Showing posts with label low carb recipes South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label low carb recipes South Africa. Show all posts

Saturday, 23 August 2014

Low-Carb Swedish-Style Meatballs in a Creamy Lemon Sauce

Low-Carb Swedish-Style Meatballs in a Creamy
Lemon Sauce, with Cauliflower Mash.
These juicy meatballs are mouthwateringly good, and I hope you'll give my new recipe a try.  I adore meatballs, and in this recipe I've eliminated all starch to make this recipe suitable for diabetics and anyone else on a low-carb, #LCHF or Banting regime.

The lemony cream sauce cloaking these meatballs is inspired by similar Scandinavian recipes, but I've added my own twists.

This dish is easy to make, but it does require a large shallow pan, because the sauce - containing not a speck of flour - relies for its thickening on fast reduction. The bigger and shallower your pan, the sooner the sauce will thicken. If you don't have such a pan, use two big frying pans to make the dish, dividing the meatballs and sauce ingredients between them.

Most meatball recipes contain bread crumbs or bread soaked in milk, which help to lighten the mixture and produce soft-textured balls.

Because my recipe contains no carbs, the meatballs are pleasantly springy, but they will not turn into tough bullets if you carefully follow my cooking instructions. The yoghurt helps to create a tender mixture, so don't leave it out.

Wine recommendation from Michael OliverHe says: "Boschendal S&M, Shiraz Mourvèdre 2012."
Go to the end of the page for more detail about this wine pairing.

There is quite a lot of cream in the sauce, and I make no apologies for that, because fat is not a pressing issue when you're following a low-carb regime. However, if you'd like to lighten up the sauce, use half the quantity of cream, and carefully stir in half a cup of thick natural Greek yoghurt at the end.  (Here are my tips for cooking with yoghurt.)

Not a speck of starch in this recipe
This recipe also asks that you add and remove the meatballs from the pan several times, and I'm sorry to ask you to do this, but I've formulated the recipe in this way so that the sauce is lovely and thick, and the meatballs still tender.

You may raise an eyebrow at the quantity of nutmeg, allspice and pepper in the meatball mixture, but please trust me on this. This amount of meat needs robust seasoning, and when it's finished cooking the spicing is subtle, though distinct.

I recommend that you test the seasoning by frying a dab of the mixture before you roll it into balls - please see my instructions, below.  Also please note that allspice (comprising powdered pimento berries) is not the same as mixed spice.

If I were cooking for myself, I'd add some finely chopped capers, dill and anchovies to these meatballs. My kids and husband don't like these ingredients, however, so I've reluctantly left them out (although I did shower snipped dill over the top of the meatballs when I snapped these pictures).

I almost always use a combination of beef and pork mince when making meatballs because pork adds extra juiciness, but you can make these with beef alone, or with minced chicken.

Serve this with cauliflower mash or - if you're not on a low-carb regime - with creamy mashed potatoes or buttery champ.

This recipe serves 8-10, and makes about 45 meatballs, because at the moment I'm feeding many mouths. However, you can easily adapt it to serve 4-5 people by halving all the ingredients. I heartily suggest that you make the full amount of meatballs and freeze them, still raw, for future use. Or you can keep the cooked meatballs in a lidded plastic container in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Low-Carb Swedish-Style Meatballs in a Creamy Lemon Sauce

For the meatballs: 

1 kg lean beef mince [ground beef]
500 g pork mince
1 small onion, peeled
2 large free-range eggs, lightly whisked
3 Tbsp (45 ml) natural yoghurt
2-3 tsp (10 - 15 ml) salt, to taste (see recipe, below)
2 tsp (10 ml) nutmeg
2 tsp (10 ml) allspice
1 tsp (5 ml) white pepper
1 tsp (5 ml) finely milled black pepper
the finely grated zest of a large lemon
4 Tbsp (60 ml) olive oil or sunflower oil, for frying

For the sauce: 

½ cup (125 ml) white wine
2 cups light beef or chicken stock (or water to which you've added a teaspoon or two of good-quality liquid or jellied stock, such as a Nomu Fond or Knorr Stock Pot)
the juice of a large lemon
2 Tbsp (30 ml) Dijon mustard
1 cup (250 ml) sour cream or thick fresh cream

To serve:

finely chopped fresh dill, parsley, or chives

Put the beef and pork mince into a large mixing bowl, or into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a plastic paddle or a dough hook.

