June the First, my birthday and as such I actually did not cook, did not cook on Sunday nor Monday. Sunday we went on a wonderful picnic, my eldest grandchildren baked me the most magnificent muffins and made me birthday cards, whilst the youngest made me a photo album( as of course I haven’t seen them for over three months and newborns change rapidly).

I have an abundance of the most beautiful flowers, all my favourites, Peonies, they are available for such a short period of time, I chose them for my mother’s funeral and eldest had them at her wedding. Roses, who can not love roses? And Sweet William , memories of my childhood garden.

On my Birthday, Dentist daughter, the willowy brunette, came for dinner, we sat outside on the terrace and for the first time since the Lockdown began, we ordered and had delivered dinner from outside.

We ordered from a Michelin Starred Indian Restaurant not far from our home. We have walked past it on numerous occasions and as they are one of the finer restaurants offering a delivery service we thought, Why Not ?

We ordered 2x the seafood feast for two, it arrived right on time although the driver from Deliveroo, was confused by the number of entrances to our Mansion Block, but he eventually managed to find the right front door.

Himself set the table , chilled the champagne whilst we waited for the willowy brunette to arrive. Arrive she did, bearing gifts, Bubbles, Flowers and a most magnificent cake! As she said to a shopkeeper, when he commented on her grocery purchases ” Everyone seems to be baking” She replied ,” Well they must be, if even I am so doing “!

The cake was as light as a feather and contained pineapple and star anise. Not be thwarted by the lack of Star anise Powder in the shops, she ordered online, only to be thwarted again, as it cam in star anise form and not powder, so she bashed ( rolling pin) and ground ( pepper mill came in handy). As a dentist she has learnt to be innovative and also precise, although my memories of her wanting to bake as a child, cup cakes always a vivid blue! I must ask her for the recipe! She even bought a special pan to bake it ! I am impressed.

Dinner was really nice even though I am not too sure what we ate, a yellow sauce was delicious, full of shrimp and as there is plenty of sauce left over, I will recycle it this evening using salmon.

Lockdown eases.

Lockdown eases, so after Ten Weeks of a daily blog I am moving to 3/4 times a week, we shall see how it goes, hopefully we hope it goes well, we shall see. Meanwhile, I’m not changing anything. The lovely Betty can stay at home for the time being, government guidelines too silly for words, Cleaner can come into my house but daughter can pass through but not linger. BUT I have to ( so that cleaner can come) have to open all doors, windows, cupboards before she arrives and then wipe down all surfaces after she has gone. Does that make sense? Not really, and so we will continue as we were, well almost.

Tuesday saw me making a tart. Basically a Rhubarb and Custard tart, Himself loves Rhubarb and loves Custard, ( homemade of course). Growing up and I believe I have said this before I was unaware that custard could be made any other way than by using Birds Custard Powder. My mum cooked well, she baked well, nothing out of the ordinary, but at least we were not the household who could say ” Cold Meat on Monday, Shepherds Pie on Tuesday etc etc” her repertoire was not enormous but she would try to ring the changes. Sunday’s were special as she would spend the whole day baking and we always had a roast lunch.

As it happened I had Rhubarb that needed using and I also had a pack of puff pastry ( can’t remember why I bought that) that needed using.

I lined a quiche dish with already rolled out puff pastry and baked blind, for about 20 mins.

For the filling

1. 200 mls milk
2. 300 mls double cream
3. 3 eggs beaten
4. 100 grams caster sugar
5. 2 tbsp cornflour

Now the next step can be done on the stove top with constant stirring or as I do ( as I’m basically lazy) in the microwave.

Mix the corn flour with a little of the milk to make a smooth paste

Heat the rest of the milk, sugar and cream in the microwave until it is boiling, keep an eye on it otherwise it could boil over.

Pour over the beaten eggs and whisk together,

Return to the microwave and heat in one minute bursts and stir/ beat in between each heat, add the cornflour mix. Do this until the mixture is thick, if by any chance it does go a bit lumpy then just whisk hard.

