Summer Salad … The Stir Fry

This recipe is also perfect if you are expecting guests but don't know what time they are arriving – you want to spend time with them when they do so a dish that enables you to prep ahead, taking minutes to stir fry and serve immediately, has to be the answer.

There are no given amounts – you can expand it as you wish and I've given ideas for alternatives along the way.

Baby New Potatoes

Cook until firm and then peel. When cooled cut into similar sized cubes. An ideal way of using up leftovers too.

Red Onion

One medium as a guide, chopped finely

Baby Sweet Peppers

Available at most supermarkets usually between

200-300g packets - £2.00 per 300g as a guide – I used

approximately half

Garlic

A clove, crushed or 1 tsp of garlic paste

Veggie options

Asparagus tips – snap to remove the “wooden” ends then trim so that they are all of a similar size. Blanch them in boiling water for a minute or two then plunge into a bowl of iced water. Drain the asparagus and wipe off any excess water with kitchen towel. Box and fridge until required.

You could use fresh peas or broad beans, podded and blanched as above. Don't forget to peel the outer skin from the broad beans.

Mange tout, sugar snap peas and baby corn will all work well – treat the same way as the asparagus – make sure they are of a similar size so they cook evenly.

**Tail fillet of beef

The tail fillet is each end of the whole fillet – they are thinner and so

not evenly sized as is the middle portion.

If you are fortunate enough to have a “real” butcher if you ask

nicely he'll have tail fillet which is cheaper than the middle cut.

Chorizo

One loop of chorizo sausage, peeled and then sliced at an angle. You can use

diced chorizo which is probably more convenient since all the

work is done for you which is what I used – 250g.

At this point you are ready to rock and roll so you can walk away and wait until your guests arrive, the whole dish takes about 10 minutes, max.

Seasoning and Dressing

You'll need salt and black pepper and Farrington's Mellow Yellow Mayonnaise to complete the dish.

The perfect addition to my creaking salad table and an added bonus of a stir fry recipe which is good enough to stand alone for a lunch or a supper.

Good value I think!

Summer Salad - Menu

I get a huge amount of pleasure in planning a menu and can recommend sitting with a pad and pen with a glass of something nice and scribbling away.

Here's the result :

For the fish lovers

Scallops with diced chorizo and a drizzle of maple syrup

For the meat lover(s)

The Stir Fry

For Everyone!

Smoked salmon with lemon

Antipasto -

Parma ham, extra mature Salami Milano

and bresaola

Roasted baby new potatoes

Baked Camembert (stapled boxes, not glued)

I used “Le Rustique” – 250g £2 and baked two

Honey roasted beetroot

(the recipe is on the blog)

Sliced beef tomatoes drizzled with Balsamic

vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Shredded lettuce – whatever variety is the

favourite

Quails eggs

Whole black olives

Ciabatta with Balsamic and Olive Oil for dipping

Coleslaw

Salt, black pepper and mayo

This will do nicely!

Summer Salad - The definition of salad …

… “a cold dish of vegetables or herbs ... with a dressing … sometimes including egg, meat, fish etc.” … a diverse or confused mixture.

I'm old enough to remember the nightmare of salad in the 1960s – usually served Saturday or Sunday teatime. A limp lettuce leaf, a slice of cucumber and tomato, a spring onion and a slice of hard boiled egg. Is this description ringing any bells?!

My take on a “salad” is really easy - serve what you know your family and friends love. I'm also stretching a point in that my version includes both hot and cold dishes – as I've said often, rules are meant to be broken. I think it's good to serve a mixture of hot and cold – let's face it the weather isn't exactly summery at the moment in the UK – more like autumn, so I don't think this menu is out of place at all!

This is where it gets tricky however – two fish and shellfish lovers (and meat too), one meat lover and one vegetarian!

My salad is designed to be served all at the same time so no starter or canapé, what I call a “creaking table”.

My mission is to make life as easy as I can for myself – prep ahead, leaving as little as possible to do on the day - which in this case is Saturday – evening.

Are you with me so far?!