Grate the onion on the fine teeth of your cheese grater to create a smooth wet pulp.

Add the onion pulp to the bowl along with all the remaining meatball ingredients. Using your hands, squish and squeeze the mixture until well combined. (If you're using an electric mixer, beat the ingredients together on a low speed until well mixed, but don't over-process the mixture, or it will become sticky and too homogenous.)

Now test the seasoning. Heat a lick of oil in a frying pan. Pinch off some of the meat mixture, press it into a little patty and fry it for a minute or two minutes on each side. Taste the patty once it's cooled slightly. You might need to add more salt, or a whisper more of nutmeg, allspice and pepper, if you can't clearly taste these flavours.  Place the bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up.

Roll the meat mixture between the palms of your hands into small even-sized balls.

I always fry meatballs in a circle, and then flip them over
in the order in which I placed them in the pan. Watch them
closely, as they brown quickly. 
Heat the oil in a large, shallow non-stick pan over a medium-high heat and fry the meatballs, in batches of 10, for 1-2 minutes on one side, or until they've developed a deep-golden crust on their undersides. Now flip them over and fry them for a further minute or two. Don't over-crowd the pan, and watch them closely, as they blacken in an instant.

When them meatballs look toasty on both sides (but are still half-raw inside) remove and set aside. Tilt the pan over a bowl and spoon away any excess fat.

Put the pan back on a high heat, and tip in the wine, stirring and scraping to dislodge any sticky brown bits. Now pour in the stock and cook at a brisk bubble for 4 minutes, or until the stock has reduced by about a third. Add the lemon juice and mustard, whisk well to combine, and bubble for a further 2 minutes.

Return the meatballs to the pan. Arrange them in a single layer so the liquid comes about half-way up their middles. Cover the pan with a lid. Simmer at a gentle bubble for about 4 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked right through, but still soft and tender.

Once again, remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside while you add the finishing touches to the sauce.

Pour the sour cream into the liquid left in the pan and whisk well to combine.  Reduce over a fairly high heat until the sauce is thickened and glossy, and a beautiful cafe-au-lait colour.   Return the meatballs, plus any juices that have accumulated underneath them, to the pan.  Heat through for one minute, season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Scatter over the fresh dill, parsley or chives and serve immediately with steamed veggies and cauliflower mash. Or proper mashed potatoes, or garlicky champ, if you're not low-carbing.

Makes about 45 meatballs, and serves 8. 


Wine pairing by Michael Olivier

Boschendal S&M, Shiraz Mourvèdre 2012

It looks like: Deep dark ruby plum at the core which pales to purple garnet at the rim.

It smells like: Toasty oak with waves of back cherry and a grind if white peppercorns.

It tastes like: Easy soft entry of sappy spiced plums and brambles on a broad palate with soft tannins. Really good mouthful with an undertow of dark chocolate, oak and its concomitant spices. Quality shows in the long full and gently waning aftertaste.



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Friday, 11 July 2014

A discovery: how to cook beef topside & fillet in a wonderful Wonderbag

It's taken several months of experimentation to write this blogpost, because I wanted to test the method over and again so it works perfectly for you every time. In a nutshell: you can use the Wonderbag, a brilliant energy-saving South African innovation, to produce tender beef topside (and fillet) that's uniformly pink within, dark and caramelised on the outside, and filled with flavoursome juiciness.

 How to cook perfect rare & juicy beef topside in a Wonderbag. The 18th-century
silver mustard pot in this pic was a gift from my husband on our 25th anniversary.

Wine recommendation from Michael OliverHe says: "Zonnebloem Cabernet 2012."
Go to the end of the page for more detail about this wine pairing.

There are several photographs in this blogpost showing my various recipe trials. I hope this post will encourage you to buy or donate a Wonderbag (which you can do here, or at YuppieChef. If you're not in South Africa, click here).  

My hard-working Wonderbag.
If you're a chef in a busy restaurant kitchen, I'd like to suggest that you supplant some of your sous-vide baths with a few of these versatile gadgets.

