Serves 4
For the dressing
mayonnaise 4 tbs
milk 2-3 tbsp
Worcestershire sauce several generous shakes
lemon juice of 1 small
freshly ground white pepper
whipping cream 2-3 tbsp
For the salad
eggs 4
round lettuces 4, ruthlessly trimmed of all dark-to-mid green outer leaves to reveal only a pale green/yellow heart
mustard cress 4 punnets
chives 1 small bunch, snipped
extra virgin olive oil a little
Maldon salt
freshly ground black pepper
Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing together in a bowl until the consistency of pouring cream. Please use your own taste buds here, as to a flavour that suits you; I prefer the dressing sharp-ish, and also like the Worcestershire sauce to be notable. Keep cool in the fridge until needed.
Take the eggs, place in a small pan and just cover with cold water. Bring up to a boil, switch off the heat and put on a lid. Leave in the water for exactly 5 minutes, then place the pan in the sink and allow a steady stream of cold water to run through the eggs for at least 3 minutes. Lift out the eggs, carefully shell them and slice on a plate using an egg slicer – one of my favourite bits of kitchen kit. If you don’t have one, either slice with a knife or cut them into quarters.
Now, take the four lettuce hearts and separate into leaves. Arrange in a generously sized shallow dish so the leaves are as separate as possible; this will allow, all at once, for as much lateral distribution of the sliced eggs, a scattering of cress, the snipped chives and some dressing – the latter as a neat splatter – before mixing at table with the merest shine of oil and the faintest sprinkle of flaky salt and grind of pepper.
Simon Hopkinson is a food writer
