Recipies from the May 2026 Working Party

David Callan has kindly responded to interest shown in the popular dishes he prepared and cooked for the May 2026 bank holiday working party.

Working Party -May 2026

Recipes

Ukrainian potato salad

1.    Use new potatoes. Preferably Jersey Royals or Charlotte.

2.    Peel, scrub or leave as they are.

3.    They should be cut to the size of large unshelled walnuts  - exactly or very similar in size to each other.

4.    Boil or steam very carefully. Check with a skewer of fork after 5 minutes, then 6 minutes etc. They must not be too soft, or the dish will be ruined. They need to be on the hard side of just cooked.

5.    Drain and put in your salad bowl.

6.    Immediately apply salt and pepper and enough sunflower oil so that they are well coated but there is very little oil in the bottom of the bowl when you have finished. It is vital that is done while the potatoes are still hot.

7.    Have ready a packet of fresh dill. (If you are lucky enough to have your own supply, you need a good handful). Cut this in one-inch lengths and add to the salad stirring everything gently. If you are leaving the salad overnight, you can freshen it up with a little more sunflower oil just before serving.

8.    Keep in a cool place rather than a fridge.

Ukrainian salad

1.    Take a large bowl and into add ordinary red trimmed radishes, and an equal amount of cucumber chopped in bite sizes, and an equal amount of spring onions chopped in 1-inch lengths.

2.    Season with  pepper but not salt and gently mix.

3.    Add a generous amount of good quality Greek yoghurt, preferably not the non-fat variety. Mix gently, ensuring that everything is nicely coated.

4.    Add two pkts of dill chopped into 1-inch lengths - double the amount described in the first recipe.

5.    Now comes the vital bit. Just before eating add a generous amount of salt and gently stir in. This will give the yoghurt a good cheesy taste. Never put the salt in before you are just about to eat the salad. This will make everything turn to water and ruin the salad.

Greek chocolate mousse with pistachios, nut paste, and broken biscuit

You can increase these ingredients depending on how much mousse you need to make.

For the WP, I increased them by a factor of 20!

2 large fresh eggs

20 gms sugar

75 gms of dark chocolate, maximum coco intensity ( at least 80%)

30 mls olive oil

For the mousse

1.    In a bowl, add the whole eggs to the sugar.

2.    Whisk very thoroughly. If you are using a hand balloon whisk, it will take at least 10 minutes. The mixture must end up looking pale and fluffy.

3.    Melt the chocolate and olive oil in a bain marie or a bowl sitting inside a large bowl with hot water in it.

4.    Add the melted chocolate and olive oil mixture to the butter/sugar mixture gently. Fold it in, rather than stirring.

5.    Place in a fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

For the biscuit paste

1.    In a small bowl, crumble some chocolate cookies

2.    You are supposed to add pistachio paste. If you can find this, you are a better cook than me. (Please tell me where you can get it). I used good quality peanut butter (palm oil free).

3.    You guests are supposed to add a little of this mixture to their portion of mousse.

4.    Add a few whole roasted pistachios to garnish.

DC

(CM)