With my mother visiting from Perth and a relaxing last day of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend ahead of us, I decided to fire up the barbecue for a breakfast feast. Although mum is aware of how much food is prepared and devoured in our kitchen, I think her eyes still boggled at the mound of eggshells left behind. 

Another platter of golden eggs and hot buttered toast are not far behind.


Cooking a weekend breakfast for a crowd is so much more manageable and enjoyable with a reliable barbecue. Not only is the actual cooking process faster, but golden, oozing eggs, crispy bacon, plump pancakes and herb infused grilled vegetables can be placed on platters straight from the BBQ and onto the table for everyone to enjoy all together. If there are any “Sleeping Beauties” still tucked up under blankets, then the nose twitching aromas of bacon frying will certainly coax them out of bed. 

Hard to stop at just one home cooked chocolate brownie

Mum also looks forward to eating my chocolate brownies (as does everyone in my family) so I whipped up a batch of these on Saturday morning which we enjoyed today for morning tea. They really are so, so quick and easy to make and the house always smells divine as they bake. Flick back to my food blog post on May 24th for the recipe, under Tried and Tested Chocolate Brownies. 

My nine year old daughter said that whenever she eats these brownies, her Godmother Linda pops into her mind. I should explain why…Linda adores chocolate, a true connoisseur of this “edible gold” and is always most appreciate of every chocolate based dish that I have baked for her. She is the type of guest that a home cook loves to have at the feasting table. 

Lunch was a selection of scrumptious leftovers: home made hamburger patties lovingly made by my mum; antipasto featuring French, Norwegian and local cheeses along with Italian prosciutto, honey glazed ham and fat green olives; peach chutney and sourdough bread; and a platter of crunchy raw vegetables for colour, vitamins and fresh flavour. Despite everyone announcing that they were so full and couldn’t possibly eat another thing all day, there was still room for apple crumble with custard. Always room for dessert…fascinating.  I used the same recipe in my food blog post published on May 26th under Fibre Filled Fragrant Apple Crumble. 

Lamb shoulder about to go into the oven

After 4 hours of cooking…succulent lamb ready to be shredded
Aromatic rice and rosemary scented lamb shredded and ready to serve


Dinner was simple, full-of-flavour Greek Style fare. I slow roasted 2 young, pink-tinged lamb shoulders for 4 hours and served this shredded up alongside my Aromatic Rice (recipe for this rice dish is in my food blog post on May 14th). This was accompanied by a big bowl bursting with colourful salad ingredients including Greek feta, along with little pots of good quality commercially made hummus and tzaziki. 

Leftover rice and lamb was tossed together and set aside for my children’s school lunches on Tuesday. Certainly beats an ordinary sandwich! 

Slow Roasted Rosemary Scented Lamb Shoulder

Ingredients
2 x top quality lamb shoulders bone in. 
4 x long sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves removed from the stems but left whole ie not chopped
12 x cloves of garlic, washed but unpeeled
2 x lemons cut into quarters
2 x cups of red wine
sea salt and black pepper

Preheat a fan forced oven to 170 degrees. While this is heating, place the lamb in a large baking pan and rub over with sea salt and pepper. 

Sprinkle over the rosemary and garlic cloves, putting half the garlic underneath each lamb shoulder. Tuck in the lemon wedges around and under the lamb as well. 

Pour in the red wine, cover with a double layer of aluminium foil and place in the oven for 4 hours. Do not check on the lamb, do not adjust the temperature, just leave it to cook, walk away and find something else to occupy your time. 

Once the 4 hours are up, carefully remove the baking dish from the over, and place the cooked lamb shoulders one at a time on a wooden board. Remove the bones, any skin or excess fat and shred using a serving fork and tongs. I like to serve up my lamb in a large shallow dish with extra lemon for diners to squeeze over their potions. This is my favourite way of cooking lamb as it results in succulent, soft, flavoursome and richly coloured meat with minimal fuss. 

Now, half an hour before the lamb is ready to come out of the oven, start preparing your accompanying dishes, starting with the salad and followed by the Aromatic Rice. It’s up to you what salad ingredients to toss together, but my marvellous mother made this evening’s salad consisting of the following: 
2 x baby cos lettuce
1 x punnet grape tomatoes
1 x Telegraph cucumber
6 x radishes
a handful of Sicilian olives
1 x medium sweet carrot 
250 g Greek feta

Make sure all salad ingredients are always thoroughly washed to remove pesticide residue and any grit and then dried off using a clean tea towel or even better, a salad spinner. 

A dressing of 2 tablespoons of Maggie Beer’s vino cotto, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and a good grind of sea salt was shaken up in a clean jam jar and drizzled over just prior to serving. 

Big bowl of beautifully fresh salad

Call everyone to the table and while they are washing hands and scampering to take a seat, bring all the platters of food along with the hummus and tzaziki to the table. Encourage everyone to help themselves and to leave room for seconds.