asparagus, egg & anchovy salad

Asparagus, egg and anchovy salad courtesy of Bill Granger in Delicious Magazine

Soft boil three eggs. Blanch two bunches of asparagus in some salted water for 2-3 minutes, then plunge into cold water.

Arrange asparagus and eggs on platter. Finely chop about 4-6 anchovey fillets and scatter over eggs and asparagus. Make dressing from 2 tbs olive oil, 1 tbs of lemon juice and 1 tsp Dijon mustard - whisk together, season to taste. Drizzle over assembled salad prior to serving. Finely chop chives and garnish salad.

Mint pesto

2 bunches of mint (it was such a hit I wish I would have doubled this)
parmesan cheese
garlic
canola or olive oil *

Unfortunately I don't measure my ingredients for pesto. I just grab my pestle and mortar and fill it with the mint leaves, grate about 1/4 cup of parmesan and 1 large clove of garlic.

With the toasted pine nuts, I guess I added about 3 tablespoons. Generously splashed some oil in and started bashing away. Sometimes I want a runny pesto with a finer grind sometimes I do not.

This pesto was fairly thick and coarse, my brother-in-law was bashing it while I oversaw it.

If I had have made it all myself I think would have thinned it a little more with some oil.

*(I don't necessarily think you always need to use olive oil for pestos. I am fairly fickle when I am making them I switch between canola and olive. I think if I want the herb flavour to be truly the principle one, I tend to use canola)