Ackee Stir Fry

For the past couple of years, whenever I go into the supermarket near my work, I’ve enjoyed looking at the Caribbean section.   There are various sauces, dried salt fish and tins of ackee.  It’s the ackee that has most intrigued me – I just couldn’t imagine what it tasted like.   A vegetable that looked like little yellow brains and that could poison you if you ate it fresh and didn’t cook it well enough.   It even sounded a bit scary.  Now, you may wonder why I have just looked at it for two years and haven’t actually bought any to try until now.   Indeed, it is clearly a sign that I need to be a bit more adventurous.    The push to actually buy the tin only came when this month’s My Kitchen My World went to Jamaica.   Now, I could have made jerk chicken or Jamaican pasties and both those would have been very tasty, but I decided to use the challenge to try the ackee instead.  As I’d never used it before and didn’t know what it tasted like, I decided to turn for inspiration to Levi Roots and Caribbean Food Made Easy.  He describes it as, ‘one of the delicacies of Jamaica and a very special food’ and the way it is used here and the colours are supposed to represent the colours of the Jamaican flag.  Could I get more Jamaican than that?   Well, only if I’d chosen to serve it with salt fish!  Actually, I suspect that this is not the way ackee is usually served in Jamaica, but is just a recipe made up for the book.   I could be wrong, so please correct me if so.

Anyway, what did I think of the ackee?   Well, the texture was very soft, a bit like lumps of soft scrambled egg and the taste was also very delicate.   It took on the flavours of the lime, the soy sauce and the coriander without having much of its own flavour.   Overall, I’d say it’s not a vegetable I could love, but not one I could dislike either,  I’d happily eat it again but whether I liked the dish or not would probably depend on what it was served with and the flavours of the other ingredients.   So, do you eat ackee?   And if so, how is it prepared?

I am sending this to My Kitchen My World and also Cookbook Sundays.

Ingredients – Serves 2

280g tin ackee

1 red pepper, sliced

1 spring onion, sliced

Small piece root ginger, sliced into thin batons

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 chilli pepper, sliced

1 tbsp soy sauce

Juice of 1/2 lime

Small handful of peanuts, raw or dry roasted

1 tbsp chopped coriander (cilantro)

How to make Ackee Stir Fry

1. Heat a little oil in a wok and add the ginger, garlic, chilli and red pepper.  Stir fry for a couple of minutes.

2.  Add the soy sauce.   Stir then add the drained and rinsed ackee.  Be very careful with the ackee so that it doesn’t fall apart.  Turn the heat down and cover the wok for about 4 minutes so the ackee is heated through.

3. Drizzle with the lime juice, top with the chopped coriander and chopped peanuts.

4. Serve with rice.

 

Inspired by Masterchef: Chorizo Potato Risotto with Sea Bass

My favourite food programme is back on: Masterchef!   Last year when watching it I started a series of posts called Inspired by Masterchef and so this year I’m hoping to do the same.   Each week, after watching Masterchef, I will try to make something inspired by the show, to post by the end of the following week.   As each year gets harder and the processes and ingredients used get more complex for just an ordinary cook at home, I know that this is going to be a real challenge for me, especially as I have only just over a week to get the right ingredients and make each recipe.  Some of the recipes used on the show do get posted on the BBC food website, but that would be just too easy, I want to be a bit more creative.   Therefore, some of the recipes I post will attempt to recreate the recipe exactly, but based on my memory, whereas others will be a looser interpretation.

Well now, on to my first recipe.  I’d heard of potato risottos before and loved the idea of making a risotto with finely diced potato rather than rice.  So of course, when one of the contestants decided to make a potato, chive, chorizo and orange risotto with sea bream, I liked the sound of it.   Well, except for the orange juice, and neither did John and Greg.  Of course, for my recipe, out went the orange juice, and in came some lemon juice as a replacement, which I’m sure would have been much more popular among the Masterchef judges, if only the contestant hadn’t tried to be so ‘interesting’.

