My life in recipes: Fay Ripley remembers the South of France for Jean-Paul the handsome Frenchman... Oh and the Salade Niçoise

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 17:54 EST, 6 May 2011


The actress, 45, on the the Salade Niçoise that takes her back to the Riviera, and the day she first gave her baby daughter grown-up food

Dish of the day: Faye says 'I ate a Salade Niçoise everyday in France'

Dish of the day: Faye says 'I ate a Salade Niçoise everyday in France'

My most vivid childhood memories are of annual summer holidays with my dad and stepmother near Port Grimaud in the South of France.

I remember lizards whose tails came off, sea urchin spines stuck in uncles’ bottoms and Jean-Paul, the handsome Frenchman who taught me to swim.

I also discovered Salade Niçoise. I had it every single day. This is my version.

Salade Niçoise

Sign of the times: Common in restaurants today Salade Niçoise was seen as exotic in the 1970s

Sign of the times: Common in restaurants today Salade Niçoise was seen as exotic in the 1970s

Shred 1 large lettuce in a bowl and top with 350g (12oz) new potatoes, boiled in their skins;

100g (3½oz) French beans, blanched

12 halved cherry tomatoes

A handful of pitted olives

3tbsp olive oil

1tbsp lemon juice and black pepper

Sear 4 tuna steaks for 1 min on high heat on both sides, break them up and scatter on top with 4 large hard boiled eggs, halved

Add dollops of houmous

Serves 4

Feeding time: Fay and her husband, actor Daniel Lapaine, introduced both their children, Parker (pictured) who's now eight, and Sonny, four, to adult food

Feeding time: Fay and her husband, actor Daniel Lapaine, introduced both their children, Parker (pictured) who's now eight, and Sonny, four, to adult food

Foreign influence: Fay, aged ten, on holiday in the South of France 'We thought Angel Delight was fine dining then' she says

Foreign influence: Fay, aged ten, on holiday in the South of France 'We thought Angel Delight was fine dining then' she says

When my daughter Parker was born I became obsessed with making perfect baby food, until a holiday in Italy.

We were in a restaurant where everyone, from grandparents to babies, ate exactly the same. When I got home, I began cooking the same food for all of us.

One of the first meals I made was this quick Creamy Haddock.

Fay's Creamy Haddock

Fine dining: 'Creamy Haddock - just the thing for my girl's first proper meal'

Fine dining: 'Creamy Haddock - just the thing for my girl's first proper meal'

Preheat oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6.

Cut 600g (1lb 5oz) haddock into bite-sized pieces and place in a ceramic dish, scatter with 4 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped, and a handful of torn basil
leaves.

Pour over 100ml (3½fl oz) single cream and 100ml (3½fl oz) crème fraîche and top with 50g (1¾oz) Parmesan and 50g (1¾oz) Gruyère cheese, grated.

Bake for 30-35 mins.

Serves 4.

Family Food by Fay Ripley, Penguin, £20. Fay narrates Perfect.... on Good Food channel, Mon-Wed, 7pm

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