Sea asparagus salad

I spent Saturday morning at the most wonderful farmers market with my friends Allison and Janine. Stalls were abundant with fresh produce. There was huge bunches of bright colored beets, thousands of deep purple cherries, fresh green lettuces, aromatic herbs, plump garlic bulbs, tri-colored peppers and so much more beautiful produce. It was amazing and the best thing was that everything was so fresh. We wondered around the market picking up veggies and stopping  for the odd taste of homemade cheese and fresh fruit.

From the corner of my eye I saw a stall selling wild sea asparagus also known as samphire. I decided to buy one of the last remaining bags and try it with pan fried fish. Janine had told me all about white salmon that another vendor sold, so that got my taste buds going. Unfortunately there was no white salmon for sale but that didn't stop me from buying the samphire.

I had no idea how to cook the samphire so I asked the vendor  and he told me that I could pretty much do anything with it, from sauteeing it to steaming it. I trawled through the internet and decided to blanche the samphire and then dress it with olive oil and lemon juice. This would compliment the pan fried plaice (I was planning on serving) nicely. 

Sea Asparagus Salad (Serves 2)

1 Cup of Samphire

Olive Oil

Squeeze of lemon juice

Fresh cracked black pepper

Remove any tough stems from the samphire and wash thoroughly. Blanche for two to three minutes in simmering water. Strain. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice (to taste) and season with pepper. Serve immediately.

Christmas Plans

OK, so we have a week left to buy all our remaining gifts and of course do the marathon food shopping. This is a period that I absoutley adore, stocking up on all the treats and hunting for the perfect ingredients for the Christmas Dinner. Originally we had planned to do a full on Christmas dinner but we soon decided that we didn't want all the stress that  goes alongside especially as we are coming home on Christmas morning, so we have settled on having a buffet. I am going adapt some traditional Christmas dinner flavors into the buffet. I plan on making several small plates of appies.

Cranberry and Pistachio Bread

Cheese tray

Pigs in Blankets (Sausages wrapped in bacon)

Smoked Salmon

Shrimps with a Cilantro dip

Mini quiches (Asparagus & Smoked Turkey)

Basil pasta with Grape Tomatoes and Baby Mozzarella

Christmas Wardolf Salad

Christmas decorated chocolate cupcakes

Today I plan on making the mini quiches. These freeze well and the more food I can make ahead of time the better. They also thaw very quickly which is a bonus.

As we are on the subjects of buffets my works pot luck went down a treat. Everyone pulled together and the spread was amazing. My shortbreads were enjoyed and I received some lovely comments from  a couple of work colleagues. I also got to share some really nice recipes, one lady gave me her remaining homemade basil  pesto and another gave me the information to make a cilantro dip. I was amazed by the cilantro dip, initially I thought it would taste soapy but it was outstanding. It is one of those dips that you can dip anything into, hence the copious amouts of bread and raw veg that I ingested.