sunday dinner

I'm a bit divided in my opinion when it comes to the republican debate. My head says "yes! cut the apron strings", but in my heart, I do love the pomp and tradition of the monarchy. Its probably best summed up as I don't want it for our country, but if England could keep it going purely as a curiosity, I'd be much appreciative.

I have a similar attitude to my childhood belongings. I don't want them in my house, but Mum and Dad, if you could still devote an entire room of your house to storing them, that would be great.

Of course, one good thing about having a monarch is having a public holiday in their honour, which of course I would wish to keep if we do head down the republican trail.

To celebrate Her Maj's 81st birthday, we had a slap up Sunday night dinner.

We started with Roasted Chicken from Karen Martini's Where The Heart Is. Its absolutely delicious - you really must try it.

1 medium free range chicken
6 medium red-skinned (Desiree) potatoes, unpeeled
2 tbsp butter
10 sprigs thyme, rosemary or other fresh herb
1 lge brown onion
3 bulbs garlic
½ - 1 C olive oil
2 lemons
salt and black pepper
1/2 cup water

Method
Preheat oven to 220°C.
Microwave potatoes in their jackets until soft.
Crush and peel three cloves of garlic, crush a sprig or two of the herbs, finely chop half a lemon and mix together with the butter and a little salt.
Gently separate skin from chicken breast to form pockets and fill with butter-herb mix.
Squeeze the lemon half and rub over chicken.
Separate the cloves from one bulb of garlic. Leave them unpeeled, bruise with the back of a knife and place in cavity with squeezed lemon half and half the remaining herbs.
Lightly grease a baking dish large enough to take chicken and potatoes (or use a separate dish for potatoes), cut onion into thick slices, slice the other lemon and place in the dish with remaining separated, unpeeled garlic cloves and herbs.
Use a potato masher to squash potatoes into 2cm-thick discs.
Rub chicken with olive oil and place on the onions, garlic and lemon, surround with the potatoes, sprinkle over half a cup of stock or wine and half the oil.
Season chicken and potatoes generously with salt and pepper then place in oven and roast 60-75 minutes.

Also from the same book, we had Roasted Fennel with parmesan and breadcrumbs. This was good too. I can email the recipe to anyone who wants it.

We finished up with Passionfruit Souffle from Donna Hay's Modern Classics 2 (best sweet cookbook ever). No photos - souffle won't wait - but it did rise just as shown here and was divine.