I love to cook – it is my form of relaxation and my way of demonstrating my appreciation to those whom I cook for. How truly wondeerful to be blessed with friends who eat, without complaint, everything which is served to them. A simple, yet heart warming pleasure.

But, equally how thrilling to hear those immortal words – "come on over to us for supper"... and how often those words are spoken by a friend and excellent cook to boot; by Julie. As travelling Canadians they certanly understand how to barbeque, no burnt or singed offering here; always succulent meats and steaks with awesome salads...and this broccoli salad is one of my favourites which I tried to re-create and then used an empty dish as proof of how delicious this crunchy salad is.

There are no exact measurements to give but rather guage on the number of people you a wish to serve then add a little extra.

Serving 2, I chose a small head of broccoli but as it is served raw do remeber to buy the freshest produce which you are able to find. Trim away the stalk then pare the florets to tiny bite size morsals; rinse and drain and toss into a medium sized mixing bowl. To this, add about 100g of lardons (chunks of smokey bacon) which have been dry fried to crunchy brown then drained on kitchen paper, followed by a spring onion which has been finely sliced – green and white parts together. Then the dressing: combine a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise with a couple of tablespoons of creme fraiche or soured cream and a squirt of lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt.

The objective is a light tasting sauce with a smooth consistency...it is always far easier to add a little extra lemon juice later than try and remove an over addition! Add the dressing to the salad and mix until thoroughly combined, adding a little more lemon juice if necessary then pile into a pretty dish and serve at room temperature.