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Hedgerow Salad

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Effigy View Drop Down
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Joined: 17 June 2013
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    Posted: 23 December 2013 at 12:17
Please bear in mind that here in NZ salad is served with the main dish, either as a side or on the same plate.

I love foraging for wild greens, berries, nuts and fungi. It seems to me to be a rewarding and happy family thing to do over the summer festive break.
My mother would take me foraging during the summer holidays when I was a little girl, and to this day I tend to associate blackberries with memories of her and my grandmother. This salad is a tribute to the wonderful Christmas holidays I had growing up.

Hedgerow and Apple Salad



Serves 6

I spotted this recipe and tweaked it my way - the photo is not mine.

500-600g dark berries like blueberries, blackcurrants, blackberries, elderberries
a splash of balsamic vinegar
200ml fresh unsweetened apple juice
3 crisp green apples
Dandelion and assorted wild salad greens
Goat Feta
Coarsely chopped Walnuts.

Put 50g of the berries in a saucepan with the balsamic and the apple juice, sweeten to taste. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes, then strain through a fine-meshed sieve, lightly pushing some of the berries through with the back of a spoon to give the sauce a bit of texture. Leave to cool. Stand the apple on its end and with a sharp knife, cut thin slices towards and around the core; then cut the slices into thin batons.

To serve, mix the berries together with the apple and arrange on individual plates or a single serving bowl and pour the sauce over. Crumble over with feta and coarsely chopped nuts.
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Margi Cintrano View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 December 2013 at 17:30

Anne,

Truly lovely salad, and I love the profile, however, minus the White sugar ...

I am going to prepare this ...


Thank you very much for posting ...

Happy Holidays,
Margaux.
Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Effigy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 December 2013 at 18:02
That will be interesting Margi - I already halved the sugar from the original amount, I agree, less is best.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 December 2013 at 18:09
Anne. I have been eating salads for 50 years & this is first I have seen that has white sugar. I love your profile however as stated ... no on sugar; un.needed. To each their own. Happy Holidays.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Effigy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 December 2013 at 22:14
Margi. I am honored that you like my idea and am interested in all your feed back. thank you.

I suppose the issue of sugar in the sauce comes down to the tartness of the apples and berries used. I completely agree that sugar in a salad dressing is probably not necessary, and as mentioned I have halved the amount stated in the original recipe.
   
On reflection, the correct wording should be - 'sugar to taste', what do you think about that? In fact I am going to edit the recipe right now.

On the matter of salads - I too have been eating them for 50 years, and I can still remember the sweet salad dressing my mother made using condensed milk. Fortunately she always served it in a proper condiment jug, so it was always possible to avoid it.
She challenged me to make a better salad dressing since I didn't like hers, I must have been a stroppy teenager at the time. So I paid for a Cordon Bleu cookery course, pretty radical for NZ in 1975, and learned how to make real egg mayonnaise when I was about 15. To my horror, when I first met my Mr Builder I discovered he is a fan of condensed milk salad dressing Wacko

Just for a giggle - here is the recipe:

Highlander Salad Dressing
(Serves 20)

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk, 395g
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup malt vinegar
1 tsp mustard powder or wholegrain mustard

How to make

1. Beat all ingredients together to combine.
2. Leave a few minutes to thicken and store covered in the refrigerator.
Preparation time: 
5 minutes
Cooking time: 
0 minutes

I make it for him because he likes it (his Mum and mine must have had the same recipe book Dead )
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 December 2013 at 01:51
Anne,

You are a wonderfully prolific writer ... I am hysterical over your last line !!!

Yes, Original récipe: Sugar to Taste ...

Wow ... I have to say having 2 Mediterranean native parents; French Mom and Italian Dad, sugar in a salad was never implemented.

Now,I love fresh wild berries or naturally organically produced, and I believe a Golden Delicious variety would be beautiful in this salad and of course, Balsamic Italian Modena Vinegar with Evoo ( extra virgin olive oil ) ...

On the subject of condensed milk; this heavily sweetened product would produce wilted field Green lettuces, and clash with the walnuts and the Feta (I use Goat Feta ) ...

I prefer your Apple juice ( unsweetened ) dressing with Balsamic Vinegar. Much lighter, as I do not like " wet salads " ... I prefer a drizzle of the dressing very lightly ...

I love wild field greens and Rucola ( Arugula ) will work perfectly as well as a Little Radicchio ...

I am going with this and shall post my versión of your Hedgerow Salad and call it Margaux´s Mediterranean Hedgerow Salad ... Providing a credit to you for the original and the link ...


Thank you very much for the récipe and chat, always a pleasure.

Ha Ha Ha ...

Happy Holidays,
Margaux
Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.
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