Lunch for 21

Firstly, a big hello to all my new followers – and thank you!! Much appreciated.

For my son’s actual 18th birthday we had 21 for lunch. I would have liked to have invited more, but that’s as many as I can seat at trestle tables in the front room. (One of the bonuses of being a Cub Scout Leader is being able to borrow the trestle tables – some would say it’d be cheaper to buy some…)

So I thought I’d share what this working mother put together for the occasion. Not so funny – except of course when my parents arrived unexpectedly at 10.30am and announced as they came through the door that they would be needing to leave by 3pm. Okay….

Luckily it was a long weekend and I recruited the 12 year old to help (she's a very good cook) – so we had Saturday to shop and prepare and Monday to recover.

As I’ve mentioned before, my cooking style is loose, so bear with me, and feel free to comment if you'd like more detail on anything.

With drinks:
Bite-sized pancakes (bilinis) made the night before. Put some self-raising flour (it makes them thick which is perfect for this) in a jug with an egg, a pinch of salt and enough milk to make it the consistency of honey. Leave to sit for 30 minutes before making pancakes. The next day, spread with soft cream cheese, add a generous twist of smoked salmon and a sprig of dill.

Skewer 3 prawns on soaked bamboo sticks – if you can be bothered – otherwise throw the defrosted, green, peeled prawns (tail on) into a bowl and either way marinate in a mixture of  lemongrass, garlic, ginger, chilli, fresh lime juice and a couple of slugs of sesame oil all blended in the food processor.  Barbeque on the day and serve with mayo with fish sauce and fresh chopped coriander stirred through it.

I have a new food processor so got a bit excited and made hummus – canned organic chick peas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, cumin, olive oil, salt. Whizz together, taste and add more of what you like. Serve with veggie sticks.

The main event:
The day before, I processed garlic, rosemary, salt, olive oil and preserved lemons, slapped it all over two huge legs of lamb on the bone and shoved them back in the fridge. (yes, my amazing fridge!!). On the day, I poured the liquid from the lemons into the baking dish with the lamb and baked for 2 hours at 150C for 2 hours, took the foil off and baked at 180 for another hour and a half. I sliced one plain and the other I sliced and smothered with fresh pomegranate, chopped mint and parsley (this bit nicked from Mandy at work – her ‘jewelled lamb’).

There was also chicken portions in a (bought) smoky barbeque sauce for those (possibly the smaller cousins) who mightn’t care for the lamb – but naturally I forgot it until we were sitting at lunch, so we had it for dinner the next night!

Potatoes roasted in duck fat. Yum! Heat fat first, toss in potatoes. Roasted tomatoes halved and drizzled with balsamic glaze, olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper, steamed green beans. (Some potatoes were done in olive oil for the vego in-law, along with wild barramundi on the barbeque). Corn on the cob – also barbecued, a salad of rocket, pear and walnuts and a noodle salad from an aunt – sorted!!

Dessert:
A tier of cake saved from the 18th birthday party the week before – chocolate mud – yum!!
Chocolate ripple cake made by the 12 year old, looked like a car, so she added wheels (choc biscuits) and printed off pics of the birthday boy to be in said car!

That was it! Not too taxing but very delicious!