These golden days
An autumn lunch menu of slow cooked lamb, crispy spuds, soft capsicums and cake for this weekend.
What should we cook this weekend? Well fingers crossed it’s going to be cooler than last, and maybe you’ve got Saturday or Sunday free and fancy pushing the boat out a bit for a lovely long lunch outside.
I love this menu. It’s bright, big, generous and full of flavour. The kind of food I go for whenever cooking for a group. Plus, while it looks gorgeous, it’s not hard I promise (and the oven does a lot of the work).
There are shortcuts you could take (below), things to be done in advance (below) and of course, you can get everyone to bring something (delegate and conquer).
The point is get together. It doesn’t have to be over homemade food if you don’t have the time or inclination. It could be a bbq chook and a few salads from the shops. Whatever works. Just lets find a ‘window’ weekend to sit, hang out, tell some stories and have a nice time. Ideally at a table outside in the soft Autumn sunshine but either way…
Here below are all the recipes, timings and a shopping list for today’s menu (downloadable, at the very end). This one is free for everyone, if you’d like to receive every Wednesday menu post please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. And one last thing, this is quite a long post and will probably get cut off in your email so to read in full please click through to read in the Substack app or in your browser.
Thank you so much,
Sophie x
Ok. So if you’re going to do the whole shebang, here’s a breakdown of things you can do in advance to pace the whole thing out.
Two Days Before
Make labne base (takes 24 hours to drain)
Mix yogurt and salt
Set up to drain in muslin over a bowl
Toast and grind fig leaves
Dry toast fig leaves until crisp but not browned
Grind to a powder and store in an airtight container
Make caramelised walnuts
Prepare and store in an airtight container
Prepare the lamb (it’s great reheated)
Season and brown the lamb
Cook with spices, wine, and stock for 7 hours or overnight
Cool and refrigerate in cooking liquid
One Day Before
Finish labne
Mix herbs and lemon juice through strained yogurt
Refrigerate until needed
Make salsa verde
Prepare and store in an airtight container in the fridge
Slow-cooked capsicums
Prepare and cook capsicums (can be served at room temperature)
Store in refrigerator without adding horseradish
Quick pickles
Prepare onion and cucumber pickles
Store in refrigerator
Bake fig leaf almond loaf
Bake and cool completely
Wrap tightly
Day of Lunch
Morning (3-4 hours before lunch):
Remove lamb from the fridge to take the chill off
Prepare baby potatoes (parboil)
Set the table (ideally outside)
2 hours before lunch:
Reheat lamb (covered, with additional liquid if needed)
Toss potatoes with semolina and roast (they take around 45 minutes)
Bring pickles and anything else from the fridge to room temperature
1 hour before lunch:
Add horseradish cream to capsicums
Prepare serving platter with labne for potatoes
30 minutes before lunch:
Finish the potatoes
Plate up the lamb with pomegranate seeds and pistachios
Add the lemon and herbs to the potatoes on labne
Just before lunch:
Finish all the dishes; herbs, seasoning, lemon slices etc on all dishes
Drizzle pomegranate molasses over lamb.
I get it. This menu has a few moving parts. So, if you’d like to streamline things and take a few shortcuts, here are a few suggestions.
Replace the homemade labne with good quality store-bought Greek yogurt or labneh.
Skip the fig leaves: Use 1 tsp vanilla and ½ tsp almond extract instead of ground fig leaves in the cake.
Skip the caramelised walnuts and toast them in a low oven until crunchy.
Swap the homemade salsa verde for storebought.
Ready-made potatoes: Buy par-boiled baby potatoes and just roast them from the packet.Buy pickles instead of making them.
Instead of making the cake, buy some beautiful fresh figs and serve them quartered with a bowl of whipped cream and some grated dark chocolate on top.
Use jarred roasted capsicums instead of slow-cooking fresh ones
Slow-Cooked Lamb with beans, harissa and pomegranate
Talk about ‘main character energy’, this one is a crowd pleaser that goes a long way. You could leave out the beans if you like and make any other substitutions you prefer. The main thing is, if you can, to make this a day or two in advance and gently reheat. The result will be more tender and it’s a bit easier I think this way.
Serves 8
3 tbsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp coriander seeds
3 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp harissa paste
3 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups (500ml) white wine
2 cups (500ml) stock or water
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1 lamb shoulder on the bone (2.4kg)
2 cups (400g) cannellini beans, soaked and cooked until tender (or 3 x cans, drained)
80ml (â…“ cup) pomegranate molasses
To serve: pomegranate seeds and crushed roasted pistachio kernels
Method: Season the lamb shoulder with salt and pepper and rub with a little oil. Leave uncovered in the fridge for an hour or overnight.
Heat a little olive oil in a large, oven-proof pan and brown the lamb really well on each side. Remove from pan and set aside. Add the onions to the same pan and cook for about 10 minutes or until soft, then add the spices, harissa and garlic and cook for a few more minutes.
Add the wine and deglaze the pan, stirring to catch any bits. Add the stock and return the lamb to the pan with the cooked cannellini beans. Cover with a sheet of baking paper then foil.
Place in a low oven at 100°C for 7 hours or overnight, until meat is falling off the bone.
Serve the meat and beans with the onions, pan juices and a sprinkling of the pomegranate seeds and pistachios with a drizzle of the pomegranate molasses.
Making this ahead? If it’s been in the fridge overnight, quite a lot of the fat will have solidified as it chilled, I scrape away quite a bit of this. Add a little more water if you think it needs it and gently reheat covered with foil.
