I have been tagged a meme over at Holy Basil. Following are the rules and instructions:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Now, 5 people that I have tagged are as follow:

Fresh from the Oven - Very talented in baking.

Quick Indian Cooking - A lot of good quick and easy Indian recipes.

Rasa Malaysia - A talented food blogger from Malaysia too. She makes a lot of delicious food.

Soy and Pepper - Great Bento ideas.

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomato - A lot of lovely recipes.

They are special, not only for their superior flavour and quality, but because of the poulterer’s attention to the health and welfare of his hens, which are free to range and forage on green pasture from dawn to dusk, leading a natural and happy life.

 

I bought them at Sainsbury’s. Pay close attention and see if you could tell any difference?

I bought 2 fresh bunches of spinach when I was at Portobello Market at 90p each. Given a choice between Tesco or Sainsbury’s or M&S or Waitrose already washed, ready to eat and nicely packed spinach and those from farmers’ markets, I think I would prefer to pick my own fresh spinach that are unwashed, tight in a bunch with rubber bands, then wrapped in brown paper bags.

  

I have to agree with Pixie from You Say Tomato I Say Tomato that I love the vibes at farmers’ market too. When I was little, I liked to follow my mom to the market. Even until now. I remember I had my little basket and my mom had a big one. Nothing could be much more exciting than seeing fresh vegetables, seafood, fruits, poultry,… etc. And to be able to choose the items in the quantity we desired, also to negotiate.

 

With the spinach that I bought, I decided to make Salade Campagnarde aux Epinards. This salad is so easy to make and so tasty with the fresh leaves that I bought directly from the farmer instead of through the supermarket chains. They definitely taste sweeter (This is not my imagination, it’s true!)

 

Right. If you would like to try my version Salade Campagnarde aux Epinards, following is the recipe and method.

 

Serve 2

Ingredients:

2 or 3 handful of spinach

some cherry tomatoes (halves)

100g lardons (diced bacons)

2 eggs (hard boiled)

2 medium potatoes (boiled)

some croutons (optional)

 

Dressing:

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

0.5 tsp Dijon mustard

pinch of salt

pink of freshly ground pepper

 

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing together and give it a good whisk. Set aside.

2. Pan fried the lardons until they are golden brown and crispy. Set aside.

3. Halves the cherry tomatoes. Set aside.

4. Boil the potatoes. Set aside to let them cold then cut into chunky cubes.

5. Prepare hard boiled eggs. Set aside. Remove the shells then quartered.

6. Put spinach, cherry tomatoes and potatoes in a salad bowl. Give it a good toss.

7. Serve a good portion in each bowl/plate.

8. Sprinkle the lardons on the salad. Then, add some croutons.

9. At last, arrange the hard boiled eggs on top of the salad.

10. Drizzle a good amount of dressing over the salad. It’s then ready to be served.

It was a last minute idea to go to Portobello Market yesterday. We were probably woken up by the noise of drilling from the neighbour. Strong rays of sunshine shone through the blinds sent us a hint that the weather was extremely good and sunny.
 

I glide opened the window that leads to the balcony…. brrr…. ‘It’s cold’, I told myself. But, a day out to the ever popular Antique Market in London, why not? It’s a not to be missed market if you visit London. Apparently, it’s the world largest Antique Market. Portobello Market is located at Portobello Road is a road in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London, England. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. (Adapted from Wikipedia)

On Saturday particularly, the street market is probably the spotlight of the week. Products sold by the street vendors ranged from food, fashion, arts to second hand antique items. Apart from the stalls, there are shops that sell items from A-Z.

 

I was fascinated by all the fresh fruits and vegetables. Not to mention the food stalls. The smells of Paella, German sausages sandwiches, Kontomire Stew.. etc convinced us that we needed food after 2 hours of non-stop walking and shopping.

 

We tried the German sausage sandwiches for £2.50 each. Absolutely delicious. It came in a small portion though for that price. It didn’t quite fill us up. We then walked pass the Paella stall and we were tempted to try the Seafood Paella. So, we bought one to share for £6.00. It was so darn good. I love Paella, especially Seafood Paella. As I was too busy eating, I hadn’t had a chance to take shots of the food!

 

It seemed to be a never ending market as there are so many things to see that we spent almost 5 hours there! As the darkness drew nearer, we thought it was time to leave as our feet were numb and frozen as it was too cold to spend another 30 minutes outdoor!

 

We got in our car and immediately switched the heating on to warm ourselves and we couldn’t wait to head back asap with all the good stuff that we bought.

 

If you plan to visit London one day, or you are already in London, do drop by Portobello Road in Notting Hill. It will be one of the most wonderful experiences.

 

Website: http://www.portobelloroad.co.uk

Opening Hours: Market open every Saturday from 5:30am

Some shops open Monday to Saturday

How to get there:

Bus Services : To Ladbroke Grove via the number 52, 7, 70, 23 or 295 buses

Underground : The nearest tube station is Ladbroke Grove on the Hammersmith & City Line, but you can also walk from Notting Hill Gate on the Central line

Address:

Portobello Road, London W10 & W11