Pour the custard into the pastry case. Cut the washed Rhubarb into equal lengths and arrange on top of the Custard and bake for about 20 minutes at 180 until the Rhubarb is soft but still maintains its shape.

Mix 2 tabs of caster sugar with some boiling water to make a syrup, gently spoon over the top of the Rhubarb.

Serve Luke warm with cream or ice cream, or by itself. If you have any left over, cut into portions and freeze them.

Rhubarb is native to Siberia cold, rain and nitrogen rich soil all found in Yorkshire. Plants are initially grown outside,mathematics replanted in forcing sheds. The stems must be removed from the root and the work is still done by hand, which is a highly labour-intensive process., and is picked/ gathered by candlelight , so that the stems do not turn green, which they would do if exposed to daylight. Yorkshire prides itself on their Rhubarb and the best has beautiful young pink stems.

Apologies, this is a day late in coming to HOT OFF THE PRESS! But here it is !

To day is our virtual travel day and boy did we go travelling . We boarded SPACE X and went on an intergalactic journey to which planet, I’m not sure, ( I’m not really into planets though I do love stars), Himself has just told me that we went to the Death Star, along with the music from Star Wars. We had to wait until dark, and dressed in a rather large Face Mask and helmet, staggering around in the dark, trying to set up the camera, proved a bit too much for a video with music as well ! Our neighbours must think we are totally Bonkers, but that is Ok, after all Oscar Wilde did say, that there is nothing worse than not being noticed ( or something along those lines)!

When we are in the French Alps, I sign up for notifications when the Space Station is going to go overhead. The notifications are very precise and usually one can see the station very clearly indeed and normally for about 4-6 minutes. One Christmas, we pretended that we were outside looking for Santa ( there is another site which tells you when and where Santa will be) and so when the Space Station came into view, we all shouted, ” Look, Look, there’s Santa!)

Our intergalactic dinner consisted, of Sonic Burgers, Moonshine ( to drink) and green slime ( Ice Cream ) as dessert.

Sonic Burgers are an American institution, the firm created just after WW2, is a drive through Burger joint with over 3,500 outlets. I have to admit that I have never been to one, so have absolutely no idea if they are good or bad, but the name was suitable for our Virtual outing, though I have to say that we have a Texan friend who used to go to Sonic Burger not infrequently!

I don’t cook Hamburgers very often, usually saved for moments outdoors in France, along with a BBQ grill, but for this adventure, Needs Must.

For each hamburger I used 125 grams of good Minced beef, 1/2 a finely chopped onion, teaspoon butter, about an ounce of cheese, I used blue cheese, salt and pepper.

I like to stuff my hamburgers with cheese, the cheese melts, just right when it is in the middle of the meat, and this time round I chose blue cheese. It just reminded me of the children’s song ” There was a man who loved in the moon ” , His hat was made of Good Cream Cheese ! Etc

News has it we can exit our Bunker and socialise albeit at a distance from next week. Am I glad? Hard to tell, I have to admit that online shopping, is the way forward. Someone else can hump the bottles of water/ beer/ wine/ milk up to the 6th floor as well as reams of computer paper, gallons of washing liquid and bleach and disinfectant, so not sure I am rushing out to the stores any time soon!

Today, I have been setting up my production line for face masks, for 11 people, I guess the baby isn’t going to wear one. Having made some in the first week, cloth ones and neoprene , I have finally decided on the way forward.

Today Himself took Himself off down the street and came back bearing gifts. Gin Chocolates, umm yummy, flowers, beautiful and Oysters! Fantastic, so tonight is his cooking night and it is a new recipe, from New Orleans, Oysters Roquefort.

Meanwhile, I decided to make more Ice Cream. Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip. Early on in our Lockdown I though I would become a gardener , I googled, went online No New Customers, I telephoned, you are in a queue your number is 856! What to buy seeds? I finally found seeds and tried growing some without too much success, neither the wild garlic nor the Alfalfa seeds germinated and at that point I got bored and gave up. However I do have wonderful Rosemary growing upstairs the most magnificent Bay trees growing downstairs ( along with rampant Olive trees) and a great pot of mint! ( I also have an oak tree!)