Quick Onion and Cucumber Pickles
½ cup (125ml) water
¼ cup (60ml) apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp sea salt
1 red onion, thinly sliced
3 cucumbers, thinly sliced
3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
Combine the water, vinegar, honey and salt in a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Pack the onions, cucumber and dill in a large jar, pour over the hot liquid and seal with a lid. Keep at room temperature and use after an hour. Refrigerate for up to a week.
Salsa Verde
Ingredients: 2 anchovies 2 garlic cloves, peeled 1 tbsp capers, drained 1½ cups mixed soft herbs (ideally parsley, coriander and mint) ¼ cup (60ml) olive oil Juice of one lemon.
Method: Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or mortar and pestle and blitz or bash until you have a vibrant green sauce. Check the taste and adjust with more salt or lemon, or even a tiny splash of maple syrup if you think it's a bit too acidic and needs rounding out.
Capsicums with Horseradish Cream and Caramelised Walnuts
Serves: 4-6 as a side
4 red capsicums, halved, seeds and membrane removed, then quartered
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp (60ml) olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp freshly grated horseradish or 2 tbsp horseradish cream
1 cup sour cream
A couple of handfuls of green beans, trimmed and blanched
Method: Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Place the capsicums in a medium-sized oven-proof dish (so they fit fairly snugly). Sprinkle over the salt and pepper and pour in ¼ cup water. Cover with a lid or foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the cover, toss everything around fairly well and return to the oven for 30 minutes or until the capsicums are completely soft and have shrunk down quite a bit.
While still warm, drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and toss well.
At this point, the dish can sit happily at room temperature for a few hours. For the horseradish cream, mix the grated horseradish (or horseradish in the jar) with sour cream, season to taste, then, just before serving, grate over the horseradish or dollop the horseradish cream and fold in the blanched beans.
Caramelised Walnuts with Chilli
1½ cups (150g) walnuts
¾ cup (165g) white sugar
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
Line a tray with baking paper. Heat a small, heavy-based saucepan on medium, add the sugar, salt and nuts and cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes or until the sugar has melted and coated the nuts in a golden caramel. Add the chilli flakes, stir and spread the nuts over your tray to cool completely. Crumble over the salad and/or store in an airtight container till ready to use (or snack on!).
Crispy Roasted Baby Potatoes on a bed of labne
Serves: 6
1.2kg baby potatoes
2 tbsp cooking salt, for the boiling water
1/2 cup semolina
3 tbsp (60ml) olive oil
1 tsp sea salt flakes
2 cups labne, below
Finely chopped parsley and mint, to serve
2 x lemons, to finish.
Preheat your oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced).
Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Add 2 tbsp salt to the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until the potatoes are just tender when pierced with a knife but not falling apart.
Drain, then tip the potatoes into a large roasting tin. Add in the semolina and give a really good shake, roughing up the edges and allowing more surface area for the semolina to ‘stick’ and create extra crispiness.
Now drizzle over the olive oil and sea salt and roast for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are golden and crispy.
To serve, spread the labne over a large serving platter and pile on the potatoes. Finish with an extra sprinkling of herbs and a few good squeezes of lemon.
This bright, tangy, herby labne is one of my favourite things to make. You can also roll labne into little balls and store them in a jar, then cover with olive oil - fantastic Christmas present! I also love this with lamb, couscous or any ‘mezze’ kind of situation.
Start this recipe 24 hours ahead
Makes about 1 1/2 cups labne
2 cups natural ‘Greek style’ yogurt
2 tsp sea salt
1 cup soft herbs, roughly chopped (I used a mixture of tarragon, mint and chives)
Juice of one lemon
Combine the yogurt and salt in a medium-sized bowl and stir well. Transfer to a sieve lined with muslin or a clean chux. Gather the edges of the muslin or chux together and tie tightly. Set the sieve over a saucepan and leave for 24 hours to drain.
The next day, stir the herbs and lemon juice through your strained yogurt and transfer to a serving bowl or keep in the fridge until needed.
Fig Leaf Almond Loaf
This is a classic butter cake formula with almond meal for extra flavour and moisture. It keeps pretty well for a few days when wrapped up tightly. The recipe comes from my new book What Can I Bring.
Here I served slices cut in half, topped with a little fresh ricotta and a slice of poached quince. It’s also great just served as is or with fresh fruit on the side.
Serves: 8
Ingredients: 1 cup (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tbsp ground fig leaves*
1¼ cups (250g) caster sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1â…“ cups (200g) plain flour
1 cup (100g) almond meal
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup (125ml) buttermilk or yogurt
1 tsp vanilla paste
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a loaf tin.
Place the sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer, add the ground fig leaves and rub together with your fingertips. Add the butter and beat until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition (stop and scrape the side of the bowl down every now and then if needed).
Combine the flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Place the buttermilk in a jug and whisk in the vanilla.
Fold half the buttermilk and half the flour mixture into the butter mix, then repeat with the remaining buttermilk and flour.
Transfer the mixture to your prepared tin and bake for 55–60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
*Ground fig leaves
Ground, toasted fig leaves add a beautiful coconut-y flavour to this cake. To anything you happen to use them in, really! So here’s what you do: find yourself some unsprayed fig leaves and dry toast them in a frying pan until they get crisp but do not brown at all. Then blitz these in your spice or coffee grinder until a fine powder.
Download the shopping list and all the recipes in a printable PDf here:
Easter menu sorted!