Almost Spring Lunch

Fondant au Chocolat with Fresh Fruit Salad

The problem when you cannot eat outside is that I can only squeeze about 8 people around my dining table in the kitchen. My first lunch invitation in 2010 as it is, had 7 guests (1 didn't turn up), and I had to fend off Hub's attempts to invite himself to lunch. I have another dining table in the dining room - but it's not nice spilting up the guests so I'd rather do separate lunches and invite my friends in groups.

I invited only one man and he told me that he felt intimidated. I invited him because I'm not sexist. OK, it's also because he was reputed to be a chef and if you hope to be invited to dine at his place someday, you may have to invite him first :-). Finally I found out that he was a professional photographer and a passionate amateur chef - and he didn't turn up because he had a private dinner to cook for. We all suspect that he was too scared of being the thorn in the rosebush and didn't dare to come.

I had to change my menu a few times for various reasons and finally fixed on the following (vetted by Hub - who will have the leftovers) :

Savoury Tartlets

Rosé Sparkling Wine

Coriander, Chilli and Garlic Gambas

Fresh Salad

Indonesian Beef Rendang

Steamed Jasmine Rice

Almond Jelly with Lychees

Fondant au Chocolat with Fresh Fruit Salad

With a generous touch of Grand Marnier and fresh Mint leaves

I have kept the menu very simple and only to tried and tested recipes so as not to mess things up. You may wonder why I made 2 desserts. Well, it's not easy for most people to just take to any Asian dessert so I played safe and offered one for tasting and the other for consumption.

The rosé sparkling wine was really quite good - which made me wonder if I hadn't taken one of Hub's better wines by accident. Maybe I should throw away the bottle before he comes home.

I was running a little late with getting the lunch out as I got sidetracked with a spot of Internet shopping (2 private sales) in the morning. Luckily the school is just 5 minutes away and we could all leave at the very last minute.

1.5 Kg of just-marinated Savage Argentinian Gambas

My guests all seemed to have enjoyed the meal. I've added roasted fennel seeds to my gambas and I thought that it was a nice touch. Some of them commented on the beef - which was Piemontese. There were 1 English, 1 German, 2 Swedish, 1 Lebanese, 1 Italian and 1 French mum. The last who was at her first mums' private lunch told me that she really liked the group I've invited to my place. Well, in order to help her integrate faster into the school community, I thought that I should introduce her to a few of my favourite mums to start.

Glad it went well. If only it hadn't rained all day.