THE SPANISH SUNDAY LUNCH...

Sunday lunch in Spain, as you will probably be aware, is normally a long, enjoyable family affair. The experience can begin as early as 12.00 with friends and family meeting up for tapas and an aperitif in a favourite bar or at home, but the serious eating is more likely to begin at about 3 or 3.30. p.m. and can last until 5 or longer.

Although I appreciate that this international readership will not necessarily relate immediately to our Spanish climate, I have tried to make my course suggestions as international and inter-seasonal as possible.
For Sunday lunch this week I've chosen to try and strike a balance which reflects the passage of summer into autumn here in Spain. There is the warmth and wholesome goodness of a cream of asparagus soup, the spice and coquettishness of roast brandied chicken and the freshness (almost spring-like) and palate cleansing of a watermelon basket of fresh fruit.

Ingredients

• One and half kilos of white asparagus
• 75 grammes of butter or low fat margarine
• Nutmeg
• 1 litre of vegetable stock
• Pepper
• 40 grammes of flour
• A tablespoonful of sugar
• 3 dessert spoons of white wine
• 2 egg yolks
• A sprig of parsley
• 100 grammes of pouring cream
• Salt to taste.

Method

• Scrape the asparagus, putting aside the stem, retaining the heads.
• Slow cook these in the stock, 10 grammes of butter, sugar and salt, for 20 minutes.
• Strain and chop the heads into rounds.
• Melt the remaining butter, add the flour and stir in slowly with the stock. Bring it to the boil and then let it cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
• Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and add the wine.
• Beat the egg yolks with the cream and add the soup mixture, mixing it without bringing to the boil.
• Serve with a garnish of parsley.

  
  
  

Ingredients

• 1 chicken
• 2 lemons
• Salt
• Half a stock cube
• Pepper
• 2 Tablespoonfuls of brandy
• A tin of sweet corn
• 6 tomatoes
• 4 slices of smoked ham

Method

• Peal 1 lemon and cut it into round slices.
• Warm the stock cube with the lemon and brandy and pour the mixture into the chicken, tie it and put it in the roasting dish. Season to taste.
• Cover with the smoked ham slices and roast in a medium oven for 1 hour.
• Half way through cooking time douse the chicken with the juice of a lemon and add to the baking dish the tomatoes halved with sweet corn on top.
• The chicken can now be served garnished with the baked tomatoes, sweet corn and ham.

WATERMELON FRUIT BASKET

Ingredients

• 400 grammes of strawberries
• 350 grammes of mixed fruit
• 1 small watermelon
• 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar
• The juice of an orange
• The juice of a lemon
• 4 egg yolks
• 150 grammes of sugar
• 2 tenths of a litre of Málaga wine or sweet, dark red wine

Method

• Put the wine and sugar in a pot.
• Bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly until it reaches the point where the sugar is about to form little balls.
• Beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer which has been immersed in warm water for 10 minutes, in order to obtain a mixture which doubles in volume. Pour it into the wine and sugar mixture and continue to beat until a creamy mixture is achieved.
• Take off the heat and let cool.
• Prepare the fruit, cutting it into small pieces.
• Cut the watermelon into the shape of a basket and roll the discarded fruit into small balls. Put them with the rest of the fruit into a bowl and add in the sugar and the orange and lemon juice.
• Leave it to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• Fill the watermelon basket with the fruit and serve it with the cream sauce.

Have a wonderful lunch, wherever you are, and see you next week!

Carmen.