I had some dill left over from having made this soup the other day and it's impossible to have dill in the kitchen without thinking at some point of  gravad lax; this salad is, therefore, a kind of riff on that classic dish and its traditional accompaniment of dill and mustard sauce.

I roasted a little piece of salmon, but you could just as well poach or sauté it, or even buy one of those little packets of ready cooked salmon from the supermarket.

I wouldn't be tempted to use olive oil in the dressing - you want something neutral.

serves one

for the salad:
125g cooked salmon, flaked
125g cooked new potatoes, quartered
50mm piece of cucumber, cut into large dice
¼ small red onion, thinly sliced
1 hard-boiled egg
a handful of salad leaves
¼ of a lemon

for the dressing:
3 tbsps groundnut oil
1 dsp white wine vinegar
1 dsp dijon mustard
1 tsp acacia honey
salt + black pepper
1 dsp of finely chopped dill

To make the dressing: in a small bowl, whisk together everything except the dill and taste for seasoning/sweetness. Now add the dill and briefly whisk.

In another bowl, combine the salmon, potatoes, cucumber and onion; pour the dressing over and mix gently .

Separate the white of the egg from the yolk. Finely grate the white and crumble the yolk.

Place a handful of salad leaves on a plate. Spoon over the salmon/potato mixture. Finally, scatter over the crumbled/grated egg, squeeze the juice from the lemon quarter over the salad and serve.

I shocked myself today. No, smart arse, not by standing on the scales or looking in the mirror - although that's just reminded me of the lovely moment in the 1968 movie Targets when Boris Karloff looks in the mirror and scares himself - it was because I was looking through the recipe archive and found that I hadn't ever included this humble but scrumptious offering.

I think the reason is that it's one of those recipes I've never thought to write down, just something I have made regularly for ages. Is it a salad? Well, I eat it when it's either tepid or at room temperature, and it has a dressing (made in the pan rather than separately) so I suppose so.

I'll most often have this with a fried egg on top or (if you want to get fancy) an oeuf mollet (using the method described on this page).

serves one
1 medium floury potato, in chunks
a handful of broccoli florets (about the same volume as the amount of potato chunks)
a splash of olive oil
1 sausage of cooking chorizo, in small chunks
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
½ onion, thinly sliced
1 ripe tomato, chopped
1 dsp capers, rinsed
a blob of dijon mustard
a good splash of red wine vinegar.
salt and black pepper

Cook the potato chunks in boiling water for 5 minutes and drain. Steam or blanch  the broccoli florets for a minute or so and drain. Add a splash of olive oil and the chorizo chunks to a frying pan over a low heat, turning now and again. After about five minutes, the chorizo will have released all its lovely paprika-stained oil into the pan. Remove the chorizo with a slotted spoon. Increase the heat a little bit and fry the garlic and onion until softened. Now add the potato chunks and fry gently until just cooked. Add the broccoli florets and cook until they're taking on a bit of colour. Now add the tomato, capers, mustard and vinegar and give everything a good stir. Allow a minute for the tomato to soften. Season to taste (remembering the chorizo and capers will be quite salty), remove from the heat and allow to cool.

I wouldn't normally bother writing about a cobbled together salad, but I really like this dressing I came up with and thought it worth a quick post.

On the other side of Rye Lane to the main entrance to Peckham Rye station, there's a little alleyway running alongside the railway bridge. Walk around the fruit and veg stall there and you'll find this place:

Saturday the 7th of  January 2012: a date that some cultural historians are already suggesting be ranked alongside such culinary landmarks as the publication of Elizabeth David's 'A Book of Mediterranean Food', the opening of the River Café, and the launch of Asda's 'Alex James Presents' range of cheeses. For it was on the morning of that very day, dear reader, that I published my first ever blog post.

While it's still probably a little too soon for any talk of a campaign to establish a national holiday, I hope that you'll allow me, meanwhile, to indulge in a moment or two of reflection. I apologise for the vulgarity and presumption. To quote P. G. Wodehouse:

If one or two skint people fancy a roast, they could be forgiven for assuming that beef is not an option; and, certainly, a hulking great joint of rib of beef (at £20 plus per kilo) is out of the question. In the past I've opted for a small joint of either rolled topside or silverside if I can get a small enough cut. From now on though, this will be my choice.

In September of last year Peckham got a wonderful new butchery - Flock & Herd. The owner is Charlie Shaw - who formerly worked at Mettricks of Glossop,  Drings of Greenwich and the Ginger Pig. A few weeks back, he introduced me to tri-tip - which I'd never had before. An expertly trimmed cut cost me just £6.07 for approximately 800g.

What in the wide, wide world of butchery, I hear you cry as one, is tri-tip? Well, to quote another alumnus of The Ginger Pig, Nathan Mills of The Butchery Ltd: