Russian Dressing (for burgers)

I love the dressing Byron use on their burgers. My best friend Jon doesn’t like mayonnaise or pickles and said “I definitely don’t want that” when the waiter described it to him. The boy loves Byron burgers however and I think this might be close to their own classic dressing. It’s from an American cook book I bought in California few years ago.

½ cup mayonnaise

2tbsp ketchup

1 ½ tbsp. sweet pickle relish

I think the pickle needs to be the green kind, that you find ready-made, and really finely minced. It needs to be mostly gherkin. I’m never fussed about ketchup and often buy the budget kind, but do believe mayonnaise must be free range.

The method is just – mix well.

Our burgers are simple coarsely minced meat made from good beef, seasoned with salt and pepper , a little dried oregano and a good splash of Worcestershire sauce and a shake of Tabasco. We do have a mincer though I can’t remember when we last got it out.

 I think the buns should be toasted and the burgers served with a slice of tomato. I like red onion rings but the boy doesn’t. Top with the Russian (Byron) dressing and squash the top of the bun down.

Carrot & Cauliflower Bisque

The key to this is getting it really smooth and Bisque-like. The boy likes this as it’s fresh tasting despite being made from winter vegetables

3tbsp butter

1 leek, white part only, chopped

1tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

5 cups vegetable stock (Marigold Swiss Bouillon is good)

4 medium carrots, chopped

2 cups cauliflower florets

1 small potato, peeled and diced

½ cup sour cream

Salt & pepper

½ cup chopped chives

This is easy, once you’ve done the chopping and chopping is no hardship if you have something good to listen to. In this case Radio 4. Incidentally a Bisque is usually seafood, thickened with egg yolk and finished with brandy. In this case it’s really the colour that is the tribute.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and gently cook the leek. Stir in the cumin and coriander. They always seem to be in this 2:1 ratio in Indian cooking so I shall respect the ancient wisdom.

After about 2 minutes, or when it starts to smell fragrant, add the veg – the carrot, cauliflower and potato. Pour in the stock. Chicken would be just as good. Simmer for 20 mins with the lid at a tilt.

Let it cool (cooling it slowly in the pan will allow the veg to keep cooking and softening). Blend – I think this should be in a blender and for a good few minutes . I keep another cup of hot stock on standby in case it needs thinning a little.

Pour back in a pan to warm it through and season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the sour cream and add the chives. This is a lot but it will fleck it with green, provided you’ve chopped them nice and finely.

The boy likes this served in large teacups to sip from. He usually does his best Tennessee Williams style impression of a southern belle.

Bloody Mary Salad

The boy generally prefers a salad to a cooked vegetable side dish. We’re having this with some cold thick sliced smoked turkey. It would be nice with cooked cold king prawns too.

300g cucumber

300g celery

200g cooked chestnuts

1x400g can good quality chopped tomatoes

2tbsp Oloroso sherry

2tbsp Worcestershire sauce

3tbsp grated fresh horseradish

2tsp celery salt

3tbsp olive oil

6 sprigs parsley

The boy has dug up a piece of horseradish root from the garden though that is the extent to his involvement. It is presented to me mud-on, to be cleaned, peeled and grated. There is no way to grate horseradish that will not make you cry.

Peel the cucumber and cut it in half lengthways. Run a teaspoon down the centre to remove the seeds and their watery membrane.

Run a vegetable peeler down the celery stalks to remove stringy bits. Chop the celery and cucumber into quite small pieces.

Warm the chestnuts in a dry pan until they start to smell like chestnuts. Ours come from a vacuum pack. Once they start to smell good, crumble them into the cucumber-celery mix.

Put the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, sherry, selery salt and olive oil into a blender and get it smooth. Do use decent tomatoes – this will just be watery if you don’t. Oloroso is a dark, dry, nutty sherry, though be careful. Though sweet versions are not supposed to be labelled thus, you will find blends labelled Oloroso, so do check that it will be nice and dry.

I can’t resist adding a small dash of Tabasco and a pinch of black pepper to the blender.

Once you have a thick dressing toss with the vegetables. You can afford a lot of dressing – much more than you would have if it was a vinaigrette.

I like to serve it in wide, deep tumblers rather than bowls. Sprinkle the parsley on top. Flat leaf if you can get it.