I used 500 mls cream, 500 mls plain yogurt, 3 eggs, 4oz /100grms Sugar, 100 grams 80% chocolate chopped and a Big bunch of fresh mint chopped.

As with all my Ice Cream recipes, really simple. Put the cream, yoghurt, sugar and eggs into a food processor and mix well. Carefully hand stir in the chocolate and the mint ( do not process in food processor as it will completely mush the chocolate and the mint and will not look pretty, taste the same but will not look so good!)

Then either put into an ice Cream machine or into a container and into the freezer. I actually just put mine into the freezer this time round to make sure that it turns out well.Making Chocolate cups is pretty straight forward. Simply melt ( and agin I melt in the mould in the microwave) allow about 25 grams of chocolate per cup. Silicon moulds are great for this., with a teaspoon push the molten chocolate around the mould and then pop it into the freezer to set.when ready to serve, peel away the mould, carefully.

Serve as it is, in a chocolate cup, with whipped cream or with chocolate sauce. Which ever way you choose, I’m sure you will be back for more. Actually I don’t like chocolate mint, not in ice cream nor in chocolate and of all things After eight dinner mints, Oh No!

Following on from the the contents of my kitchen drawers ( and by the way that was only half of them) , what do I absolutely love by way of appliances.

I love my food processor, I have a Magimix, and this must be the third or even fourth reincarnation as I have had one for the last 30 years or more. I even have its twin in France. Something I use almost on a daily basis. Spares are easy to come by which makes it even more attractive.

Next down, though not used anywhere near as much and is also a Magimix. Again, I have had one of there for many years and use it for purées and soups mostly.

Electric hand whisk, again something simple but invaluable, so much easier than beating by hand, maybe not in the true chef mode but easy to use.

Next is an electric carving knife, not sure why I still have this as almost NEVER do a roast, but seems silly to throw it away, as it still works well.

My Sous Vide wand, which I Love and as with the food processor, I have its twin in France. It talks to my phone and as such I have to switch it over depending on where I am, maybe I should pair the one in France with a different phone, just to make life a tad easier.

Going on from the Sous Vide machine , necessity calls for a vacuum pack machine, and again I have twins, one here and one there. The first one I bought after a trip to Mexico, I had always used zip lock bags for flat packing soups etc, but someone had delivered vacuum packed goodies to eldest daughter after the north of her third child. Umm thought I What a good idea and so returned bearing a vacuum sealer ( and mini transformer). Nowadays I have an English version, easier to use.

A hand blender, where would I be without it, mayonnaise, anchovy butter, walnut pesto, here I come. Mine is by a Swiss company and is meant to be the best, whereas the one I have in France was much cheaper and didn’t last long, it died.

Pestle and mortar , a necessity for pounding and grinding .

Latest, non electrical are products from Lekule, until recently I used Pyrex with cling film in the microwave, but this company has improved things, I have one item good for cooking rice ( smallish quantities) and another for vegetables, which is very good.

Other items, which I have had, forever, a potato ricer, it makes the absolute perfect mashed potatoes, an electric plug in table top grill, not used as much since I had installed my teppanyaki grill, up useful none the less. And an electronic rice cooker, which I love if cooking rice for more than one person. It cooks by weight, is fast and efficient and then switches to keep warm mode. And of course a toaster ( Himself sometimes likes toast for breakfast).

One gadget which I have had for +/- 35 years is a thingy which converts Grams, kilos etc to pounds and ounces, which is not much good if you are working in just grams or as in my case I often work in Cups. But if you have an old book which says 16 oz, turn the dial and it says 450 grams ! Brilliant, no longer the need for some mental arithmetic.