Let me go back a little. I've owned a Wonderbag since 2009.  It's a bit raggy and saggy and stained after so many years at the coalface, but I still use it several times a week for making slow-cooked family dishes and my foolproof Greek yoghurt

It's also brilliant for holding delicate sauces - such as hollandaise and béarnaise - at a constant gentle temperature for many hours.

I take it along to the supermarket when I'm buying ice cream on hot days, and to the local pizza place when I'm collecting take-outs.

My interest in the Wonderbag was rekindled  a few months ago when I met the ebullient Italian chef Luigi Carola, Global Lead Innovation Chef for Unilever, and best known in South Africa as a star of Knorr's cooking adverts*.

Edge-to-edge pinkness, a lovely caramelised crust, and very tender meat

I don't know how Luigi and I got on to the subject of the Wonderbag, but once we did, over a few glasses of wine, there was much high-fiving.  He told me he'd been experimenting with cooking a variety of dishes in his Wonderbag, and that he was so enthused by this cooking method that he'd written a cookbook on the subject.

What interested me most was his claim that the best fillet steak he'd ever eaten came out of a Wonderbag. Also, said Luigi, many other slow-cooked dishes can be incubated with great success using this method. He told me about Italian relatives who create gorgeous stews, pack them in a Wonderbag, then drive for many hours across Europe to deliver piping-hot meals to homesick children in other countries.

Here's how a Wonderbag works: it has extraordinary insulating properties that prevent heat from escaping from a very hot pot. If you closely follow the steps I've detailed below, the bag will 'hold' your food at a notch below boiling point for several hours.

After that, the temperature inside the bag (and pot) will drop in grudging increments over many long hours. I can't give you exact temperatures using my cheffy temperature probe, because a big no-no of cooking in a Wonderbag is opening it up, but my experience is that when I open my bag after 3 hours, the lid and handles of the pot are still too hot to touch with bare hands.

I've cut off the top of this piece of beef topside to show you what
you can expect when you when you cook it in a Wonderbag.
This slow, even cooking is what makes this technique so effective.

So I set about experimenting with beef roasts.

I adore topside, because my mum has always had a knack of roasting this temperamental cut to rosy-pink perfection.  Perfect fillet steak was my next challenge.

The biggest benefit of cooking beef this way is that you cannot over-cook it.  I can't emphasise enough this huge advantage of using a Wonderbag - you can leave topside or fillet in the bag for two or three hours, or longer, and when you open it up it will be beautifully warm, brown on the outside, and an edge-to-edge blushing pink on the inside.

It will also be well rested, tender and juicy.

There are two more reasons I love this technique.  One, it's so convenient: pop your roast in the Wonderbag and go forth to enjoy your Sunday morning.  Two, it's a huge energy saver. Sure, you'll use up a bit of power as you do the initial browning of the meat, but after that you can tuck the meat in its bag and let its residual heat do the rest of the work.

A whole fillet steak beautifully tender and rosy after two hours in my Wonderbag. 

How to cook topside & fillet in a Wonderbag - two recipes

1. Topside in a Wonderbag

1 x 1.8 kg mature good-quality topside, at room temperature
2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
milled black pepper
a pinch of flaky sea salt
a small sprig of fresh rosemary
1 cup (250 ml) red or white wine
1 cup (250 ml) water or stock
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled and lightly squashed
milled black pepper
a pinch of flaky sea salt

Select a piece of well-matured beef topside. 

Trim any big blobs of fat from your topside. Heat 30 ml oil in a large pot that has a tight-fitting lid, and which will fit neatly into your Wonderbag. Pat the meat dry with kitchen paper and season to taste with salt and pepper. When the oil is very hot - almost on the point of smoking - add the topside and brown it well on all sides, starting with the fattiest side.  This should take about 8 minutes in total.  Turn the topside over with a pair of tongs once each side is beautifully browned and caramelised.


Brown your topside well before you add the liquid. In this experiment
I added finely chopped onions, garlic and crisp bacon bits. Other times,
I've added sliced mushrooms and a pinch of chilli flakes.

Halfway through the browning process, add the rosemary sprig.

Now remove the meat from the pot and set aside on a plate. Drain any excess fat from the pan, then put it back on the heat and deglaze with a cup of wine, scraping and stirring to dislodge any golden residue. Bubble over a furiously high heat for 2 minutes, then add the squashed garlic cloves and water (or stock).

Return the topside to pan, fatty side up, and cover with a tight-fitting lid.  The liquid in the pot should come to about 2 centimetres up the sides of the meat.

Turn down the heat to medium and cook at a fairly brisk bubble for 12 minutes.  If you have a topside smaller than the 1.8kg I've specified in the ingredient list, cook it for 8-10 minutes (you'll have to use your instinct here). Don't take the lid off the pot to check the meat, or the temperature inside will drop.

After 12 minutes, the lid of the pot will be too hot for you to touch with your bare fingers, and you will see little puffs of steam escaping around the rim.

Without opening the pot, place it in the Wonderbag, cover quickly with the cushion, then tightly draw up the strings.  Set aside, undisturbed, for at least 3 hours, or until you're ready to serve it.

If, when you open the bag, you find the beef is too rare - and I've only had this happen once, when I couldn't contain my excitement - you can reheat the pot over a brisk heat until you once again see billows of steam (see above) then place it back in the Wonderbag for another 30 - 60 minutes.

Take the meat out of its pot and set it on a board to cool for a few minutes. Carve into slices and serve immediately.  Or let it cool, then refrigerate and carve it the next day.

If you'd like to make a gravy, strain the pan juices through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing down with the back of a spoon to extract the the garlic & rosemary flavours.  Boil briskly to reduce to a rich glaze, or thicken with a little flour slaked in water.

2. Fillet Steak in a Wonderbag

1 large whole fillet steak (about 1.5 kg)
a large sprig fresh thyme
2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
3/4 cup (180 ml) red or white wine
3/4 cup (180 ml) water or stock
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled and lightly squashed
milled black pepper
a pinch of flaky sea salt

Two hours before cooking, take the fillet out of the fridge so it can come up to room temperature. Using a sharp knife, trim away any visible fat, then cut away the 'silver skin' (membrane) on the outside of the meat.

Double the thin end over and tie it to the main fillet with kitchen string. Don't worry if one end is much thicker than the other (the thick end will cater for those who like their fillet rare, and the thin, doubled-over end will do for those who like brown beef).

Brown the meat all over as described above - this must take no longer than 5 minutes, in a blistering hot pan. If there is no smoke in your kitchen, your pan is not hot enough!

Halfway through the browning process, add the thyme sprig.  Set the fillet aside on a plate and deglaze the pan with the wine, as detailed above.

Now follow the same steps: cook the wine over a high heat for 2 minutes, then add the squashed garlic cloves and water (or stock). Return the fillet to pan and cover with a tight-fitting lid.  The liquid in the pot should come to about 1½ centimetres up the sides of the fillet.

Turn down the heat to medium and cook for 6 minutes. Don't take the lid off the pot to check the meat, or the temperature inside will drop.

After 6 minutes, the lid of the pot will be too hot for you to touch with your bare fingers, and you will see little puffs of steam escaping around the rim.

Without opening the pot, place it in the Wonderbag, cover quickly with the cushion, then tightly draw up the strings.  Set aside, undisturbed, for at least 2 hours, or longer (see my notes above).

Let the fillet cool on a plate, then slice and serve.

Wine pairing by Michael Olivier

Zonnebloem Cabernet 2012

It looks like: A brilliant gem-like deep ruby with an enchanting purple garnet at the edges.  This will change to a more brick red as the wine matures.

It smells like: Blackcurrants, hedgerow berries, spice and cedar from the oak and a whiff of dark chocolate.

It tastes like: Classical Cabernet red and black berries and cassis.  Soft tannins. Fabulous long aftertaste. A truly underrated wine.


* Note:  I have a professional association with Knorr South Africa.


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Saturday, 3 May 2014

Low-Carb Lemon & Turmeric Meatballs in Lettuce Cups, with a Creamy Tahini Sauce

You can add any spices and aromatics you fancy to these juicy no-carb meatballs. I've included two hefty teaspoons of turmeric (because scientists keep discovering the amazing health benefits of this interesting yellow root) plus lemon zest for zing, and the usual warming spices I love so much -  cumin, coriander and smoked paprika. These are quick and easy to make because there's no arduous peeling, chopping or frying of onions involved, nor any whizzing-up of breadcrumbs.

