Posts Tagged With: poaching

This is where we clean out the garden in preparation for the big break… what better to do than throw it all in together?

Fresh from the garden: all the last veggies of the year…
Recipe source: Melissa

What to do:

1. For the dressing: Peel the garlic clove and put it in the mortar with a large pinch of salt. Gently pound to a paste. Juice the lemon and add the juice to the mortar (without pips) then stir the lot with the teaspoon and scrape it into the large bowl. Stir in the oil and grind some pepper, then whisk the dressing lightly. Wash and spin dry the herbs, pick off the leaves and snip finely with the scissors. Add to the dressing.
2. For the crispy kale: Preheat oven to 180C. Wash the kale really well, checking for bugs or cocoons, and using scissors, cut the leaves from the stalks in large pieces. Spin leaves dry in the salad spinner, then dry extra well with paper towel, then place in a bowl and add in a few pinches of flaked salt and drizzle of olive oil. Massage all the flavour into the kale for a minute, then lay out on the baking trays and slide into the oven for 5 to 7 minutes until crispy.
3. For the salad: Fill up the 2 big bowls with cold water & wash the salad leaves in several changes of water. Spin dry and wipe the bowls dry. Fill the small bowl with water and wash the small garnishing leaves and flowers. Reserve them carefully on a piece of paper towel then keep separate in the bowl.
4. Wash the tomatoes and drain and then slice any large ones in half without squashing! Wash the cucumbers, peel alternating strips of each one and then slice into thin discs.
5. To poach eggs: Fill the deep-sided frying pan 5cm deep with water and bring to a simmer. Fill the large bowl with cold water. Carefully crack each egg into a small bowl without breaking it and then carefully slide into the water. Let the pan sit for 4 minutes on the lowest heat before removing each egg into the bowl of cold water with a slotted spoon and reserving until needed.
6. Add the salad leaves to the bowl with the herbs and the dressing. Gently turn the leaves in the dressing using a clean hand without squishing the leaves.
7. Pile up the dressed leaves into the serving bowls with the  tomatoes and cucumber, sprinkle over the crispy kale, then carefully drain an egg and place in each bowl with the garnishing petals. Serve immediately.