One item which I used a lot about 42 years ago, was a cream maker. We lived in the wilds of Normandy and at the time there was cream galore but it was Crème Fraîche, which translates as fresh cream, but it is not sweet cream, almost sour, try putting that in cream eclairs, not good ! But not sure if it is any longer available!

Needless to say I also have a juicer, it is cold slow press, which is good and I used it in my “I am a juicer “Phase, which is now past, so I am afraid it is in the cupboard. But maybe that should go to France.

And of course the Ice Cream Machine.

And that is all for now and I haven’t even started on pots and pans, dishes and baking items, things like dishes for individual soufflés and pies, but will save that for another day.

Here is a flash back to Week Nine, Day Seven.

Where I live in London, there is an absolute plethora of Fast Food stores, all catering to the mass of humanity that streams out of Baker Street Tube station every morning. Baker Street station is one of the stations that has remained open during this Lockdown with a few of the regulars still commuting, one of my neighbours a Dr, uses it to get to the hospital or our porters to get from their home to here. Or the young girl who works the early shift at the local grocery store. Otherwise Baker Street has become a ghost town . The buses, although reduced in numbers still plough their way up and down , usually with no passengers and all but one of the eateries is closed. The one that stayed open is Joe the Juice, not Macdonalds, not Kentucky Fried chicken, nor Starbucks nor Pret, but just Joe the Juice, where even one of my neighbours goes in the morning to get her caffein fix! Take away only, but you must have their App. Normally, parked on Baker Street is a whole army of delivery drivers, Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats, they are all there, still but reduced in numbers.

I read the other day that some people in London during this Lockdown have ordered Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, from Takeaways, and why not when even Michelin starred restaurants are offering such a service. No doubt all the hustle and bustle will return soon, shame really I have been enjoying the tranquility of being in Central London.

Saturday is my day off, though I did cook breakfast, the Eggs Florentine. When asked what Himself wanted to cook for dinner, as it was his day to cook. His immediate response was ‘a noodle type dish, as served in Wagamama ‘

Quelle Surprise, I just happened to have a Wagamama cook book. Bought especially because my grandchildren really like Wagamama, so I bought the book. It is full of fun dishes,which are easy to cook and Fast? They have to be Fast. If you have ever been to Wagamama you will understand. All food is cooked to order and comes when ready, so apart from having everything pre-prepared, it is just assembled and cooked when ordered.

He also wanted his dish with noodles, normally I’d don’t “Do” noodles, but as it was his choice I agreed. This was after turning down in the past, things like Venison Stew, or Steak and Kidney, pie/ Pudding or Tripe, all things which I would NEVER choose to eat or order and that are things that he loves in his perverse kind of way.

And so it was agreed, it had to be Chilli Beef Ramen.

We basically had all that we needed, we had soft Asian noodles albeit not ramen. We didn’t have Bean Sprouts, nor did either of the stores that we visited. Otherwise everything was at hand.

1. 150 grams bean sprouts, ( we used a can of bamboo shoots)
2. 250 soft noodles
3. 1 litre of stock, we used stock powder
4. 6 spring onions cut into bits
5. 2 red chillis chopped
6. 1 onion sliced thinly
7. 1 like cut into 4
8. A small bunch coriander chopped.
9. 350 grams steak, we used Onglet
10. Small amount of teriyaki sauce

We also used a small packet of baby spinach. The recipe also calls for a mixture of 2 tsp sugar 2 Tabs of vinegar ( we used rice vinegar), 3 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce and 5 Tbsp fish sauce.

Himself, used the sous-vide machine in which he cooked the vacuum packed meat for one hour at 140 F.

Cook the noodles according to instructions on packet, they usually cook very quickly.

Heat some oil in a wok and throw in the sliced onions and sauté until soft, remove and put to one side. Cut the meat into thin slices and sauté briefly, and baste with the teriyaki sauce. Add everything else to the wok, except the noodles and coriander, bring to the boil. Switch off the heat.

Divide the noodles between the bowls, ladle contents of wok onto noodles and garnish with the chopped coriander. Very quick to make and very tasty.

