Warm salad of Merguez, Potato and poached egg with sherry vinegar; Fennel and black olive salad with poached eggs; Blueberry Creme Brules
Recipes serve four
Warm salad of Merguez, Potato and poached egg with sherry vinegar
1 medium-sized potato
olive oil
4 merguez sausages cut into 4cm lengths
1 tbsp finely chopped shallot
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
sherry vinegar
4 eggs
4 handfuls mixed salad leaves
Cut the potato in half and then into half-centimetre slices. Cover them with cold water, season with salt and bring to the boil. Simmer until tender - six to eight minutes - then refresh under cold water and set aside.
Heat a large frying pan and, when it is hot, add two tablespoons of olive oil and the merguez. Saute over a moderate heat for two minutes and then add the potato. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Add the shallots and parsley and continue cooking for a further three minutes.
Splash a dessertspoon of sherry vinegar into the pan, season with salt and pepper and add two tablespoons of water. Shake the pan so everything is coated and set it aside to keep warm.
Poach the eggs in boiling salted water for three minutes, or until just cooked. Arrange the salad leaves on four plates, spoon over the merguez mixture and top with a poached egg.
Fennel and black olive salad with poached eggs
2 fennel bulbs
olive oil
juice of one lemon
1 tbsp each of chopped chives, parsley and mint
100g black olives, stoned
4 very fresh, free range organic eggs
Trim the fennel bulbs and slice as thinly as possible. A mandoline will make this much easier to do. Blanch the fennel in salted boiling water for a minute then drain, reserving the water, and toss in a bowl with six tablespoons of olive oil, the lemon juice and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper. Cover with a tea towel and set aside. This can be done in advance.
Bring the water back to the boil, stir vigorously and drop the eggs in. Don't delay, you want them all ready at the same time as you'll never be able to identify which went in first. Poach for three minutes, or until the yolks are almost set.
Toss the herbs and black olives in with the fennel. Stir, check the seasoning and divide on to four plates. Top with a poached egg, pour more olive oil on top and serve.
Blueberry Creme Brules
There is nothing like a bit of colour to lift the spirits. There are purists who say a creme brulee is best served in its original, unadorned form. I used to feel the same way, until I was served a brulee onto which the waiter then scooped some lightly poached wild strawberries. The combination was a revelation and since then I've changed my mind.
6 egg yolks
50g caster sugar
500ml double cream
handful blueberries
Demerara sugar
Whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar together until they are pale and smooth. Heat the cream to boiling point and remove from the heat. Pour the hot cream over the eggs, whisking all the time. Wash the saucepan in which you heated the cream, dry it and then return the egg mixture to the saucepan. Over a moderate heat, stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens. Make sure not to miss out on the corners. As soon as it thickens, pour it through a sieve into a jug.
Pour the custard into ramekins, into which you have put the blueberries. Fill right to the top and set aside to cool. To finish, sprinkle Demerara sugar over the ramekins and flash under the grill or use a blow torch to caramelise the sugar.
Allow the sugar to cool and crisp up for a few minutes, then serve.