Lemon & Turmeric Meatballs in Lettuce Cups, with a Creamy Tahini Sauce

Chives add a mild oniony bite, and a few dollops of  Greek yoghurt keep the meatballs nice and soft. If I wasn't on a low-carb regime, I'd serve these heaped over hot couscous perfumed with fresh mint and coriander, or perhaps with my aromatic naartjie couscous or Citrus Couscous Salad.  But I have to say they're also very good in crisp little iceberg lettuce cups piled with chopped cucumber, fresh mint and a creamy tahini sauce.

I particularly love the combination of hot and cold in this dish.  The meatballs must be very hot when you add them to the lettuce cups, and the tahini cream sauce very cold. The sauce is mild, delicate and creamy, containing Greek yoghurt and - something that is so allowed on my diabetic regime - a little cream to round out the flavours. I like tahini, but I often find traditional Mediterranean tahini sauces (basically, sesame-seed paste whisked with water, garlic and lemon juice) thin and somewhat bitter.

The only important watchpoint is to use fresh tahini that is still fairly runny.  Tahini tends to stiffen in the jar as it ages, and it also oxidises quite quickly, even if you've stored it in the fridge. If you can't easily spoon it out of the jar, throw it out and buy a fresh jar.

If you're not a fan of tahini, serve these meatballs with hummous, or tzatziki, or garlicky home-made mayonnaise.

This recipe makes a large quantity - around 48, depending on the size you roll them to.  Put the raw meatballs into a lidded plastic box, and they will keep in the fridge for two days. Alternatively, you can freeze them - still raw - then defrost them overnight in the fridge before frying them. You can make these using beef mince alone, or a combination of pork and mince (I often add ground pork to meatballs because it adds a special juiciness), or even with chicken mince.

Lemon & Turmeric Meatballs in Lettuce Cups, with a Creamy Tahini Sauce

For the meatballs:
1 kg beef mince, or a combination of beef and pork mince; or chicken mince
finely grated zest of a big lemon
4 Tbsp (60 ml) Greek yoghurt
1 large free-range egg, lightly whisked
a bunch of chives, finely snipped (about 5 Tbsp/75 ml)
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed (or more, to taste)
1 tsp (5 ml) salt
1 tsp (5 ml) coriander powder
1 tsp (5 ml) chilli powder
1 tsp (5 ml) smoked paprika [optional]
2 tsp (10 ml) turmeric
2 tsp (10 ml) cumin
freshly ground black pepper
vegetable oil, for frying

To serve:
tahini cream sauce (see below)
2 iceberg lettuces
1 large English cucumber, finely chopped
a few sprigs of fresh mint

For the tahini cream sauce:
4 tsp (20 ml) fresh tahini
1 cup (250 ml) thick Greek yoghurt
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed (or more, to taste)
the juice of half a big lemon
3 Tbsp (45 ml) cream
salt and a pinch of white pepper

First make the meatballs. Combine all the ingredients in a  big bowl, and use your hands to squish and squeeze the mixture so everything is very well combined.  Be warned: turmeric can stain your hands! I use thin plastic deli gloves when I'm making these.

To test the seasoning, make a tiny patty with the mixture and fry it in a lick of oil until it's cooked through.  If you think it needs more salt or spiciness, adjust the mixture to your liking.

Roll the mixture into small neat balls, each about the size of a large marble, and arrange them on a big plate or tray. Place them, uncovered, in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to firm up.

Heat the oven to 180 ºC and place a baking sheet or roasting tray in it to heat up.

While the meatballs are chilling, make the tahini cream sauce.  Place all the ingredients in a  bowl and whisk until smooth. If your tahini paste is a little stiff, use a blender to whizz everything together. Tip the sauce into a bowl, cover it with clingfilm and refrigerate.

Arrange the meatballs in a circle in your pan, so
you can flip them over in the order in which
you added them.
Now cook the meatballs. Heat a little sunflower oil in a large frying pan, and when it is hot and shimmering, add eight to ten meatballs.  When I'm frying meatballs, I always arrange them in a circle in the pan so I can flip them over in the order in which I added them.

