Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus Salad

Right now everyone is extolling the virtues of British asparagus...

...I did so a few weeks ago in a light and fragrant risotto with peas and lemon but what with the weather finally turning I thought a salad would be a decadent treat for you all to snaffle in the garden or on the balcony with a cold glass of white and a hunk of good bread.

Some people may scoff at the wrapping of the asparagus with streaky bacon is sacrilege, it isn't, I assure you. By griddling the bacon wrapped asparagus you allow the fat to subtly flavour the delicate vegetable and end up with a perfectly cooked asparagus that is great to eat with your hands as much as it is with a knife and fork.

I used tarragon vinegar for the dressing to jar slightly against the mustard and be lifted by the sweetness of the honey, any vinaigrette combination works - to your taste be true. This is also the same when concerning the leaves or vegetables to include, I want this to be more of a jumping off lily-pad type of a salad.

NB. Vegetarians – griddled asparagus is delicious – the bacon is a decadence, not an essential.

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus Salad

as many asparagus spears as there are rashers of streaky bacon.

big bag of salad leaves (I used rocket and baby spinach)

handful of baby plum tomatoes, quartered

Dressing

2tbsp tarragon vinegar

4 tbsp olive oil

1tsp mustard (I used coarse Dijon)

1/2 tsp honey

salt and pepper

Stretch the bacon rashers with a flat bladed knife, blunt end towards you. This will make the bacon thinner, crisper and quicker to cook.

Wrap the bacon around your asparagus, which will need any woody stems trimming.

Heat a griddle pan to almost smoking and then turn down to low and pop the bacon-wrapped asparagus in the griddle pan. (Alternatively you could fry or grill).

Cook for around 2 minutes on each side, until bacon is browned and crisped.

Spin fresh salad in salad spinner after washing.

Scatter on a platter with tomatoes and arrange bacon-wrapped asparagus spears.

In a jar, put all dressing ingredients in, put on lid, shake vigorously and pour over salad.

Use vegetable peeler to add Parmesan or other hard cheese.

Serve with crusty bread.

Mum's Carrot Cake Bars

Food evokes such a sense of nostalgia

My mum used to make my school trousers, and reinforce the knees with extra fabric because I’d fall over so much. My brother and I weren't allowed fizzy drinks unless we were on holiday and our packed lunch would always come with a home baked treat. This was partly down to being thrifty and partly down to knowing that home baked treats taste so much better than supermarket fare. You have to remember this was the 80s, when a Club was the height of sophistication in the playground.

Moving in to secondary school my mum no longer made my trousers or reinforced my knees, I did get bought my first ever pair of Doctor Marten’s, which doubled as school shoes and my pathway to after-school rebellion. Soon my packed lunches gave way to dinner money that got spent on 10p crisps and cigarettes, innocence lost.

A few years ago my mum photocopied all her old recipe cards and I was transported on a nostalgia trip, so many different things that used to appear in my lunch-box were now attainable again, but made by me. Over the course of this blog I will delve through these history bites and give you an insight into my childhood along the way.

I decided to make these  carrot cake bars with a lime/yoghurt icing instead of the cream cheese prescribed as I wanted to take them in to work and was aware one of my colleagues doesn't tolerate cream cheese icing (I know, weirdo). I'm happy to modify and mix I up and compromise when I make food for others, my mum did

the same for me when I was going through my chocolate-spread-vegetarian phase…. A story for another time, maybe.

I substituted the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves for ground ginger, any warm ground spice will work well. Obviously you can substitute the dried fruit and nuts to your taste. Everything is adaptable. This is why i've given you the two icings, one is my mum's and one is mine.

Let me know if you've resurrected any old family recipes or been passed any down.

Mum's Carrot Cake Bars

200g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

3 eggs

200g grated carrot

175g caster sugar

165 ml vegetable oil

50g raisins

75g chopped walnuts

Set the oven to 180c/Gas mark 4

Sift plain flour, baking powder, bicarb, spices in to a bowl.

Combine eggs, carrots, sugar and oil in a large bowl and mix well.

Add flour mix gradually mixing with metal spoon or spatula until thourouhly combined. 

Mix in raisins and walnuts.

Spread batter into 15 x 10 x 1 tin, ungreased and bake for 25 - 30 minutes - check with a skewer.

Cool on a wire rack.

Lime Yoghurt Icing

2 tbsp Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp lime juice

zest of 1 lime

200g icing sugar

Cream Cheese Icing

75g cream cheese

50g butter

2 drops vanilla essence

225g icing sugar

Either icing is the same, chuck in a bowl, whizz with an electric mixer till combined.

Don't ice the cake until it has cooled.

Cut into 8 - 12 bars depending on how greedy you are.

Greetings and Salutations

This blog is aimed to help you as much as it helps me.

For you it will hopefully provoke ideas in alerting and allowing you a different mode or way of cooking on a day to day basis.

I'm passionate about food and about it tasting good, cooking from scratch and using fresh ingredients but it not taking over your life.

I want what I blog to show how cooking can be easy, fun, dynamic and efficient (words that don't usually marry together).

For me it will fortify my nightly dalliances with purpose and precision, this will benefit you, the less selfish my preparations, the better.

This isn't to say I won't present things that seem truly depraved and will admit to guilty food secrets and document the cravings that normally pass ephemerally.

My best piece of advice, wash up as you go along or have a handy skivvy on hand so you can attest after your hard work - 'Bagsy not washing up!'