, and then strain out the pomelo. DON’T DISCARD THE SYRUP.
When you’re ready to serve, put the shallots, sprouts, pomelo and coriander leaves into a serving bowl. Mix in the remaining olive oil, the remaining lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of the syrup. Mix and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add more syrup if you like. Then serve.
(Recipe adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi, Plenty More (2014).)
This is currently my favourite salad. It’s based on a recipe from Anna Jones, which I keep simplifying. The full Anna-Jones version is very good, too, of course. You can find it on the link below.
Carrot and Cashew Salad
Serves about 1 if that 1 person is me. It’s supposed to serve 4.
Ingredients
200g carrots
salt, to taste
some fresh coconut—the amount is very flexible and the coconut can be omitted altogether. Try a quarter of a whole coconut, or about half of one of those little pots of pre-chopped coconut you can get in the supermarket.
2 tablespoons vegetable or coconut oil
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 inch of fresh ginger (optional), peeled and grated
10 curry leaves
1 big handful of cashew nuts, roughly chopped
1 big handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
juice of half a lemon
Preparation
Peel the carrots and shred them coarsely. Put them in a nice bowl and toss them with some salt. Try about a quarter teaspoon to begin with.
If you are using the coconut, you need to prepare it. Extract the coconut from the shell, if necessary, or open the small plastic packet you bought in the shop. Peel off the dark brown inner husk, and either grate the coconut into your bowl on the same coarse grater you used for the carrots, or peel it into thin strips using a vegetable peeler, or just chop it into little chunks. In any case, mix it in with the carrots.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When it is hot add the mustard seeds. They will start to pop, and shoot out all over the top of your cooker. At that point add the grated ginger (if you’re using it) and stir for a minute. Then add the curry leaves, stir for a few seconds until the curry leaves frizzle up a little. Turn off the heat, but leave the pan on the burner. Add the cashews and stir them a little, so that the cashews start to colour a little in the still-warm pan. Pour the whole thing over the carrots and toss vigorously.
Mix in the chopped coriander. Squeeze the lemon juice over the salad, and toss it all together. See if you need more salt, or more lemon juice. This makes a very agreeable lunch.
(Recipe adapted from Anna Jones – https://www.theguardian.com/…/raw-vegetable-salad-recipes-a…)
Carrot and Cashew Salad
Serves about 1 if that 1 person is me. It’s supposed to serve 4.
Ingredients
200g carrots
salt, to taste
some fresh coconut—the amount is very flexible and the coconut can be omitted altogether. Try a quarter of a whole coconut, or about half of one of those little pots of pre-chopped coconut you can get in the supermarket.
2 tablespoons vegetable or coconut oil
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 inch of fresh ginger (optional), peeled and grated
10 curry leaves
1 big handful of cashew nuts, roughly chopped
1 big handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
juice of half a lemon
Preparation
Peel the carrots and shred them coarsely. Put them in a nice bowl and toss them with some salt. Try about a quarter teaspoon to begin with.
If you are using the coconut, you need to prepare it. Extract the coconut from the shell, if necessary, or open the small plastic packet you bought in the shop. Peel off the dark brown inner husk, and either grate the coconut into your bowl on the same coarse grater you used for the carrots, or peel it into thin strips using a vegetable peeler, or just chop it into little chunks. In any case, mix it in with the carrots.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When it is hot add the mustard seeds. They will start to pop, and shoot out all over the top of your cooker. At that point add the grated ginger (if you’re using it) and stir for a minute. Then add the curry leaves, stir for a few seconds until the curry leaves frizzle up a little. Turn off the heat, but leave the pan on the burner. Add the cashews and stir them a little, so that the cashews start to colour a little in the still-warm pan. Pour the whole thing over the carrots and toss vigorously.
Mix in the chopped coriander. Squeeze the lemon juice over the salad, and toss it all together. See if you need more salt, or more lemon juice. This makes a very agreeable lunch.
(Recipe adapted from Anna Jones.)
Layers of sliced potatoes, onion, and salmon baked with egg, cream and fresh dill make a memorable meal. Serve with a green salad.
This is a classic Swedish recipe, invented to use up leftover salmon. I don’t think we suffer from this problem, but in fact you can use any sort of salmon you like—uncooked fresh salmon, leftover cooked salmon, smoked salmon, probably even tinned salmon—or a mixture. You can think of this as a Swedish lasagne, with potatoes instead of pasta.
Laxpudding (Salmon and Potato Pudding)
Serves 4-6.