Fry the meatballs for one or two minutes, or until golden and crusty on the underside, then flip them over and continue to fry for a further two minutes. Lift the meatballs out of the pan, and slide them onto the preheated roasting pan in the oven so they can finish cooking for a further ten minutes or so. Repeat this process with the remaining meatballs.

In the meantime, use a sharp knife to cut out the cores of the iceberg lettuces.  Strip off and discard the outer limp leaves, and remove the inner leaves, each in one piece.  Arrange the lettuce cups on a platter, and add a few tablespoons of chopped cucumber to each one.

Tuck a few hot meatballs into each lettuce cup, drizzle over the cold tahini sauce and top with a sprig of mint.

Makes about 48 meatballs, and serves 6-8. 



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Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Low-Carb Pea and Pea Shoot Salad with Bacon & Eggs

Pea shoots, with their delicate tendrils and beautiful leaves, are often used by chefs to dolly up plates of food (often to no avail, I'm afraid) but they have a wonderful fresh-pea taste and deserve to be eaten on their own as a salad leaf.

Low-Carb Pea and Pea Shoot Salad with Bacon & Eggs. Plate by David Walters

They're now available in South Africa, in season, at better supermarkets,  and you can also occasionally find them at farmers' markets.

This double-pea salad uses frozen peas thawed in boiling water; use fresh peas by all means, but they never taste as sweet and delicious as top-quality frozen ones.

Some very crisp thick-cut bacon cubes, a wobbly poached egg and a plain dressing of lemon juice and olive oil all add up to a most satisfying dish.  If you can't find thick-cut bacon, use smoked pork rashers. This is also good with frizzled Parma ham.

Please don't be put off the idea of poaching eggs: it's really very easy. The most important thing, in my opinion, is that you use very fresh eggs.  Elderly eggs have thin whites that don't hold their shape. To test whether your egg is fresh enough to poach well, break one onto a plate. The white should be viscous, and the yolk must perch proudly on top, at a slight height. If the yolk is flat and the white spreads out on the plate, buy fresher eggs.

Keep the water at a gentle simmer (that means a slow burble, with some busy little bubbles) and make a gentle whirlpool in the water with a spoon before you slip in the egg. Break it into a teacup first so you can pour it easily into the centre of the vortex. If you're not confident this will work, poach your eggs in clingfilm purses.  If you can't find pea shoots, use any dark green leaf.

This needs to be made at the very last minute, as pea shoots bruise quickly and wilt fast under a dressing.

Pea and Pea Shoot Salad with Bacon & Eggs

2 cups (500 ml) frozen peas
boiling water
2 tsp (10 ml) white vinegar
1 Tbsp sunflower oil
6 thick-cut bacon rashers, cubed
4 fresh extra-large free range eggs
2 punnets fresh pea shoots (or enough for 4 people)

For the dressing:
3 Tbsp (45 ml) fresh lemon juice
1 tsp (5 ml) Dijon mustard
a pinch of white sugar
flaky sea salt and milled black pepper
80 ml extra-virgin olive oil

First make the dressing. Put the lemon juice, mustard, sugar and a pinch of salt into a small bowl. Stir until the salt and sugar have dissolved, then whisk in the olive oil to form a smooth emulsion. Season with more salt if necessary, and some milled black pepper. Reserve.

Cover the peas with boiling water from the kettle, let them stand for a minute or two, or until thawed, then drain and reserve.

Now get the pot ready for poaching the eggs. Half-fill a deep saucepan with boiling water and set it on the stove at a slow simmer. Add the vinegar.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the bacon cubes until crisp. While the bacon is frying, poach the eggs. It's easiest to do this one at a time. Break each egg into a teacup, make a whirlpool (see above) and slip it gently into the middle of the pan. Poach for 3 minutes, depending on the size of your egg, or until the white is cooked and the yolk is still quite runny. Don't poke the eggs or stir the water, and don't worry if the water looks cloudy. If your egg is fresh, it will form a good shape. Remove with a slotted spoon, place on a warm plate and cover while you poach the remaining eggs.

Drain the bacon on kitchen paper. Arrange the pea shoots on four plates, sprinkle over the peas and bacon, and top each one with a warm poached egg. Pass the dressing round in a separate jug.

If you like, you can add the lemon juice to the hot fat left in the bacon pan, let it bubble for 30 seconds, then continue making the dressing.

Serves 4.

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