Caesar salad

Tara is in New York, shopping and partying for a few days with Fern, so i only have to share the kitchen with Marni.  Which means for a few days, i can continue to with some Nigella style cooking.  Tara was complaining that i just created a load of mess in the kitchen for her to clean up, and that it was taking up too much time, so i agreed to a temporary halt.

I went straight out and bought a chicken, for the chicken tagliatelle before and this caesar salad.  The caesar salad was pretty good, although i'm unconvinced as to her recipe for the sauce - seems to be some olive oil, a drop of worcestershire sauce and an essentially raw egg.  I've never made caesar salad, but this sauce wasn't anywhere near the ones i've had in restaurants.  I added chicken to mine (the best bit!) and used traditional croutons instead of Nigella's suggested diced potatoes, enough for one.

- Make some croutons by coating some bread in olive oil, a pinch of salt and putting under the grill until toasted, then dice.
- Chop up a cos lettuce and put in a bowl, coating with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a pinch of salt, some pepper, 5 drops worcestershire sauce, and a squeeze of lemon.
- Boil an egg for 1 minute exactly then break over the lettuce and toss.
- Add the croutons and lots of grated parmesan.

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Chestnut and pancetta salad

I had this as a simple lunch for 1 while tara was taking marni out to meet laura for brunch at kenwood house (rather surprisingly, they do a great brunch according to tara).  My local sainsburys in Camden only stocks packet pancetta, diced into small pieces, which had to do, but i imagine with decent pancetta, the salad would be transformed.  I though Nigella was a bit heavy on the chestnuts compared to the pancetta, so i've reduced the quantity.  She also says the chestnuts break up as you cook them, but the vacuum packed ones i used didn't, so i'd also recommend halving or quartering the chestnuts.

- Tear up 1 1/2 frissee or escarole (i hadn't heard of it either!) lettuces into a salad bowl.
- Fry 200g diced pancetta in 2 teaspoons olive oil for about 4 mins, until parts of it are crisp and golden.
- Add 200g quartered chestnuts and toss them in the pancetta fat.
- After 1-2 mins, remove with a slotted spoon and add to the lettuce.
- Mix 1 teaspoon dijon mustard with 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar, then add this to 2 tablespoons olive oil, and add any bacony fat left in the pan.
- Pour this over the salad and toss.

A great unusual salad and a reminder to use pancetta more often!

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Beetroot salad

I bought some beetroot the other day, and we are off to france for xmas in a couple of days (assuming the eurostar starts up again!) so i needed to use them up.  This salad was simple, delicious and nutritious - i would highly recommend it - and i don't really like beetroot.  Just tara's kind of food as well - she loved it!

- Process good handfuls of mint and coriander together.
- Add the grating blade to the processor and grate 3-4 peeled beetroots.
- Toss these in a bowl with the herbs and the juice of a lemon.
- Top with greek yoghurt or creme fraiche and toasted mustard seeds.

Grilled pepper salad

This is the last time i'm going to make this - much as i like peppers, the pain of removing all that skin is not worth it!  This is just yellow and red peppers as Nigella never uses green peppers in anything and tara agrees with her apparently.

- Chargrill 4 red and 4 yellow peppers under the grill until slightly blackened.
- Peel them over a bowl to catch the pepper juice.  (Alex said putting them in bag to steam first helps get the skin off).
- Cut the peppers into strips and put in a shallow bowl.
- In a pan, heat 5 tablespoons olive oil and add 2 cloves minced garlic.
- After 1-2 mins, add 3 finely chopped anchovy fillets heating until they've melted into the oil.
- Take off the heat, add juice 1/2 lemon and pour over the peppers.
- Leave to macerate in the fridge until ready to eat.
- Should be enough for about 6 people.



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Chicory salad

The chicory salad was very simple and went well with the onion tart.

- Separate 5-6 heads of chicory into a bowl.

- Whisk 1 tablespoon sherry, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, some salt and 2 tablespoons creme fraiche in a bowl.

- Continue to whisk and slowly add 6 tablespoons olive oil, and add to the chicory

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Aubergine with Pomegranate

As ever, i have to make something special for tara when i'm having meat.  And of course, i have to eat meat more often these days because there's loads of meat recipes in nigella's book!  a good excuse, i know.

- Slice 2 aubergine's lengthways about 1/2 cm thick.
- If using a griddle (which i did) brush with olive oil, and if a frying pan, heat some olive oil in a pan.
- Fry on a high heat for a few minutes either side until the outside is crispy and inside soft.
- Remove and place on some kitchen towels.
- Halve a pomegranate and remove most of the seeds by hitting the outside with a wooden spoon.
- Arrange the aubergines on a plate and squeeze the juice of the remaining pomegranates in the shell over them.
- Sprinkle with salt, handful chopped mint and the pomegranate seeds.

Mmmm aubergine, the king of vegetables...

Couscous salad

A week without internet access and it looks like i haven't been making much progress.  In fact the opposite is true - a week at west wittering, and the main thing i did was cook!  Although not many of nigella's recipes require a bbq on the beach, i was still able to tick off 9 recipes.  Now all i have to is write them up.  Here goes:

Couscous salad was easy to do but a bit disappointing - not sure i need a nigella recipe to tell me to add tomatoes, red onion and cucumber to couscous - and the end result was okay.

- Put 200g couscous in a bowl with 1 teaspoon of salt, add 250ml boiling water, and leave covered for 15 mins.
- Fluff up with a fork, and add 6 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and pepper.
- Blanch, peel, de-seed and dice 6 good tomatoes and add this to the coucous, along with 1 small chopped red onion.
- Add 1 diced cucumber and a chopped bunch of parsley and salt/vinegar to taste.

As you can see, pretty unexciting.  It went well though with the dover sole and king prawns that my brother bbq'ed on the main beach at west wittering.

Cambodian Hot and Sour Beef Salad

There were some lovely crisp flavours in this recipe, and what is great about Cambodian and Vietnamese cooking is the raw-ness of the cooking and the ingredients.  I don't think though that grilling the beef, complements the other flavours - next time i would definitely sear the beef in a pan.

- Cook 225g fillet steak - Nigella says grill but I say sear in a hot pan.
- However you cook it, thinly slice the beef and keep the juices from the cooking and slicing..
- In a bowl, mix 1 tablespoon fish sauce, the juice of 1 lime, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1-2 red/green chillies and 1 finely sliced shallot.
- Add the beef juices to the sauce and pour over some rocket and lettuce leaves.
- Add the thinly sliced beef.

I think i slightly overdid my beef on the grill, which i think is also part of the problem with grilling.  Overall however, a simple tasty way of enjoying beef.

Pea, Mint and Avocado Salad

A deliciously simple salad that i think i'm going to be using a lot more from here on in.

- Make a dressing by combining 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, a pinch of salt, and a handful of finely chopped mint.
- Cook 150-200g of fresh peas in salted boiling water for 2-3 mins so they retain some crunch.
- Add peas to dressing and allow to marinade for 1-24 hours.
- When ready, add to a bowl of salad leaves, some chicory, and an avocado.
- Add more olive oil and chopped mint to taste.

I actually used rocket, spinach and watercress for the salad leaves. If you, like me, can't find chicory (M & S - "what's chicory?") i suggest ruby chard leaves which they do have.