It’s important to use waxy rather than floury potatoes for this, as floury ones will disintegrate in the stock as they are in such small pieces.  I know when you look at my picture, the pieces of potato don’t look that small, but they did look small to me when I was chopping them up!    Maybe next time I will attempt a bit more refinement and dice the potato more finely.   That’s the only change I’ll make.   The chorizo and pimenton give the dish a lovely slightly smoky flavour and the taste really soaks into the pieces of potato.   The lemon juice is very subtle and keeps the whole dish light.    So overall, I’m very pleased with my first dish of the series and looking forward to my next one.  In fact, I’m so pleased I’m planning to cook this for quests, not just me and my husband!

If anyone else is as big a Masterchef fan as me and would like to join me in this challenge, let me know and I’ll provide a link to your recipe as well.

Ingredients – serves 2

2 sea bass fillets

5 small waxy potatoes (depending on size, enough for 2 people)

15g chives

1 clove garlic, crushed

100g fresh chorizo sausage, diced

A little chicken stock (approx 200ml)

1/2 tsp pimenton (sweet smoked paprika)

Black pepper

Juice of 1 lemon

How to make Chorizo Potato Risotto with Sea Bass

1. Dice the potatoes into small rectangles.   Heat a little oil in a saucepan.   Add the chorizo.   Cook for about three minutes, stirring occasionally.  Then add the garlic and cook for another minute.

2. Add the potatoes to the saucepan.   Stir to cover in all the oil from the chorizo.   Sprinkle with the pimenton.

3. Add the stock, so the potatoes are just covered, but not swimming in the liquid.   Bring to the boil then lower to a simmer.    Cover the pan.

4. Check the pan every so often and stir.    If it does start to get too dry, before it is fully cooked, add a tiny dash of water from the kettle.   It will take about 20 minutes for the potato to be fully cooked, soak up the flavours and become a little soft.  During this stage, cook the sea bass.    I like to fry in a little oil so the skin goes crispy, but you could grill or steam it.

5. Just before serving, stir through the chives, season with black pepper and add the lemon juice.

6. Serve the sea bass on top of the risotto.

 

Leek Quiche

Finally, I found a way to use that last leek.   I love pastry but hardly ever make it as my husband isn’t keen on it.    As he was out for the evening, it was a perfect opportunity to enjoy leek and pastry together.    I decided I would make a healthy quiche.  I used margarine instead of butter in the pastry, and used wholemeal as well as white flour.   Well, that was not just to be healthy.   I find wholemeal flour gives the pastry a lighter crumblier texture.    I also decided to used skimmed milk and no cream for the filling.  However, if you look at the list of ingredients you’ll see there is one thing that I cannot claim is healthy – yes, 80g of mature cheddar cheese.    Well, this quiche is supposed to serve 2, so that is only 40g of cheese each.   I could tell you how much fat that contains, but I won’t.   I’ll just tell myself that the lack of cream itself is enough to make it healthier than the average quiche.   You could even serve this with potatoes and then you could make it serve four, although they would be rather small portions.   I have to admit, I ate it just with salad, and enjoyed it so much.   Even without the cream it still tasted deliciously creamy and so I helped myself to a second helping, and, later on, a third helping, which was perhaps a little too much, but I was going out the next day, and I didn’t want it to just sit in the fridge and then go to waste.

As this uses up my last leek and all the other ingredients are things most people already have in the cupboard/fridge, I am linking it to Frugal Fridays at Fuss Free Flavours.  I am also linking to Lets Cook with Leftovers at Simply Food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients – Serves 2

Ingredients for Pastry

50g wholemeal flour

60g white flour

45g margarine or butter

Pinch of thyme

Pinch of Salt

Ingredients for the Filling

1 leek, sliced

6 mushrooms, sliced

80g mature cheddar cheese

80ml skimmed milk

1 egg

1/2 tbsp flour

Black pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

How to Make Leek Quiche

1. Make the pastry.   Mix the white and wholemeal flour with the salt and thyme.   Cut the margarine into chunks and rub it into the flour.  Add a drop of ice-cold water – just enough to bring the pastry together.  Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for half an hour.

2. Lightly butter an oven proof dish.  I used a rectangular dish 18cm by 12cm.

3. Roll out the pastry until it is about 1/2cm thick.   Line the dish with the pastry.   Use a fork to prick the pastry well. Place in the oven at about 200c for 20 minutes.

4. Heat a little oil in a pan.   Fry the leeks until soft then add the mushrooms, herbs and black pepper.   Cook a little more till they are also soft but haven’t shrunk too much.   Take off the heat and leave to cool slightly.

