Noodle & Vegetable Salad

One of my regular lunchtime snacks - fridge leftovers and store cupboard staples.

The "Oriental" Dressing:
1 dstsp French dressing
1 dstsp soy sauce
1 dstsp lime cordial
S+P
1 tsp sesame oil.

 The Salad:
2 handfuls cooked noodles - I used spaghetti!
1 handful shredded lettuce and spinach leaves,
mixed peppers and red onion; a couple of sliced radishes; a 2-inch length of courgette grated;
2 baby sweetcorn in slivers and a handful of blanched broccoli.
Yummy!

Piquant Poached Herring Salad

I had the taste for something piquant. And fishy!

I could have walked across to Morrisons - only a couple of hundred yards away - and bought some Rollmops from the deli. But I didn't. I told myself afterwards that I hadn't wanted anything quite as "pickled" as Rollmops - which may or not be the truth.

I had some some frozen herring fiillets in the freezer - well, I suppose they would be, wouldn't they? - so I improvised.

Slice 1 small onion (pickling size) into rings. Combine in a saucepan 100 ml of malt vinegar and 100 ml of water, and bring to the boil with 2 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp of pink peppercorns. For a more sour taste don't dilute as much. Turn down the heat and simmer gently until the onion begins to soften - about 4-5 minutes.

Add 2 smallish herring fillets (still frozen is fine) skin up and simmer on a very low heat for another 5 minutes. Leave to cool in the liquor for as long as you can resist.






I had mine with a potato and radish salad, tossed with 2 dstspoons of mayo to 1 tsp of horseradish sauce, and a tomato, diced carrot, and celery salad dressed with tomato ketchup blended with a classic vinaigrette.

Deconstructed Bacon & Egg

I fancied bacon & eggs over the weekend but it was a bit hot for a traditional full English, so I had a bit of a play!

The egg wasn't free-range, I must confess, but does come from a farm only a few miles away from me and has a very rich yolk.

The bacon was lardons from a gammon corner I had sliced myself - nice thick rashers!

The cherry tomatoes were raw, drizzled with a warm Balsamic reduction.

The field mushroom was raw too - marinated for several hours in a blend of crushed garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and lime cordial, with just a pinch of sugar and S+P to season.