Ploughman's Antipasti

The boy likes grazing meals that you can pick at. I need to leave him his dinner tonight so this is a cross between a Ploughman’s Lunch and Antipasti. The quantities should be just enough for him.

This isn’t so much a recipe as a list of ingredients. Unusually this is commentary first, ingredients last. We have some rectangular serving dishes divided into 3 sections so I’m using one of those.

1^st Section

2 fat spring onions, trimmed and cut into one inch lengths

4 radishes, trimmed

3 inches of cucumber, cut into big dice

6 assorted cherry tomatoes (These are a mix of red and yellow)

2^nd Section

A tablespoon of the really good pickle we made a few years ago, but can’t remember what’s in it. (Branston would do).

8 really fat cubes of Double Gloucester Cheese

4 thick slices of Wiltshire ham, from the deli, cut up so they fit

A good squirt of English Mustard in the corner, for dipping

3^rd Section

2 large pickled onions. The boy prefers the mild ones though I’m drawing the line at the sweet ones.

7 mixed olives

3 African peppers stuffed with cream cheese

3 sun blush tomatoes

I’m really not suggesting you count the olives etc. More just describing what this dish ended up like. It looks really pretty. Last thing is to slice him some bread and wrap it in greaseproof paper. I was hoping to find sourdough but have had to make do with a French Paysanne loaf instead.  I hope the dish will tell him I love him, but I expect he’ll be starving and just neck it down.

[3 July Update - I think the recipe for the unidentifiable pickle might well be the one posted here on 14 July 2012. It's been mellowing for a year but still has a real kick, so it's a very strong contender.]