Camden New Journal - recipe for Beetroot and peach salad By Clare Latimer

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The Review - FOOD AND DRINK - Cooking with CLARE
Published: 20th August 2008

Salad days are here – whatever the weather!

Clare Latimer is inspired by the London Food Festival to whip up a summer soup and salad

YET again this year I had a lovely evening at the Channel 4 Taste of London Food Festival in Regent’s Park. There was a great deal of food and various drinks to try, ranging from flavoured soft drinks to 60-year-old brandy – which comes out nearly as dark as black treacle – and dishes such as fresh oysters and belly of pork cooked in cumin.
The only rule is that not too many flavours are mixed together, otherwise it makes the journey home rather uncomfortable!
I had the good fortune at the festival to meet the cheeky and outrageous Jeremy Lee, head chef at the Blueprint Café, which overlooks the Thames at Tower Bridge. He was in the BBC Great British Menu competition recently and turned out to be great fun and very amusing to chat to. It has prompted me to visit the restaurant again soon for the view and food.
He had a great description of salads: “Variations of salads are quite literally limitless in scope. Textures, colours, fruits, vegetables, peppery or mustardy leaves, fishes fresh and cured, cooked or raw meats, poultry and offal in every conceivable fashion tumbled together.”
I am inspired to do a salad recipe and also a creamy summer soup but without the chef recipe complications.

Beetroot and peach salad
This can be a starter or main course. Certainly try and buy fresh raw beetroots, as the flavour is much better than precooked ones.
Also, the blue cheese can be of your choice but I would choose either a creamy Dolcelatte or Roquefort, but if you want to stick to British then a good Lancashire Blue would be good.

Ingredients
Serves 4 – 6
500g raw small raw beetroots
2 tbsp walnut oil
1 and 1/2 tbsp raspberry vinegar
1 teasp caster sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 fennel bulb
2 ripe peaches
250g rocket leaves
150g soft blue cheese
100g pecan nuts, roughly chopped.

Method
Cook the beetroots in boiling salted water for about three quarters of an hour, drain and leave to cool.
Mix together the walnut oil, vegetable oil and raspberry vinegar with the caster sugar and season with salt and pepper.
Thinly slice the fennel bulb and put into a salad bowl. Skin the peach and then cut into small cubes and add to the bowl. Then break the rocket leaves and blue cheese in small pieces and add the chopped pecan nuts. Skin the beetroots with your hands when cool and then chop into smallish cubes and add.
Pour over the oil dressing when ready to serve and toss well.

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