The World's Best Salmon Salad!

I plan on eating this one all summer!  It's a bit like a Salade Nicoise, but of course with salmon.

The trick to this salad recipe is getting the salmon just right; grilled when possible, and definitely not overdone.  If anything, I buy really good quality fish and oftentimes err on the side of underdone, but of course, please be super careful and don't serve it raw.  The salmon should be grilled with only a bit of salt and pepper, and should be served as warm chunks on the salad, not as a piping-hot slab.

The salad itself is fairly straight-forward.  The leaves are rocket, spinach, and other baby greens, and I really don't recommend using iceberg or other bland lettuce; you will need the sharpness of the leaves to contrast with the other ingredients.  To make the salad you will need to mix in grilled asparagus, barely-boiled green beans, diced tomatoes, green and black olives, boiled and quartered new potatoes, and wedges of cucumber.  You could also add a hard-boiled egg to the salad, if you eat eggs.

The dressing is very simple: cut up one shallot and mix into a small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Then toss the salad in the dressing, add the salmon on top, and voilà!  A simple and stunning salmon salad.  Serve with warm garlic breadsticks to really put the "yum" in "yummy"!

Delicious Summer Recipes

The world's best gazpacho.  Seriously.  This will feed about 4.

Start by blending the following ingredients until smooth:
3 cups diced tomato
1 red onion
8 large cloves of garlic
2 slices of bread
1 cup of malt vinegar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 T paprika
1 T cumin

Then mix in:
2 cups diced tomato
1 1/2 cup diced cucumber
1 can butter beans
2/3 cup canned corn
2 finely chopped chillies
1 diced red pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish with:
1/4 of an avocado, diced, per person
chopped cilantro, to taste
chopped green onion, to taste
fresh-squeezed lime juice and cracked pepper

World's best Summer Salmon.  Awesome served with the gazpacho posted above, and super-easy to make!

Grill or pan-fry a piece of fresh salmon with a Cajun seasoning (chilli, garlic, paprika, cumin, pepper).

Serve crispy-skin-up on a bed of cumin rice.  The cumin rice is just boiled white rice mixed with olive oil, cumin, and salt.

Serve with diced avocado, cilantro, cracked pepper, and fresh lime.  Dust with paprika for added flavour and prettyness :)

Temporary Bluewater Moonscapes

I was out back at Bluewater a couple days ago, when I came across a surreal landscape interrupting the walkway.  It appeared to be a mound of boulders at first sight, but then, curiously, turned out to be styrofoam. I made an inquiry and found out that it was actually the famous Bluewater climbing wall, all disassembled and being tossed out.

The Mystery of (The Making Of) Edwin Drood

As many people in the UK may have seen, the BBC aired a 2-part made-for-TV movie this week, entitled The Mystery Of Edwin Drood.  This was the last book that ol' Chuck Dickens ever got around to writing, although he couldn't be bothered to finish it (I kid!  I  kid!  He had a stroke and died.)

Anyway, the BBC decided to film the 2-part mini-series in Rochester, as that's where the book was set, and I happened to stumble upon several days of the filming around town.  Although they shot most of the dramatisation in the Cathedral, they also used lots of other locations around town, including Prior's Gate (what you see in the shot above).  The only problem with Prior's Gate?  Well, it doesn't actually have a gate.  Technically, It should be renamed "Prior's Oversized Outdoor Granite Doorway", but I suppose that's another matter.

Anyway, the lack of a gate at Prior's Gate seemed to have posed quite a problem for the BBC team, as it would have rendered a pub and some electric street lamps (as well as cars, motorcycles, me, etc...) visible in the background of many of its shots.  So what to do?  Why, build a plywood gate top, drop some black sheeting, and tie some bushes to a table, of course!  And the effect was magical:



If you look closely you can probably see me wandering around in the background taking photos.

What a Beautiful Day in Rochester

It was such a beautiful day today in Rochester, hardly believable that it's mid-January!  I took the dog on a really long walk around town, and we stopped down at the docks for a bit.  The sun was throwing some long shadows, and the playfulness of the light was palpable.  I'm sure there will be some more photos to follow.

Photo taken January 11th, 2012, in Rochester, Kent, UK.

Rochester Cathedral, take 3

I think that sometimes it helps my creative process to look at familiar places from different angles.  Suddenly, these everyday images look fresh and new and beautiful again, like I've just stumbled upon some special new world.

If you want to try something really interesting, I dare you to turn the picture upside down and see what kinds of new details jump out at you. The brain works in wonderful ways.

This photo was taken at Rochester Cathedral, in Rochester, Kent, UK, in late December 2011.

Another Fabulous Portrait, Brought To You By The V&A

The dreamy eyes say "Yes", while the missing teeth say "Oh dear god, No."  The ancient Burmese had an interesting take on beauty.

Photo taken at the V&A Museum in London in mid-December, 2011.