Sunday Lunchinner
27 April 2009
Lunch and dinner = Lunchinner ?
Sunday was such a fantastic day for a lazy brunch in the sun, the weather was gorgeous, the birds were chirping and everyone had recieved their Kevin Rudd stimulus bonus.
We all know what brunch is, but what about when you combine lunch and dinner together ? What was originally supposed to be a Sunday brunch today, ended up being a lunch/dinner as we didn’t start eating until 4pm. One thing led to another as people arrived late and we were just having a good time chatting and experimenting in the kitchen. Nothing the EST crewed served was groundbreaking or special, it was just the fun we all had in the kitchen talking about who should win the So you think you can dance finale, Masterchef vs Top chef and why food tastes better in a dodgey alley in Beijing than it does in Chinatown.
I didn’t get to flex my culinary expertise (*cough*) in the kitchen as I was nursing a severely twisted knee. I did it on Saturday at soccer and I can barely walk properly 24 hours later. X-rays showed no ACL damage thank goodness. But there was a stage when I was on the ground and I couldn’t feel my lower leg at all, it was all numb. It turns out it was just a very bad twist.
Anyway, we had planned this brunch about a week ago. Everyone would cook a dish each and we’d just share it around. It’s going to be the beginning of a monthly cook-up with the EST crew and starting next month we are going to cook different themes. Stayed tuned, I think it’s going to be Spanish next month. All I need is chorizo and I’ll be a happy man.
Gingerbread men
Squishies made some cute looking gingerbread men. Teresa then showed her artistictic side by doing a few oodles. I’m a bit worried about the chick on the bottom right, unless that is a belly button.
Baby cupcakes
Squishies also made these tiny babycupcakes covered with strawberry cream and sprinkles.
Lamingtons
Teresa made these wonderful lamington-like cakes. These actually had a chewey and jelly like coating beneath the coconut.
Salmon pesto sashimi
Another Teresa creation and it was a firm favourite with everyone. A piece of fresh sashimi was marinated in a pesto sauce before being sliced just before serving. This tasted fantastic, the pesto was subtle but didn’t look out of place at all with the salmon.
Chilli mud crab
Linda had a go at making this based on my recent post, it seemed to be a hit with all the guests. This time it was mega chilli as we had a few people sporting runny noises while still battling away with their crabs. Crusty bread from the local Vietnamese bakery was used for the sauce, very tasty indeed. How’s this for an odd combo, we made some truffle butter with Tetsuyas truffle oil and it works surprisingly well with the sauce from this chilli mud crab. So the process was bread, spread the butter and then scoop some chill mud crab sauce on the top.
Etch corn soup
Minh cooked up this creamy corn soup from Etch. Copious amounts of fresh corn was used, along with sauteed onions amongst other ingredients. It was then turned into a puree before being drained. This was adapted from an Etch recipe, I’ll post it when I get it off Minh.
Grilled prawns with sea salt
Simple, fresh and tasty. Teresa served up yet another winner with these prawns which were simply coated with a bit of olive oil and sea salt before being thrown under the grill.
Terikayi squid
The theme of simple flavours reigns again. Teresa marinated the squid in a teriyaki sauce before putting them under the grill until golden brown. The squid was soft and slightly chewey but the teriyaki marinade was perfect.
Smoked lychee with tea and ginger
Squishies served up this amouse bouche just before dessert. She smoked the lychees in a steamer and put them onto a spoon filled with apple tea and ginger. I’ll post the recipe she used when I get the link off her.
Coconut Ice Cream Recipe with Saffron
This ice cream was adapted from David Lebovitz, who knows a thing or two about ice cream. The key ingredients here are saffron, coconut cream and palm sugar. I think the palm sugar is the strength of this recipe, it just goes so well with the cream. Helena was everyones new best friend after a scoop of her ice cream. It tasted amazing and wasn’t too sweet, you could actually taste all the ingredients in one scoop.
So there you have it, not your typical Sunday brunch as all the dishes were a bit random. But there is a saying where all you need is good food and good people to have a great time, and that’s exactly what we had today.
Stayed tuned next month for our next EST cook up where we will be trying too cook to the theme of Spain.
Oh and apologies to Squishies and Abercrombie for accidently leaving out their delicious tuna pasta bake and potato salad. I think I was too hungry and forgot to take photos! It was very nice of you guys to create a vegetarian version of potato salad for our resident vegequarian.
Caitlin
Y
Betty
Reemski
billy@ATFT
the corn soup sounds gorgeous – can’t wait for the recipe!
Helen
Arwen from Hoglet K
FFichiban
dungies || 
Howard
HEH HEH gingerbread men! with boobies! loved the est cookies i think that should totally be your new header! man all the food looks so freaking amazing cant wait to see your spanish cookup and hope ya knee gets better dude!
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