Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Checking out Jamie Oliver's
'best in the world' salad claim

Many people know who Jamie Oliver is – the chef extraordinaire from Britain who has written many cookbooks and hosted several TV series.
   The first time I made a recipe of Jamie's was a couple of weeks ago, when my husband and I took Best Chorizo & Tomato Salad In The World (click for the recipe) for a spin.
   It’s an interesting title, and since I’ve been known to indulge in superlatives on this blog, I wanted to try the recipe.
   It turned out to be a very good salad, so perhaps it is the best in the world. My husband really liked it!
   The recipe calls for one raw chorizo sausage, roughly sliced. I found ready-sliced chorizo in the deli section of the local Superstore.
   Sherry vinegar is also a listed ingredient in the recipe. I’ve been having trouble finding that lately, and so have been using red wine vinegar as a substitute.
   Jamie suggests serving goat cheese alongside the salad, and I do too. It provides a tangy counterpoint to the chorizo.
   The recipe is written in Jamie’s conversational tone. It’s like you’re watching one of his cooking shows as you make the salad.
   However, this can sometimes result in confusing recipe instructions, so make sure you read over the recipe completely before you start.
   The chorizo is fried with garlic in olive oil, and sherry or red wine vinegar is splashed in. The chorizo is spooned over a salad of roughly chopped ripe tomatoes, halved cherry tomatoes, three spring onions (green onions) or a shallot, olive oil and flat-leaf parsley.

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