Here’s a recipe for a comforting warm salad of mushrooms and celery. If you have any blue cheese lurking in your fridge, or some walnuts or pecans in your larder which need using up, add those in too.

Recipe for lettuce, celery and mushroom salad

Serves 3

Ingredients

• 250 g/ 8 oz mushrooms
• 95 g/ 3 oz lambs’ lettuce, or any sort of lettuce
• 1 clove garlic, crushed with smoked salt
• 2 stalks of celery, destrung and finely sliced across (and the leaves – or use them on any meat or chicken you may be cooking)
• 25g/ 1 oz parsley – chopped
• 3 tbsp pink martini
• 7 tbsp olive oil
• Indonesian long pepper, or Urfa pepper flakes

Method

1. Take the stalks out of the mushrooms, take off any earthy, dirty looking bits and slice across. If necessary peel the mushrooms, slice across.
2. Fry the mushrooms, celery (as specified above, destrung and sliced – save some leaves for garnish) and the garlic in a little of the olive oil.
3. Add the parsley.
4. Deglaze the pan with the pink martini.
5. Mix in the rest of the olive oil (ideally with a cappuccino whisk) and dress the salad with this mix.
6. Garnish with any remaining celery leaves. Serve immediately while the mushrooms and celery are still warm.