Ingredients
For the Pudding
1kg potatoes
2 onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
450g salmon, cut into bite-sized pieces (you can use a mixture of different types of salmon).
50g fresh dill, finely chopped
3 eggs
300ml milk
120ml double or whipping cream
½ tsp salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste (if you have white pepper here is a good opportunity to use it).
Decorations for the Top
100g butter (optional)
additional sprigs of fresh dill
thin slices of lemon
Preparation
Put the potatoes in cold water and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer gently until they are just tender. Drain. When they are cool enough to handle peel them (unless you like the peel), and slice them thin. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
Heat the oven to 200C and butter an ovenproof dish. Something on the order of 25cm x 35cm is about right but there’s no need to be precise.
Sauté the onion in the butter until it softens, without browning. Set aside.
Mix the salmon with the dill and set aside as well.
Whisk the eggs, milk, cream, salt and pepper together.
Now assemble the pudding: put a third of the potatoes at the bottom of the pan. Spread half the onions over the potatoes, and top these with half the salmon and dill. Make another potato layer. Top this with the remaining onions, and then the remaining salmon and dill. Finish with a final layer of potatoes.
Pour the eggy mixture over the salmon pudding.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the pudding feels firm and the crust is nicely browned.
To serve, first decide if you wish to use the additional butter drizzle. If you do—and it’s traditional—melt the butter in a small pan until it starts to turn a hazelnut brown colour and smells nutty and tempting. Pour this over the baked pudding. Garnish artfully with sprigs of dill and slices of lemon. Serve cut into squares.
(Recipe courtesy of Ulrika Andersson, Swedish Collegium of Advanced Studies, Uppsala.)
Did you make any of the roasted curry powder from the recipe on 28 July? Here’s another opportunity to use it. Shreds of spiced beetroot mix with the flavours of curry leaf and coconut. Serve with rice and a peppery little relish for an uplifting dinner. If you have some of the curry powder to hand the whole thing comes together in well under half an hour. Making the curry powder will add about 15 minutes.
In case you didn’t make any roasted curry powder I’ve repeated the recipe.
You can get curry leaves from the Oriental Store on the High Street, or at Sandhu’s on Russell Terrace—just ask them and they’ll fetch some from the back of the shop. They keep for a long time in the freezer.
Beetroot Curry with Roasted Curry Powder
Serves 2
Ingredients
For the Roasted Curry Powder
1 tablespoon basmati rice (brown or white)
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
For the Beetroot
400g beetroot, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
a spring of curry leaves
1 red onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 fresh green chilli
2 teaspoons roasted curry powder
1 tomato, sliced
150-200ml coconut milk
Preparation
For the Roasted Curry Powder: Heat a dry frying pan over medium heat. Add the rice and toast it for several minutes, until it starts to turn brown (or browner, if it’s already brown). Add the other spices and toast for 3 to 5 minutes, until they start to darken but are not getting burnt. Turn the heat down if necessary and stir regularly.
Remove from the heat and let it cool. Once it’s cool you need to grind the mix. You can either use a spice grinder, if you possess such a thing, or ask someone else to grind it for you in a mortar and pestle. The latter is hard work, which is why I’d recommend asking someone else to do it.
Put the ground spice mixture in a jar and label it so you don’t forget what it is.
For the Beetroot: Put the beetroot in a bowl and toss them with the fenugreek, turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Set them aside.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. When it’s hot add the curry leaves and stir until they start to sizzle. Then add the onion, garlic and fresh chilli and fry for 5 minutes, until the onion is starting to brown.
Add the curry powder, stir, and cook for a few minutes, to allow the flavours to emerge with the heat.
Add the beetroot and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Mix in the tomato, and fry for another minute or so. Then add 150ml of coconut milk.
Turn the heat down a bit, and cook for about 10 minutes, until the beetroot is tender. If it looks a bit dry, you can add some more coconut milk. Check to see if it needs more salt, and serve, with rice and THIS refreshing relish:
Green Relish
Ingredients
1 cucumber, shredded on the coarse side of a grater
2 big handfuls of lettuce, OR fresh coriander, OR spinach OR anything else along these lines, shredded
3 spring onions OR half a red onion, thinly sliced
juice of 1 lime
salt, to taste
chilli flakes, to taste
Preparation
Put the shredded cucumber in a colander and set it to one side until you’re ready to eat so that some of the cucumber’s vast amount of moisture can drain away.
Mix the other ingredients in a bowl. When you’re ready to eat mix the cucumber into the bowl, check for seasoning, and serve.
(Recipe adapted from Rosie Birkett, Guardian 22 July 2017.)