A note on Onglet or as it is called in English Hanger Steak.

A hanger steak, is also known as butcher’s steak, is a cut of steak prized for its flavor. It comes from the plate , which is the upper belly of the animal. It was often called “butcher’s steak”, because the butchers would keep it for themselves rather than offer it for sale. Why? Because they knew that it was one of the tastiest cuts of meat.

WEEK TEN, WHERE DID THE OTHER NINE GO ?

What a beautiful day, the sun shone and the wind blew, not too much and the golf course was lovely.

Tonight we had the neighbourhood Cocktail Party, great to see Pat, our 91 year old neighbour looking very suntanned, what else can he do ? Certainly not go out on the town ! But he can sit outside in the sun, which has been lovely for the last, How Many Weeks?

Across the void in our own little sanctuary, I haven’t finished the cleaning out of my kitchen drawers, I dare not mention other cookware, the moulds, cake or otherwise, the pans, the ” Can’t live without Gadgets, but that will come.

Meanwhile I found a recipe for another Clementine cake, the same but different. This time with olive oil, so had to give it a try. Judging by looks alone, it is a plus, but the proof of the Pudding Is?

1. 4 Clementines boiled in water for about 30 minutes until soft
2. 4 eggs
3. 160gms/ 6 oz/ 3/4 Cup caster sugar
4. 100 mls olive oil
5. 175 grams ground almonds
6. 2 tsp baking powder

Heat the oven to 180 C Or 160 C Fan oven. Grease a 20 cm spring form pan.

Using a food processor with the motor running, tip in the fruit and process, rind and all until it is truly smushed. Add everything else and process quickly to mix well.

Pour into the prepared pan and put on the middle shelf and bake for about 50 minutes. It should be golden brown and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin.

And that is it !

Weirdly, I needed Baking Powder, the brand I usually use is Dr. Oetker, but I ended up buying Marks and Spencer ( limit on the amount one could buy). Look carefully, the Dr. Oetka is Gluten Free, whereas the M and S is not !

Also weirdly, I had ordered from Waitrose online yet more Baking powder, but they sent me a text ” out of stock” but we have substituted it with RICE FLOUR ! Who in their right minds would think that Rice Flour is a substitute for Baking Powder ! Now I have to think what to do with Rice Flour! Pasta ? Now, that’s a thought !

And the end result of latest cake, the proof of the pudding is in the eating And YES, the result, to my mind is better, it is really moist, maybe even better with ice cream or cream, but it is a YES!

Methinks, we can’t finish Lockdown yet, I haven’t done all I set out to do, and I’ve a dozen masks to make, plus the surgical gowns ( one almost done) to make! HELP!

Today is my Day Off in the kitchen ( well alright I did breakfast) but Himself is in charge for tonight.

I have spent part of the day, sorting and cleaning my kitchen drawers. Everything has its place, I’m really a bit OCD, but it was about time to clean them out. What do you have in your kitchen drawers, do you know? Are there things there that shouldn’t be? Are their things there that are never used? Are there things there that are a complete waste of space?

I must admit that I buy kitchen paraphernalia as a hobby, especially when overseas, or there is a new kitchen shop. BUT, I don’t just buy Willy Nilly, I think about it and wonder if it is a good idea, and if it is not too expensive I might give it a try. Or if it is beautiful , then even if useless, it is a must buy!

When I had my ‘Cooking School’ in Brussels I decided on a menu and then wondered if I had the right equipment, invariably not, which would mean a trip to my local market town where there was a wonderful kitchen shop, and if she didn’t have what I needed then she would get it for me. She knew that if I was giving a class, then my pupils would be along to buy the gadget! ( a bit Delia smith syndrome, though on a much smaller scale!)

So what did I find in my kitchen drawers?

