I had two dear Kiwi friends for supper last night, one over from Christchurch and her daughter who lives in London. I decided to do a fish supper as we have a fantastic fishmonger in Clapham South.

I bought hot smoked salmon for the starter and red mullet filleted for the main course. With the Aperol Spritz we helped ourselves, while standing, to steamed asparagus with melted butter (yum!) and hard-boiled quails eggs which we dipped in celery salt.

Entree — Hot smoked salmon and lentil salad

This starter is a firm favourite of mine

Ingredients

(serves 6)

3/4 cup Puy lentils, rinsed
1 cup white wine
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/2 cup walnut oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
5-6 spring onions, finely sliced
Approx 200g hot smoked salmon
6 handfuls salad greens
6 heaped tsp sour cream

Method

Place the lentils in a saucepan with the wine and 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil then simmer until just cooked (20-25 minutes). Check often as they overcook easily. Drain and set aside.
Place the mustard in a small bowl and slowly whisk in the vinegar then the walnut oil. Season well.
Mix the lentils with the spring onions and half the vinaigrette. You can mix the shredded hot smoked salmon in with the lentils or just place it to the side on the plate as I have done (see photos above).
Place a handful of greens on each plte and some of the lentil mixture to the side. Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette then place a teaspoon of sour cream on each plate.

Main course — Lightly fried fish fillets

The main course was lightly fried fillets of red mullet served with samphire which I had lightly fried in butter. Samphire is one of the best green vegetables to complement fish as it is quite salty. For those of you who don't know what Samphire is, it is a sea vegetable that grows abundantly on shorelines, in marshy shallows and on salty mudflats. It has a crisp texture and tastes of the sea.

Dessert — Berries and cream

For dessert we had fresh raspberries and strawberries served with Cornish clotted cream. What more can you ask for...maybe just more of those Aperol Spritz!