Tuesday 30 June 2009

Summer salad



This is a very tasty salad that isn't really that healthy! The good thing about this salad is that you can choose your toppings yourself and have any combination that takes your fancy.

For the salad you need
boiled and cooled baby potatoes, baby spinach, chopped chives, spring onions, red onions and cherry tomatoes

For the topping you need

feta, bacon grilled and dried, red peppers that you will have grilled and peeled and marinated in garlic and olive oil,



peppered mackeral.

It's a good thing to make when friends are coming over as it can be healthy if you leave off some fo the toppings, it can be veggie, it can be fishy or down right decadent.

Sausage pasta.



This is very tasty and i urge you to make it. It is a Nigel Slater recipe and one of my favourites.

You will need

2-3 cloves garlic
3 good quality Italian sausages
1 glass vermouth or white wine
creme fraiche
chilli flakes
chestnut mushrooms
fresh basil

Chop the garlic finely and saute it until golden brown, add the sausage meat which you will have removed from the sausage skins, add to the garlic and allow to brown. It is good if the meat sticks to the base of the saucepan as the goo is the tasty stuff. Once the meat is browned add the vermouth and agitate the goo off the bottom. When this is done add as much creme fraiche as you want, you can use 0% fat yoghurt if you want to be healthy. It's good to have lots of sauce as it is pretty darn tasty. Turn the heat down and mix the creme fraiche and meat together, add the chilli flakes as much or as little as you want, then add the quartered chesnut mushrooms and cook until mushrooms done. I throw the basil on at the end before serving. I usually have this with Conchiglioni pasta so the yummy sauce and meat get inside.



Be sure to have some bread handy to mop up the sauce as you will want to clean the saucepan of every last drop of it!

Piece: my new favourite place


Piece is just round the corner and makes very good sandwiches. It has been open nearly a year and is owned and run by two very friendly guys, one who is Irish and one from Birmingham apparently. I had gone in back in November round about the time of my birthday and it came up in conversation that it was my birthday so they gave me a free cupcake, how nice. On Friday they make a tree onion soup which sounds delish but given how hot it is at the moment i have not yet tried it. Over that last couple of weeks I have sampled a number of their 'pieces' but have come up with a favourite of my own. Ciabatta with roast garlic mayo, red onion, roast chicken and salad.



It is yum. They also do a thai stye pork which is very tasty. Although I am still off coffee from the looks of satisfaction on people's faces they do this well too.