Recipes for Cook

Valentines gifts tend to focus on chocolate treats so its nice to have something a little different for Valentines Day.  This bacon and heart-shaped egg salad fills you up and also provides the freshness and crunch that I feel is so important to enjoy in the winter months and would be the prefect for a Valentines day brunch or lunch.

I was sent this little gadget, called an Eggspress, from Just Mustard which moulds hard-boiled eggs into heart shapes, so when you cut them in half you have a pretty little heart.  Just Mustard is a gift company with lots of fun novelty gifts.

The back of the packet tells you how to create your heart shaped eggs and are easy to follow.

Although it is easy to make, mine didnt turn out quite so perfect as the ones in the illustration.  The yolk does not always sit right in the middle.  The heart shape does form, but its not very pronounced and I think you need to use them fairly quickly as I found that the egg started to lose the point at the bottom after about half an hour.

Bacon and Egg Salad (serves 2)

8 slices of smoked streaky bacon
4 medium eggs, hard boiled and cooled
1/2 bag of mixed lettuce leaves
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
juice of half a lime
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & freshly ground pepper
1 tsp honey

1. Grill the bacon until crisp, drain on kitchen paper and cool
2. Press the eggs as per instructions and cut in half.  If you dont have an Eggspress then simply cut the eggs in half.
3. Place the celery, apple and 4 slices of crispy bacon (crumbled) into a bowl.
4. Make the dressing with juice of half a lime, oil, seasoning and honey, whisk or shake in a jar then pour over the celery, apple and bacon mixture
5. Spread the salad leaves on the plates,  divide the celery, apple and bacon mixture between them.
6. Top each plate with two bacon rashers crossed.  Place 4 egg halves evenly around the plate and place the tomato halves between them and serve with crusty bread.

It was fun to serve the heart shaped eggs with this salad and if you would like to try it yourself, I have two Eggspress egg moulds to giveaway.  UK residents only please.  Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter Widget.  a Rafflecopter giveaway

So for my first foray into sorrel usage this year I went with a simple potato salad, which also had the advantage of putting a dent into one of the boxes of steadily sprouting potatoes down in the cold cellar.

I was pleased to note that although none of the salad dressing ingredients was produced by us, every ingredient in the salad part of the recipe came out of our garden. Yay, us! 

I actually made double this amount of salad, and we have been eating it for lunches as we get out in the garden and work, work, work. Amazing, too, how the weather has gone from cold and rainy to what Im afraid Im going to have to describe as a heat wave! A little cooler next week, I hope, but we need to find a better rain dance; this ones not working...

4 to 6 servings
1 hour - 40 minutes prep time


Make the Salad:
4 cups boiled diced potatoes
1 cup packed, shredded sorrel leaves
1 green onion
1 medium carrot
2 or 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Wash and dice the potatoes. Put them in a pot with plenty of cold water to cover them. Bring them to a boil and boil until just tender, about 15 or 20 minutes. Drain well and rinse in cold water. Let cool.

Meanwhile, wash and dry the sorrel leaves, and shred them finely. Wash, trim and finely chop the green onion. Peel and grate the carrot. Wash, dry and chop the parsley.

Mix the vegetables in a large bowl.

Make the Dressing:
1/3 cup mayonnaise (light is fine)
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon celery seed, ground
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Whisk all these ingredients together in a small bowl. Scrape the dressing into the bowl of vegetables and mix well. Add the potatoes once they are well drained and completely cool, and mix them in well.

The salad can be made ahead of time, and it probably should be, to allow the flavours a little time to settle.




Last year at this time it was Rampapalooza: Spinach with Wild Leeks, Chicken with Wild Leeks and Spaghetti with Wild Leeks. Havent had a moment to get out and look for any this year... but I also think (hope!) they are a little later too.

We really enjoyed this salad; it was fresh and crunchy, with subtle earthy flavours sparked by the cranberries and nuts. I dont think its really a main-course salad, but it would be a great accompaniment to just about any kind of meat; roast chicken, duck breast, pork chops, salmon, trout, steak... 

We used pistachios - for some reason I am on a pistachio kick - but any kind of nut would do well, with almonds or hazelnuts being my second choice. Wild rice is expensive, so this is something of a special occasion salad, although it does stretch pretty well. Go ahead and treat yourself!

4 to 6 servings
20 minutes prep time PLUS 45 minutes to cook the rice,
not including cooling time
 

Cook the Wild Rice:
2/3 cup wild rice
2 2/3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put the above ingredients into your rice cooker, and cook. You can also cook them in a pot on the stove: bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cook for about 40 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the water is absorbed. This can be done up to 24 hours in advance. (Keep the rice in the fridge, covered.) At any rate, it must be done enough in advance to allow the rice to cool completely, at least 3 hours.

Make the Dressing:
3 tablespoons sunflower seed oil
4 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Put the dressing ingredients in a jam jar, and shake to mix, or whisk them together in a small bowl.

Make the Salad:
1 cup finely grated carrot  (1 medium)
1 cup finely grated celeriac
1 cup finely grated rutabaga
2 cups finely shredded Savoy cabbage
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup lightly toasted nuts - pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts or pecans

Peel and grate the carrot, celeriac and rutabaga. Wash, trim and shred the cabbage.

Toss the vegetables with the wild rice, and mix in the dried cranberries and the nuts. Toss with the dressing.





Last year at this time I made Milky Vegetable Chowder.