Here we have three different peelers, one for potatoes, one for finer peeling ( maybe tomatoes, or asparagus ) and one for cutting Julienne strips.Three bean slicers! One belonged to my Mom, so that has to stay, and one strings as well as slice. Considering I rarely cook Runner beans, maybe that is over kill. Two Apple corers, fish tweezers ( for getting rid of any stray bones), the absolute perfect zester and a butter curler ( everyone needs one of these)!Here are shellfish pickers, a pastry wheel, a larding needle and two induction Hob scrapers.

From the top, kitchen scissors ( must have more than one pair) an excellent knife sharpener( I have tried many and so far this is the best!) and a string box/ cutter

The wooden drawer, I’m very fussy about my bits of wood. I prefer, Olive wood utensils, they have such a nice feel, followed by bamboo and then others. A big old spoon for when I am making Jam and a couple of wooden spatulas, including the wavy one made by #1 daughter about 30 years ago! I recently bought a set of wooden spoons from Robert Dyas, just because my small ones had gone ‘walkabout’ ( probably in the Trash Bin) , they were just horrible, I should have known better, they had just such a horrible feel to them, that they too went the bin.

Not one but two rolling pins! The green handled one, I have had forever and the small one I bought in India, for when I make chapattis , I have never made them ! Here we have an antique ice cream scoop, a mushroom brush ( one should never wash mushrooms) an old pie funnel, a potato fork, to hold whilst peeling boiling hot potatoes, an Avocado thingy ( never used) and a mango stoner. Actually this was very useful when I was in my Eating a Mango daily Phase.Here is a collection from 3 rd drawer down. A smart carving knife,an old carving fork, my absolute favourite palette knife, don’t you dare put that in the dishwasher, well as my ancient ham knife, useful for slicing cakes in half! Then another ham knife, meat forks,grater, a ladle and a fancy frying basket.At the bottom, an egg slicer ( Never used) Parmesan cheese grater, again rarely used but in beautiful Olive Wood, long handled strainer, a truffle slice ( never used but I love it, beautiful) two thermometers, used for jam making etc, why two? Simply I wanted to make jam and couldn’t find the first one.And the little steel thing, an icing sugar duster device! ( of course !)And now, an assortment from my Stainless steel drawer.Ladles meat bashed and whisk.And finally , for today at least, a few of the items that are for the bin. A temperature probe for steaks ( bought in Texas, where steaks are THICK, otherwise, it tests the temperature of the pan in which the steaks are cooking) a citrus peeler, Useless, a smart zester, useless, it makes one hold the lemon the wrong way, a carrot pencil sharpener, Don’t ask ! The green thing a Joseph and Joseph invention, for smushing garlic? And the red thing for rolling the skin off garlic!

Ah well, I haven’t cleaned all of the drawers yet, so more to come !

Day Six, normally translates as Friday Night Travels. However the instigator of the event has reneged ( again) claiming that with three kids to home school and work commitments, Friday night has become too complicated and so now it will be Saturday Night Travels ( But not Saturday Night Fever, or I suppose it could be).

Here in our Folly, we did indeed travel, we had planned to be outside during our little escapade, but the wind ( it can be very windy indeed up here) put paid to that.

We went to Venice on the Orient Express, stayed at Cipriani’s and drank Peach Bellini’s at Harry’s Bar. Peach Bellini was invented around 1940 by Guiseppe Cipriani and named it after a 15 th Century artist, Giovanni Bellini. It is made with a purée of white peaches and Prosecco, but there are variations, a Puccini with Mandarin juice, a Rossini , with strawberries and Tintoretto using pomegranate.

W2, went on her outing to Primrose Hill, and made sparkling cup cakes, specifically requested by Young Sam, Lucky Boy!

Forgoing, an Italian dinner, we went for an Italian named breakfast. Eggs Florentine. This is a variation of Eggs Benedict, a true American incarnation but with spinach. Many people shy away from making the hollandaise sauce as almost all the cookery books out there make it sound difficult. In reality and with practice and a microwave, it becomes a cinch.

