Cut price champers…offer ends 4 May

Although the recent sunshine has put a spring in my step the past week or so, as with life, the British Summer is bound to be unpredictable.

There is however, one thing that always brightens my mood. A glass of perfectly chilled, crisp dry champagne. Now couple that with cut-price bargain and I am halfway to heaven! Imagine my delight when I walked into Sainsbury’s this afternoon and discovered they are doing one of their fabulous 25% off all wine and champagne offers. The only catch is that you have to buy a minimum of 6. Oh, the hardship. I sometimes like to buy a few half bottles when they are on discount, as it doesn’t feel quite as decadent for a midweek treat.

The best deal on budget bubbly is the Sainburys own brand extra dry champers (already down to £14), and with the discount ends up at £10.50 a bottle. If you are happy with New World bubbles there is Jacob’s Creek , or Valdo Prosecco which you can pick up for £5.25 a bottle including the discount.

If you want to order online, or just to have a look at what’s on offer, you can look online at

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/index.jsp

À votre santé

Speedy Smoked Salmon Fishcakes

Can I just first set the record straight, before you get the idea that I am living some ridiculously luxe lifestyle eating smoked salmon and drinking pink champagne (if only…)I am not in the habit of feeding smoked salmon to the toddlers.

My inspiration for this particular ‘recipe’ came quite by chance. On this particular occasion last year we had stayed late at the park and suddenly realising that it was way past tea time, and that the fridge was almost bare, I stopped in the small local supermarket on the way hoping for something halfway healthy that could be served up in under 15 minutes.

I had a vague recollection of some leftover mash back in the fridge and set out on the hunt for some half decent sausages. Always popular with the toddlers, (and Mr Mummyinahurry come to that). It was at that moment that the smoked salmon leapt (metaphorically of course) from the shelf. The fact that the smoked salmon ‘trimmings’ were on offer and less than a quid had absolutely no bearing on my decision. Really.

Back home a further rummage in the fridge revealed a ‘not long for this world’ lemon, and some spring onions that had seen better days. The joy of a packet of smoked salmon trimmings (other than the price of course) is that you don’t even have to do any chopping. So a quick mix around in a bowl, a few minutes in the frying pan, and dinner on the table before the complaints got too loud. I was quite astonished that my little fussy eaters wolfed the lot down. My son thinks that the smoked salmon is just another form of salami.I have yet to put him right on that one.

That was several months ago. Now these little money-saving beauties have become a regular feature of our mealtimes, for all the family, so only one meal to cook for all of us. Result.

I have more recently been known to turn the making of them into a home ‘we can cook’ * episode for Annabel and David. They love it, and I tend to find that they actually eat their dinner having made it themselves. The other hidden bonus of this recipe, is that they freeze really well, so I tend to make a larger batch and have a few tucked away in the freezer for those days when there really is no time to cook.

METHOD

The way that I make these varies every time, depending on what is left in the fridge, but here is a rough guide.

500g cooked mash

100g smoked salmon trimmings

rind and juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon

spring onions chopped (usually with scissors by me), or pre chopped shallots or chives that I tend to buy ready prepared and frozen

parsley (if i have it) chopped (or more likely, scissored) into the mix

an egg (to bind, but not essential)

Mix together.Form into patties. Fry on a medium heat for 3/4 mins each side.

I have from time to time coated these in breadcrumbs. In my opinion it helps to keep them together when frying but it’s not essential. If you chill the patties before cooking that also helps them to stay in one piece too.

*for those of you unfamiliar with cbeebies , ‘we can cook’ is a programme of great educational importance for young children under 5, keeping them informed and up to date with the latest developments in diet and nutrition, allowing Mummy to get on with very important ‘work’ like updating her Facebook page.

Smoked Salmon Fishcakes