5. Beat the egg and add the milk.   Beat well together.  Mix the leek and mushroom mixture into the egg.  Grate the cheese and mix in the flour.   Add the cheese mix to the egg and mix all the filling ingredients together.

6. Fill the pastry case with the filling and return to the oven for about 30 minutes.  Use a skewer to check if the filling is ready.

7. When the quiche is cooked, take it out of the oven and leave to stand for about 10 minutes before serving with salad.

 

Leek Fritters

Throughout 2011 I kept hearing about Ottolenghi, perhaps first on Masterchef and then he just kept cropping up everywhere.   People were raving about his books and his dishes.   Whenever I read one of his recipes online I wanted to try it.  Now, I’m not a vegetarian, and neither is he, but I’m quite happy not to eat meat, and without consciously trying to, I have a few meat-free days most weeks.   What I like about Ottolenghi is that he loves making vegetables interesting and you don’t feel that anything is missing.   So, I told my husband that I wanted Plenty for Christmas.   I don’t think he was quite as enthusiastic as I was, especially as he called me from Waterstones saying, was I really sure I wanted  Plenty?   What about a rather nice book on Spanish food by I can’t remember who now or what about Ottolenghi’s other book that had some meat dishes in as well?   Hmmm   I didn’t think this was how Christmas presents were supposed to work.   Anyway, I think he realised this too, as I did get it as part of my Christmas present.   So, when Dom’s Random Recipe Challenge for January was to cook from a new book, this was the book I picked up.   And of course, my lovely husband was even less delighted when the recipe I picked had leeks as the main ingredient.    Well, I only needed two leeks, but if you’ve read my previous post about leek soup, you’ll know that I bought two bags by mistake.  Anyway, as I write this, there is only one leek left in the fridge, so I think I’ve done pretty well.   But, back to the fritters, they were very very good.   I think whipping up the egg white before mixing it in helps to keep them light in texture.   The sauce was also great, but is quite garlicy so it’s probably best to use  a very small clove and not to make it before spending too much time with other people who haven’t had any.    Despite the leeks, my lovely husband liked these too but he did compare them to onion bhajis and asked if I could make them just with onion next time.

I am of course sending this to Dom at Belleau Kitchen for Random Recipes.   I am also sending it to Couscous and Consciousness for Cookbook Sundays.

Ingredients for Fritters – Makes about 6-8

2 leeks, sliced

1 onion, finely diced

1 chilli pepper, sliced

Handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

70g self-raising flour

1/2 tbsp baking powder

80ml milk

30g unsalted butter, melted

Sauce Ingredients

50ml Greek yoghurt

50ml sour cream

1 small garlic clove, crushed

1 tbsp lemon juice

1.5 tbsp olive oil

Pinch salt

Handful of coriander leaves (cilantro)

How to Make Leek Fritters

1. Make the sauce first.   Mix all the ingredients in a food processor.    Put in the fridge until needed.

2. Cook the leeks and onions in a little olive oil for about 15 minutes until soft.   Take off the heat and put in a bowl.  Add the chilli, herbs and spices.

3. With your hands separate most of the egg white from the egg.   Whisk the egg white till it starts to form peaks and then gently mix it into the leeks.

4. In another bowl make a batter with the egg yolk, flour, baking powder, milk and melted butter.  Then gently mix this into the leek mixture.

5. Heat some oil in a frying pan and when hot, add spoonfuls of the leek mixture.   Cook for about 2 minutes on each side.    In a large frying pan you’ll need to make this number of fritters in two batches.   Serve with the sauce on the side.

 

Mushroom Paté

One thing I’m missing since becoming pregnant is paté.   Now, I never used to eat a lot of paté, just a little every few months for a change.   The only times I’ve eaten a lot have been in Spain, at a restaurant I’ve been going to since I was five years old.   I used to go every year with my parents and we stayed in an apartment belonging to an aunt of my mum.   After going there for so many years, my parents finally bought their own apartment in the same block a few years ago and at the restaurant opposite, The OK, they are still serving the same delicious homemade  liver paté with warm bread as a starter.    The paté and bread is one of my favourite parts of the meal and as I only go there every few years now, I was really disappointed that I couldn’t eat any when I went in November.

This set me thinking about why not make my own?   Not with liver, obviously, and so I started to read around on the internet about ways of making mushroom paté.   Fully inspired I then set about creating my own recipe.    I decided to keep it fairly simple for a first attempt, but it could easily be adapted and the flavour intensified by using wild mushrooms, a stronger cheese or different herbs and spices.   I was very happy with this one though and loved the creamy herby mushroom flavour.   I don’t know much about preserving food and so I’m not sure how long the butter on top keeps the pate fresh for, but if I was making it again and planning to eat it within a few days I wouldn’t bother with this step.   The paté below the butter stayed very soft, more like a dip in texture and so it’s not the type of paté you can slice into.   For this reason, the cling film in the bottom of the ramekins is probably also unnecessary.  I used it, thinking I’d need it to pull the pate out, to be able to serve it on a plate but because of the texture, it would have probably collapsed if I’d tried this.   Well, I seem to be just criticising my own recipe here, but actually these adaptations would not alter the taste and would just make it a bit quicker and easier next time.

I enjoyed about half of the paté on toast and the rest, I decided would make a great sauce for steak and so I zapped a ramekin in the microwave and served the pate/sauce on top of the steak.   This may sound a bit weird but I was actually being inspired by The OK restaurant again.   My husband had a steak rossini one night, which is steak, topped with a piece of fried foie gras, with a madeira sauce.   My Rossini inspired steak was worlds away from that, but very very nice.

Mushroom Paté Ingredients

Approx 300g mushrooms

1/2 onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, finely diced

Pinch nutmeg

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp dried rosemary

40g cream cheese

40g butter + a little extra for cooking step 1

How to make Mushroom Paté

1. Put a little butter and olive oil in a saucepan and add the mushrooms, onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, nutmeg and black pepper.  Cook over a gentle heat for about 20 minutes, stir occasionally.   The mushrooms will give out lots of liquid at first but by the end of the cooking time the pan should be fairly dry.  Take off the heat and leave to cool.

2. Put the mushroom mixture and cream cheese in a food processor.   Blend until smooth.

3. Line 2 or three ramekins with cling film.   Spoon the pate into the ramekins and flatten the top with a spoon.

4. Melt the butter in the microwave or in a small pan.   Let cool slightly then pour on top of the paté to seal it in.    When the butter has fully cooled and hardened, put the ramekins in the fridge to store until ready to serve.

 

Leek and Bacon Soup

I had a slight online shopping disaster recently and ended up with 4 times as many leeks as I wanted.   Now, you may not think this is a disaster and indeed, if I was cooking just for myself, rather than for my reluctant leek eating husband as well, I would also not be too worried.   It would just give me an excuse to dig out a few more leek recipes.    After all, it is about a year since I last bought some so there should be plenty of things to make.   I considered disguising them as onions, after all, they’re all from the same family and said lovely husband loves onions, spring onions and garlic.   He just has something against leeks!  Unfortunately, after I danced around, laughing about my shopping mistake, showing off the two bags to him, he now knows exactly how many leeks I have hiding in the fridge and is wise to any tricks I might try to use to get him to eat them.  Therefore I resorted to serving them up for lunch when a couple of more leek-friendly visitors were coming around.   That way, three people were happy, and well, you can’t make everyone happy all the time, can you?

Having read the last paragraph, I’m sure you won’t be surprised that the main ingredient in this soup was leek, and if you like leeks, you will like it, although it’s so simple it hardly needs a recipe.   And if you like bacon, and a little salty fatty kick to your healthy vegetable packed soup, then the fried crispy bacon pieces really finish off the soup well.  I know bacon’s not really healthy, but you could tell yourself it’s just a garnish, and to add a bit of flavour, and you will be eating so many leeks in this that you don’t need to worry about it at all.  In fact, I would even say you need the bacon to create a balanced meal!

I am sending this to Deb at Kahakai kitchen for Souper Sundays.  I am also sending it to Helen at Fuss Free Flavours for Frugal Food Fridays as it uses leftovers.

