/ 23 May 2023

What’s On My Table – With Alexandra Dudley

Alexandra Dudley is a food writer, cookbook author and host of the Come For Supper podcast. In this column, she takes us inside her east London kitchen to show us what she’s cooking and everything else she’s loving. This time, it’s her favourite salad – plus three top homeware hits and a must-try restaurant.

Alexandra Dudley

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A good dressing can take a salad from bland to brilliant. This is a dressing I often whizz up when I crave something crunchy and full of flavour. You’ll often find a variation of this sort of dressing on Italian menus, paired with one of my favourite ingredients, puntarelle. The creaminess works wonderfully against something slightly bitter. You can be flexible with what you add to this, but something crunchy is a must. I go for baby gem lettuce as it has the perfect crunch factor. At the moment, radishes and asparagus are my go-tos but cherry tomatoes, green beans or sugar snaps would be delicious too. I’m very into canned cocktails at the moment and have been drinking these MOTH mojitos most evenings. The flavours are spot on with this.

Spring Chicken Salad With Anchovy Dressing

Serves

Total Time

10 Minutes

Ingredients

2 heads of baby gem lettuce, washed with leaves separated

1 bunch of radishes, sliced

1 bunch of asparagus, blanched & halved

1 good handful of torn herbs (dill/basil/wild garlic/tarragon)

2 handfuls of shredded cooked chicken

For the dressing:

1 tin of anchovies, drained

1 garlic clove, peeled

Juice of ½ lemon

2 tbsp of white wine vinegar

1 good pinch of salt

8 tbsp of olive oil

Method

Step 1

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a high-speed blender or Nutribullet until you have a thick creamy dressing (it should resemble a slightly runny mayonnaise). If the dressing looks a little thick, just add a splash of water.

Step 2

Toss the salad ingredients in a large bowl, pour over the dressing and toss the salad well. Enjoy.

WHAT'S ON MY TABLE

Duck Tumbler, £15 | Ichendorf Milano

I always enjoy a novelty glass, especially for cocktails. This range from Fenwick is particularly beautiful.

Visit Fenwick.co.uk

6" Utility Knife, £95 | Katto

Every cook needs a good knife and a chef’s knife is the place to start. I love these handcrafted Japanese knives from Katto.

Visit Katto.Shop

Splatter Tablecloth, £220 | Polkra x Hot Pottery

I am a huge fan of Hot Pottery’s beautiful splatterware and love its new collection of table linens in collaboration with Polkra. The green is my favourite.

Visit Polkra.com

AWAY FROM THE TABLE

Caravel Restaurant

I went to Caravel for the first time last week. Floating on Regent’s Canal, the restaurant is set inside a converted barge. It’s far from gimmicky though, and feels closer to the chic hole-in-the-wall bistros you might find in Paris. The menu is concise and changes with the seasons, but one of the dishes that remains for most of the year is the potato rosti with sour cream and caviar. A plump nest of crispy knotted potato is topped with cold, pleasantly tangy sour cream and a generous mound of caviar. It’s the kind of crunchy, fatty, salty bite one craves alongside that first drink – and is a mandatory order if you go. My advice is to order one each so there’s no need for sharing.

Visit CaravelRestaurant.co.uk

For more from Alexandra, follow her @AlexandraDudley or visit AlexandraDudley.com