I always love have friends over for lunch on a warm, sunny weekend. It’s great for catching up, you don’t have to supply too much alcohol and it’s feasible if you’ve got work the next day. You can impress your friends and family with the following menu when they come over for lunch. It’s easy and absolutely delicious.
I rarely divide a lunch into several courses and I’m hopeless when it comes to making dessert. Blow them away with the main meal and then provide a selection of pastries from a nice bakery or a store bought cake if you’re as challenged in the dessert department as I am.
Roast Lamb – I love to do a roast lamb for lunch. Everyone enjoys it, the meat isn’t too heavy and the leftovers keep really well. A leg of lamb is a good choice for this. Cover the lamb in butter. I usually just rub about 5 or 6 tablespoons over it. Make sure you cover it with butter all over, top and bottom. Then sprinkle some rosemary over it and create a couple of pockets in which to stuff a few cloves of garlic. Put the oven at 180 degrees celcius. Put the lamb in and let it cook for around 3 hours, it should come out tender and just perfectly done. Then, carve it up into fairly thin slices. Place them on a platter and then drizzle greek youghurt down the middle of the slices. Top that off with pomegranate seeds. This will provide a colourful, flavourful and exciting meal.
Potato Salad – This is a totally unique and different potato salad. It’s light and beautifully sophisticated but also a very simple thing to prepare. Use cocktail potatoes for this recipe. Boil the potatoes until they are just soft the whole way through. Place them in a large serving bowl. Add three tablespoons of sour cream and three tablespoons of mayonnaise to the poatoes and stir all together so the potatoes are completely coated. Take half a cup of red currants. Put them in a pan with 4 tablespoons of sherry vinegar. White wine will also do but definately not the best results. Allow the vinegar/wine to boil off (will only take a couple of minutes). Then put the currants aside and give them 15 mins to swell. When they have swollen and look nice and plump, add them to the postatoes. Then, take 200 grams of chopped pistachios to the salad. Toss it all together and serve warm.
Boccincini, Tomato and Basil Salad – This is simple and refreshing. On a small platter, lay out thin slices of tomoato, bocconcini and basil alternatively. Drizzle with olive oil, add salt and pepper to taste. This will cleanse the palate and jazz up the meal.
The three dishes described above, when combined, make an exceptional lunch menu. It will provide ample food and everyone will be impressed with you’re creativity and skills. The best bit – it’s all so easy!
Enjoy!
