NEW SERIES. EPISODE 4; Gardener Gerald Stratford cooks a potato salad

Potato Salad with Gardener Gerald Stratford

Gerald Stratford is a gardener and a gentleman. Claire drove to the Cotswolds for this episode of 5 O Clock Apron Podcast. Knocking on Gerald’s front door, Claire is quickly whisked through the house, past Elizabeth, Gerald’s wife, and their dog, Bilbobaggins both sitting in the living room, on through the kitchen and out into Gerald’s garden. And what a garden it is! Gerald’s garden is immaculate and stuffed full to bursting with untold fruit and vegetables, the garden is a maze of walkways and paths, shooting off in all different directions to various raised beds, and to what Gerald’s refers to as his giant growing cages, all shapes and sizes, because there are so many of these homemade structures. Marigolds dot the flowerbeds and pathways, “to keep the pests at bay, we are at one with nature you see Claire, we are part of it, we can’t fight it, but the pests hate the smell of the marigolds, so it does help a bit!”

Gerald spends a lot of his time in his garden and has a gazebo set up, with a small induction hob on a table with a chopping board close by; “I thought we could cook in the garden, Claire?” Claire is very happy about this, and the pair dig potatoes and get cracking, cooking in the garden, the potatoes only just dug from the ground less that 10 minutes ago. “Can’t get fresher than that, can you?” Claire says.

Gerald wants to make a potato salad that he’s been eating for over 40 years; he was first shown how to make it by his German friend Rolph’s mother for a fishing trip. Rolph is no longer with us, and Gerald dedicates this episode to his great friend, Rolph. It is a touching moment.

Gerald is a giant in the gardening world. Fashion designer Alexander McQueen even designed a limited-edition fleece jacket emblazoned with his favourite red cabbage for Gerald. Gerald is an icon and has graced the cover of US Vogue magazine. Whilst his speciality might be growing enormous vegetables, there is a tenderness in the way that Gerald gardens and his viewpoint on growing, that makes this giant a bit of a teddy bear, and a very special one at that.

This new series of the podcast is proudly sponsored by Tims Dairy Yogurt and Kefir.

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THE RECIPE:

Gerald's Recipe

serves 4 as a side dish

800g new potatoes

1 egg yolk, reserve the white for another use

150ml - 200ml olive oil (or use sunflower oil or mix of sunflower and olive oil)

1 tbsp dijon mustard

salt and pepper, to taste

2 heaped tbsp Tims Greek Family yogurt

splash of red wine, or cider vinegar

gherkins, as many as you like

sliced mortadella, as much as you like

small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

1 Wash the potatoes and put the potatoes in a saucepan and fill with cold water and a big pinch of salt. Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain and cool quickly, Geralds likes to put his potatoes in icy water to speed this up.

2 Meanwhile add the egg yolk and dijon to a bowl and whisk, begin by adding the oil, drop by drop to begin with, then switching to a steady stream as you begin to add more oil. Continue adding the oil, taking care to not add the oil too quickly.

3 Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. Add the Greek yogurt and mix well, add the vinegar and you're good to go.

4 Wrap the gherkins in the sliced mortadella and cut each in half if on the large side!

5 Dress the potatoes with enough of the mayonnaise, reserve any excess in the fridge, it is fine for up to x3 days in fridge.

6 Pile the potato salad onto a serving plate, add the mortadella wrapped gherkins, scatter over with the parsley, bit more freshly ground black pepper and serve.