Ingredients – Serves 4

3 leeks

1 large potato, peeled and cubed

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Black Pepper

1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder

4 rashers bacon

How to Make Leek and Bacon Soup

1. Put a little olive oil in a large saucepan. Roughly chop the leeks and add to the pan along with the garlic.  When the leeks are soft, add the potato.   Sprinkle on the bouillon powder.    Cover with boiling water from the kettle.   Bring back to the boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

2. Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry until crispy.    When done, drain on some kitchen paper.

3. When the potato is cooked, take off the heat and blend with a stick blender (or you could put it into a blender in batches).   Taste and season if necessary.   I added lots of black pepper.

4. Serve the soup, topped with the bacon pieces, alongside warm bread or toast

 

Chicken Biryani and Spinach Raita

In my opinion, you can never have too much homemade Indian food.  I normally choose to make dishes with lots of sauce, which explains why I’ve never made a biryani before.  Whenever I’m out in a restaurant or ordering a takeaway I consider it, but somehow the lure of a saucy dish wins each time.   However, this month biryani won.    I was paired with Poornima from Tasty Treats for Taste and Create.   Now, as Poornima is from India but living in the US at the moment, she has loads of delicious saucy Indian curries on her blog, as well as other dishes too, so it wasn’t that I couldn’t find a dish with lots of sauce, no, I just fancied a change.  After all, it is the new year.

Poornima suggested serving the biryani with a raita and as I had lots of spinach in the fridge I decided to make a spinach one.    I haven’t made many raitas before so I searched for one and settled on this one from My Kitchen Experiments.   It was easy to make and was delicious alongside the biryani.   The only thing I would change would be to make more of it, as it provided the perfect cool saucy accompaniment to the biryani.   Next time I would also add a little less chilli powder as the biryani turned out to be incredibly spicy (I think the chillies I used were hotter than expected) and less chilli powder would have made it more cooling.  Even so, I’m delighted to have discovered a new love of biryani and raita and am already excited about trying out some more new raita recipes.

Click here to see Poornima’s original recipe for the Biryani.

I am also sending this to Michelle at Food, Football and a Baby as she is hosting this month’s Sweet Heat Chilli Challenge and the theme is Indian Food.

Ingredients for Biryani

Step 1

200g chicken, diced

2tbsp yoghurt

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Small knob ginger, grated

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

Salt

Step 2

100g basmati rice

5 peppercorns

1/2 cinnamon stick

3 cloves

2 cardamom pods

1 star anise

2 bay leaves

Oil

200ml water

Step 3

1/2 onion, finely diced

2 chilli peppers, finely sliced

Handful of coriander leaves (cilantro)

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

Salt

Oil

How to Make Chicken Biryani

1. Prepare the marinade for the chicken. Mix all the marinade ingredients into the yoghurt and then add the chicken.   Coat well and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

2. Wash the rice.  Put a little oil in a pan.   Add the whole spices (peppercorns, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, star anise and bay leaves).  Fry for about 20 seconds then add the rice. Fry for another minute until any water left with the rice has evaporated. Then add the 200ml of water.    Take off the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes.

3. Heat a little oil in another pan.    Add the chopped onions and chillies.   Fry until softened and slightly browned.  Then add the ground spices and the chopped coriander leaves.   Fry for a minute then add the chicken and marinade.

4. Fry the chicken until it is almost fully cooked and the pan is almost dry. Then pour the water and rice into the pan with the chicken.   Bring to the boil and then cover the pan and lower the heat.   Cook over a low heat for 15 minutes then turn the heat off and leave to stand for about 10 minutes.

5. Serve the Biryani with the raita on the side.

Ingredients for Spinach Raita

2 handfuls of spinach

3 tbsp yoghurt

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp chilli powder

Salt

How to make Spinach Raita

1. Wash the spinach and microwave for 1 minute.   Rinse in cold water and leave to drain in a colander.

2. Roast the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan and leave to cool.

3. When the seeds are cool crush slightly and add to a bowl with the chilli powder, salt and yoghurt.

4. Squeeze any extra moisture out of the spinach.  Chop roughly.

5. Mix the spinach in to the yoghurt and serve alongside the biryani.

 

Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

It’s been a very dull grey start to the new year.   Every time I look out of the window it seems to be drizzly and damp and it just makes me want to stay inside and hibernate.    After all the excesses of Christmas I also feel like I need something healthy to eat – something savoury and virtually fat-free.   Soup, but not a rich creamy soup, a fresh Asian soup, something like this, brimming with green vegetables, garlic and ginger.   I’m sure if you had a cold this would also be just the thing.

I was surprised when I looked through my blog and discovered that although I have posted three noodle soups in the past, none have involved chicken, although I know I have made plenty of chicken noodle soups.  I probably assumed each time I made it that I had already written about it.    Anyway, apart from liking chicken soup and it being something I do occasionally make, I also had another reason for making chicken noodle soup this month.    I wanted to make something for Tina’s Crazy Cooking Challenge which this month involved making a noodle soup from a recipe found on another blog. The recipe I eventually decided on was from Jenna at Eat Live Run and can be found here.   I’ve adapted some of the quantities and the cooking times but it’s almost the same.  I have used sesame oil before in stir fries but never in a soup and it adds a lovely rich nutty taste.   Overall, it makes a lovely quick, easy and light dinner.

I am also sending this to Deb at Kahakai kitchen for Souper Sundays and to Nazima at Working London Mummy and Laura at How to cook good food.  Nazima and Laura are the hosts of the One Ingredient Cooking Challenge.  This month the theme is poultry.

Ingredients – Serves 2

2 chicken breasts, sliced into strips

1 clove garlic, crushed or finely diced

1 small piece of fresh ginger, finely diced

1 tbsp sesame oil

400ml chicken stock (approx)

1 green chilli pepper, thinly sliced

1 large spring onion (or 2 normal ones)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 Pak choi, chopped

2 nests of dried noodles

Chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

How to make Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

1. Put the sesame oil in a saucepan and add the ginger and garlic.   Cook for a minute, stirring, then add the chicken strips.

2. When the chicken has turned white on all sides, add the hot chicken stock and chilli pepper.   Simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. While the soup is simmering, cook the noodles according to the pack instructions.

4. Add the pak choi and most of the onion and the coriander to the soup.    Simmer for another couple of minutes then add the soy sauce and vinegar.   Taste and add extra vinegar, soy, sesame oil or chilli if necessary.

5. Divide the cooked noodles between two bowls, then add the soup.    Sprinkle the extra spring onions and coriander on top.

To see the soups made by other participants int he Crazy Cooking Challenge, click on the link below:

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Salade Liégeoise

I planned to make this recipe in December but somehow I never had time and never had the right ingredients.   Salade Liégeoise is a Belgian potato salad with bacon, green beans, onion and a vinegar dressing.   I also added a few peas as I think they go so well with bacon and potatoes.   I wanted to make a Belgian dish as Belgian was the December destination for My Kitchen My World.   As I write this on 2 January, I hope I’m not too late, but even so, it was definitely worth making.   I served it warm for lunch but it would also be great cold as a side dish or as a packed lunch.   The salad comes from the city of Liége which is in the French-speaking part of Belgian and was the nearest city to the town where I did a Belgian exchange when I was at school.  Now, over 15 years later, all I remember about the food is the chocolate (it was Easter time) and the fruit flavoured beer, but when looking for inspiration online, the name Liége caught my eye and that’s what led to the making of this salad.   I looked at lots of recipes when making this dish but the one it most resembles can be seen here.

In January, the destination for My Kitchen My World will be Jamaica.   The last few months have been a little quiet so if you fancy making a Jamaican dish, then do check it out.

I am also sending this to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for Souper (Soup, Salad and Sammie) Sundays.

Ingredients – serves 2

Enough new potatoes for 2 people

Handful of green beans

4 rashers bacon

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

2 tbsp peas

Black pepper

Red wine vinegar

How to make Salade Liégeoise

1. Cut the new potatoes into largish chunks.    Boil in lightly salted water until cooked through.

2. At the same time boil the beans in another pan.   Add the peas just before the beans are ready.

3. Add a little oil to a frying pan.  Cut the bacon into small pieces and add to the pan.    Fry until beginning to crisp.

4. Add the onion to the bacon and continue to cook for about 1 minute until translucent.

5. Add the potatoes and black pepper to the pan.  Continue to cook for about 3 minutes so the potatoes gain a little colour, stirring occasionally.   Add the green beans and peas and heat through.

6. Add a splash of vinegar.   Give the pan a final stir and then serve.