Lemon Meringue Fudge – the photo guide

I used lemon extract paste and mini lemon meringues – see below :

Here's the fudge :

There's a residue of tiny lemon crystals in the bottom of the meringue packet – use them to sprinkle over the top of your fudge before it's fridged :

Crush your meringues in a food bag, clipped and then sprinkle away :

Here's the finished fudge :

Freeze in boxes of a size that will suit so you don't waste any – very funny!

Lemon Meringue Fudge

Hmm – not everyone likes plain chocolate so, here's the result of my latest “messing about in the kitchen” - another fudge but made with milk chocolate - probably more appealing to kids because milk chocolate is sweeter – it's purely a matter of personal taste.

Lemon Meringue Fudge

400g milk chocolate broken into small

even sized pieces

25g butter

397 can condensed milk

100 icing sugar

2 tsps of lemon extract or 1 tsp of lemon extract paste

50g lemon meringues, crushed

6 meringue kisses crushed, for decoration

Line a 20cm square tin with baking parchment.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. In a non-stick saucepan, melt the butter and gently warm the condensed milk. Add the melted chocolate and mix well until smooth. Beat in the icing sugar until blended and smooth. Fold in the crushed meringues.

Put the mixture into the prepared tin, spread evenly into the corners, smooth over the top and decorate with the crushed meringue kisses. Place in the fridge to set for at least an hour. Remove, cut into small squares, then box and fridge or freeze.

The same hints and tips apply as with the plain chocolate fudge :

Milk chocolate bars will be fine since they are in squares of the same size and will met evenly. Check out the cheaper supermarkets for good deals.

Don't forget to use unsalted butter and sift the icing sugar!

As with the plain chocolate fudge, I boxed the fudge and froze for a week – it was as good as it was when made so ideal if you want to make ahead or stash it so it doesn't disappear when you're not looking. Fridge it straight from the freezer – it's really good cold.

Using milk chocolate gives a softer, squidgier consistency. You should get 80 pieces of fudge if you cut 2cm squares.

Don't eat them all at once!

Fudge – for thought

So far for our store cupboard summer treat we've covered the chocolate fudge, the seasonal fresh fruits and the berry coulis. I also mentioned in “Two down, seven to go” the warming/melting of the fudge to use with ice cream – for those who love warm over cold to encourage the melting it's the ultimate indulgence.

If you are a regular follower of the blog you'll know about the no-churn vanilla ice cream recipe I use all the time and the modifications, like adding sticky toffee sauce.

Here's another variation.

Instead of using the berry coulis to drizzle over ice cream, melted fudge and fresh fruits, add the coulis to the basic vanilla ice cream recipe :

1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk

1 x 600ml double cream

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Put the condensed milk, cream and vanilla into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until it is thick and stiff – like pipeable whipped cream. Spoon the mixture in a lidded freezer-proof container and freeze for at least 6-8 hours or until firm.

The only change to the coulis recipe is don't add a splash of water to loosen. Fold the coulis into the ice cream – using the hand mixer blades will give you a ripple effect and then freeze as per the recipe.

Take a scoop of ice cream – vanilla or the ripple version, add melted chocolate fudge, top with fresh strawberries or raspberries – or both - add a final flourish with a drizzle of coulis.

Coulis note – even if you're making a ripple version of the ice cream you could set some aside for extra drizzling.

Serve in a tall glass with a chocolate wafer roll – summer sundae anyone?

The Fudge follow on …

… remember the chocolate fudge

It occurs that it can be the beginning of a great store cupboard/fridge/freezer summer treat. If you need a reminder of the recipe then check out “Two down, seven to go” for chapter and verse and for the hints and tips too.

Moving swiftly on - use seasonal fruits – strawberries or raspberries, to compliment and serve with the melted fudge and make a coulis – whilst the raspberry season isn't as long as the strawberry you can buy frozen if all else fails.

Both fruits are a perfect marriage with chocolate.

Berry Coulis

200g strawberries, hulled and halved

200g raspberries

75g icing sugar, sifted

Heat the fruit in a large pan for 4-5 minutes or until the fruit starts to break down. Add the icing sugar and continue to cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor and blend until smooth, add a splash of water if necessary to loosen. Strain the coulis through a sieve and set aside to cool. Chill in the fridge until needed.

If you feel the need to ease your chocolate conscience, using seasonal fresh fruits will do the trick – all you need now is ice cream!