Sunday lamb lunch

Sunday lunch should be compulsory! It rounds the previous week off and fortifies you for the next. It's a great opportunity to gather around a table and commune.

But Sunday lunch is also an essential solo occupation. If you’re preparing food just for one it can be too easy to grab something quick, eat it off your lap or worse still stood up in the kitchen and forget about the importance of the ritual of a ‘proper sit at the table meal’. I need little encourage to dress the table on any occasion but a Sunday lunch definitely deserves a little more effort. Candles seemed a little superfluous at lunch time but white linen with pearl accessories seemed to do the trick.

And then there’s the crucial consideration of what to serve. I had a yen for lamb today and the perfect solution seemed to be a couple of cutlets spread with a dollop of Dijon mustard and then topped with breadcrumbs mixed with chopped rosemary and thyme. I only had a crust left and as I not partial to a crust (I always think it should just be for the ducks), I whizzed it up in the Bamix and put it to better use. Sorry ducks!

It hardly seemed the merest effort to make the herby crust for one and I knew it would pay me back in taste. The tender stem broccoli was steamed then draped in a little creamy sauce with plenty of chives and to finish, a comforting mound of mash. What more could I ask for?

Happy Sunday!