To make hollandaise in the microwave follow these simple instructions:-

1. 50 grams unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2. 1 small/ medium egg well beaten
3. Juice of half a small lemon
4. A tsp white wine ( optional, don’t open a bottle for this)
5. 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

Melt the butter in the microwave on half power for about a minute, no more. Mix the egg, lemon juice, wine and mustard together, and then pour over the warm melted butter.

Return to the microwave, again on half power for 30 seconds, remove and mix well. Repeat this step until the mixture has thickened. I use a hand blender to mix and at the slightest hint of a curdle beat well.

Add salt to taste.

For the eggs Florentine, you will need, some toasted English Muffins ( I used Brioche, not having muffins,) or indeed some sour dough toast. Some poached eggs, and some cooked spinach. I cook my spinach ( 1/2 a packet ) in a microwave dish, in the microwave, it only takes a couple of minutes and is still fresh, not soggy.

Arrange the spinach on the toast, followed by ham if using, then the spinach and topped with the poached eggs and finally the sauce.

Many years ago, my eldest daughter ( the willowy Blond) declared “Salads are Boring!” I can see her now, and where we were at the time, actually only seems like yesterday and now her eldest is about the same age as she was at the time!

I like salads, often eat them especially when I have cooked something for Himself that I do not care to eat. I remember another salad incident even longer ago that the one above. Autumn, in Gibraltar, which has to have ranked the worse place to spend vacation time, ( sorry Gibraltar). Summer in Europe had been dire, rain, rain and more rain. We lived in the wilds of Normandy, where despite the rain, the food was always good. However we decided a break was needed and off we went, with two tiny tots in tow. After arriving at the hotel, the first thing we did was to go to the BA office and ask for tickets out of there. The weather was bad, the hotel was bad, Gibraltar was worse than bad and no escape, the border to Spain was still closed and all flights fully booked. So stay was the only thing we could do.

The salad I had for lunch was indescribably bad. In what was then a British salad, a few limp lettuce leaves, a few bits of tomato, a few slices of cucumber and a chicken leg. Heinz salad cream in a greasy bottle by its side. But apart from looking awful, the chicken was FROZEN ! We took it back, it was returned, warm on the outside and frozen in the middle. We said, Thanks, but No thanks, but then we’re asked to pay !

Last night, for dinner, it was going to be a salad night, that way it could be ready to go, when we were ready to eat.

I used the following:-

Baby spinach, rocket ( arugula), frozen peas, avocado, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, new potatoes, roasted red and green peppers ( left over from the fish of a previous dinner) black olives, asparagus, canned tuna fish and hard boiled eggs. Topped with homemade mayonnaise. In the end it was a kind of take on Salad Nicoise but not. Too many ingredients and no green beans. Himself declared that he had really enjoyed it, and no doubt willowy blond, these days would have said the same.

To make your mayonnaise

1 large egg at room temperature

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar

salt, to taste

1 cup (240 ml) neutral flavored oil, I used good olive oil

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice,

I also added a teaspoon of garlic/ ginger paste. Normally I would just use fresh garlic crushed.

Using either a small food processor or hand blender:-

Add egg to the food processor or in a jug along with the mustard, lemon juice and salt. Process for 20 seconds.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, turn the food processor on then begin to slowly add the oil in tiny drops until about a quarter of the oil has been added.

With the processor on, continue to add it slowly, but increase to a very thin stream instead of drops of oil.

When all of the oil has been added, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and process for an extra 10 seconds. Taste mayonnaise for seasoning.

Note, if the mayo seems too thin, slowly stream in more oil with the processor running until thick.

If for any reason your mayonnaise ‘breaks’ then here is the fix.

Add about 1 teaspoon of mustard to a bowl then use a whisk to slowly beat the broken mayonnaise, bit by bit, into the mustard until it becomes emulsified and creamy again. Or another way is to add an egg yolk to a large bowl and slowly use a whisk to beat the broken mayo, bit by bit, into the yolk. Most recipes call for just an egg yolk when making mayonnaise, but using a whole egg at room temperature is actually much easier.

Of course there are many variations on a theme, try adding fresh herbs or some spices,Ring the changes, have fun.