What's Cooking This Week - Mother's Day

Last week

There was one ‘new to me’ dish on the menu last week

Honey mustard chicken pot with parsnips: It was really nice and as many other people on the site commented it benefited from being left to bubble a bit longer, which in this house, where Bambino’s bedtime routine needs to be negotiated, is a good thing!

This week

Second week back at work = two days this time = boring menu

Mediterranean Chicken & Potato Stew

Nasi Goreng

Hot-smoked salmon with creamy pasta & pine nuts

Spaghetti bolognaise

Stuffed chicken breasts and tomato butter beans

All tried and tested, a couple are even from my Student Cookbook and have been made many, many times before! The Spaghetti Bolognaise is actually sitting in the freezer, ready prepared by moi!

But… Today I invited my mum and mother in law and respective families to Mother's Day (my first!) lunch and I’m very pleased with how it went. I love roast dinners (being cooked for me!) but I sometimes find it very stressful, trying to get all elements of the meal together at the same time. So the dish I went for today was the perfect compromise.

Roast red wine lamb with Italian beans: I’ve cooked this just for the two of us before. Parts of it are a bit involved, like putting the roasting pan on the hob after you’ve roasted the lamb and set it aside. But you can get around it; I just poured the meat juices straight into the gravy, tasted fine to me. It’s good to marinate the lamb the day before and to get the beans started by frying the rosemary and tomatoes then adding the beans, just saved a few precious moments on the day.

Puddings

Lemon meringue ice cream cake: Yummy, yummy, yummy. Takes 5-10 minutes to make and can be made well in advance. Thinking of making one to have in the freezer, except that I would probably eat it long before we had any guests!

Double chocolate cheesecake: Another easy peasy dessert. My PJ loves cheesecake and he seemed fairly impressed so thumbs up all round!

I wanted to give my lady guests a little extra something to take home with them so I made these Cookie Dough Truffles. They are really simple to make. I have tried making sweets before and failed because I refuse to buy a sugar themometre (I don’t know why). These could not be easier and they are so tasty. I had some little cellophane bags and this recipe made enough truffles to make eight presents so the rest have gone in the freezer! Did I mention that I LOVE my freezer?

My Bambino is nearly one year old! Watch out for a party planning post coming this way!