POTATO SALAD WITH GARLIC, OLIVE OIL AND RED ONIONS

Good Afternoon to you,

I turned the radio on the other morning,  to discover, Jeremy Vine from Radio 2, was just starting an interview with a Lincolnshire Farmer called Robert Carlton, also known locally as 'Farmer Wink'.

The reason for the interview, was Farmer Wink had travelled by train, for the very first time.  It turned out that Farmer Wink hardly ever left his small holding, travelling no more than 30 miles from the village where he lived.... well apart from a couple of occasions when he delivered 'taties' (potatoes) by tatie (potato) wagon, to Covent Garden.

Farmer Wink told Jeremy that he lives on a small holding in Minting,  near Horncastle and that he has worked his small holding for 48 years.  He rarely watched television, but when he did, he liked to watch the evening news programme. 

When Farmer Wink spoke, he spoke in the broadest of Lincolnshire accents, which I have to tell you, took a lot of concentration on my part, to understand what was being said. Interestingly, Farmer Wink said as a child, when he attended school, his teacher tried to change his Lincolnshire accent, as it was much too broad.  He was given many lines to write out as punishment during his time at school, but he said he never wanted to change his accent.

The day of the interview was a day of firsts for Farmer Wink as he was going to  10 Downing Street for a photo stop.  He was also going to visit the Shard, which is Western Europe's tallest building and Farmer Wink said it would be the highest he had ever been in his life. Later in the day he was also visiting Buckingham Palace. Jeremy went on to ask Farmer Wink if he could list other firsts,  and he replied that he had never been on a bus,  on an underground train or even an escalator, but I wasn't sure if he was going to travel on the underground on the day of his visit..... it was the accent I'm afraid, as I did get a little lost at some points.

Having arrived in London he said there were so many people everywhere. He asked, "Where were  they going and what were they doing".  Farmer Wink said he was enjoying his visit to London, but he would rather be home on his farm.

I am not sure how this visit came about, but I know it was arranged by William Wright from Radio Lincolnshire.

When William agreed the date with Farmer Wink, East Coast Trains donated two first class tickets for Farmer Wink and William. So with the date arranged the adventure begun. William travelled with Farmer Wink, and guided him around London.... remember this was his first visit to the busy capital and with it's hustle and bustle, Farmer Wink was certainly going to need some help.

Listening to what Farmer Wink had to say, really fascinated me, as I have experienced so much and travelled such a lot during my lifetime..... but here was Farmer Wink, only two years older than I am,  who had never travelled,  had never been on a train, until that day.... and yet, he sounded so happy and content with his life.

So it started me thinking, what do we really need to make us happy and content?  If Farmer Wink is anything to go by.... not a lot.

What do you think?

So this is really a co-incidence, as I had not intended making Potato Salad today to link with Farmer Wink's tatie delivery to Covent Garden.  I had intended making custard, but I got side tracked with some sewing and lunch was a little late, so the dessert was left by the wayside as I needed to focus on lunch. Now, you know all about me, and my love of potatoes, so this was not a difficult decision for me. I had a bag of new potatoes in the store cupboard, and I decided to make us a lunch to include,

Potato Salad.  We enjoyed this salad with steamed salmon.... my favourite fish.  The salmon took seven minutes to cook and the small new potatoes fifteen minutes.  So while the potatoes were cooking, I made the dressing and the whole meal was ready in 25 minutes..... pretty good I think.... well to be truthful, on this occasion, I have to add a little more time because of the photographs, but normally this salad does take only 25 minutes to prepare.

So it's on with the pinnie and the music I am listening to, is someone I have recently discovered,

George Ezra.  I first heard  the song Budapest, on the radio, so I listened to a few more of his songs on Itunes which I thought I would recommend. I think you will enjoy  'Song 6', and 'Listen to the Man'.

So whilst I am listening to 'Break Away' I will organise my ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

FOR

POTATO SALAD WITH GARLIC,

OLIVE OIL AND RED ONIONS

1 kg New Potatoes

THE DRESSING

2 cloves of garlic

1 small red onion

1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of cider vinegar

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 handful of parsley

plus

1 jam jar with a lid

HOW TO MAKE

POTATO SALAD WITH GARLIC,

OLIVE OIL AND RED ONIONS

Place the new potatoes

in a pan,

add a teaspoon of sea salt

and enough hot water to cover the potatoes.

Bring to the boil, 

then reduce to a

simmer, until the potatoes are tender.

While the potatoes are cooking,

make

THE DRESSING

Crush the garlic

and place in the jam jar.

Add

the wholegrain mustard,

lemon juice,

 cider vinegar,

sea salt

and

freshly ground black pepper

and

olive oil.

Replace the lid securely

and

shake 

until the ingredients

are combined.

Leave the dressing to stand until the potatoes are cooked.

Meanwhile,

finely chop the red onion

and add to the dressing.

When the potatoes are cooked,

drain the water

and place the potatoes into a large dish.

While the potatoes are hot,

pour over the dressing

and toss very gently.

Allow to cool

When cool, add the parsley

and 

enjoy.

As I mentioned, we enjoyed this potato salad with steamed salmon, but you can also serve this salad, with meat or chicken, or if you really want to keep this as a salad, just add some par boiled green beans and brocolli florets.

Oh yes, I must tell you, that I have no idea why Robert Carlton is known as Farmer Wink..... maybe he winks when he smiles and says hello.  What I do know, is he is a very content and happy man.

Take care and I will see you next week.

This week I will be joining,

Karen from Sew Many Ways
and
Lisa from Flour Me With Love for Mix It Up Monday