Father’s Day Lunch or Dinner
Father’s Day is celebrated world-wide and is a great opportunity to show love to a dad, grandad, uncle or anyone else that takes on a fathering role in your life. This is an ultimate meal for my hubby so if there is any favourite that you know you should include for your loved ones, you can swap or add the meal into your plan.
The final steps in this preparation plan may look a little hectic, like any meal where multiple components are all finishing at the same time and need to be served together! Have your bench top nice and clear other than final ingredients so that this final stage is as stress-free as possible! Depending on how you like to serve your food, you can have a serving area arranged buffet-style, or have each plate specifically served out. Do what works well in your family!
SERVES 4
You can adjust the servings (on the plan below and also the recipe itself when you are prepping it) to suit your family size.
Menu
Lamb Rack with Rosemary Butter
Day before
Allow 1 hour
Maple Chai Apple Pie
Make your pie, allow to cool then cover and store in the fridge until you are ready to eat your main meal. If you would like the pie in very neat, crumb free portions, slice it when cooled (then reheat). The pie will be re-heated while the main meal is being eaten.
Mint Yoghurt (for the lamb)
If you would like to make the Mint Yoghurt (as part of the Lamb Rack recipe), make this at any point where you’ve got a few minutes spare. Pop into an airtight container and keep in the fridge until serving.
Green Bean and Almond Salad
Make the salad dressing for the salad into a jar and store in the fridge.
Also toast the almonds while the apple pie is baking. Place your almonds on a tray and roast for approximately 5 minutes. Set a timer and do not forget these – keep checking until they are golden! Remove and set aside to cool. Once cool, place in a jar ready for the final assembly of the salad.
Father’s Day
Allow 1 ½ hours
General preparation
Arrange racks in your oven to allow room for roasting racks of lamb, a tray of potatoes and a head of cauliflower.
A few hours before meal time, remove the lamb from the fridge so the racks come down to room temperature.
Crispy Roast Potatoes
Put your potatoes on to boil in a large pot (ideally that can later have a steamer attachment placed on top). When potatoes are almost soft, remove them from the hot water and pour into a colander in the sink to allow them to drain fully. At this stage do not heat the fat/oil for cooking the potatoes, you will come back to this and it’s fine if the potatoes fully cool. You can set the colander onto a plate on the bench to free up your sink.
Cauliflower Cheese
Add water into the pot you steamed the potatoes, bring to the boil and place your cauliflower in a steamer basket and steam until soft on the outside but with a bit of firmness as you insert a skewer.
While the cauliflower is steaming, make the béchamel for the cauliflower and set aside. When the cauliflower has finished steaming, set aside in the serving dish you will roast it in.
Once the cauliflower has cooled, pour over the béchamel and top with the cheese, ready to bake it later.
Green Bean and Almond Salad
Now place the green beans into the steaming basket and steam for two minutes. Remove and immediately rinse under cold water so they stop cooking, then set aside in a serving dish. Cover and set on the bench or refrigerate if the weather is warm in your part of the world. Remove the dressing from the fridge to allow it to come down to room temperature.
Lamb Rack with Rosemary Butter / Crispy Roast Potatoes
Preheat the oven to 220°C/475°F (fan-forced).
Place the pan in your oven to preheat. Do this for your tray for your potatoes also (with the fat/oil). Give the pan and tray enough time in the oven to become hot.
Score your lamb, season and place into your oven, setting the timer for 15 minutes.
As you place the lamb in, take out the hot tray for your potatoes. Arrange the potatoes as per the method and place tray back into the oven. Use oven gloves or a tea towel!!
After the first 15 minutes, pull out your lamb racks, turn, tip out extra fat as per method and add butter, rosemary and garlic, baste then return to the oven.
Cauliflower Cheese
Immediately after returning the lamb to the oven, place this into the oven too.
Lamb Rack
Continue to baste as per method and remove when cooked to your liking. Cover and rest.
Reduce the oven to 180°C/350°F to finish the Cauliflower and Potatoes.
Cauliflower Cheese
Remove from oven when golden.
Green Bean and Almond Salad
Assemble the beans tossing together with the almonds, feta and dressing while the lamb is resting.
Crispy Potatoes
Remove from oven when lamb has rested and is ready to serve.
Maple Chai Apple Pie
Reduce your oven to 150°C/300°F.
Place the pie in the oven to gently reheat it approximately 20-30 minutes before you want to eat dessert.
Serving
Carve your Lamb Racks into ‘chops’ and serve with the Crispy Roast Potatoes, a serve of Cauliflower Cheese and a stack of Green Bean and Almond Salad. Drizzle the Rosemary Butter over the lamb.
Enjoy your meal with a special beverage of choice, whether that be a red wine, a classic beer or just sparkling water!
Enjoy your Maple Chai Apple Pie with a scoop of ice cream, dollop of cream or as it is.
Happy Father’s Day!
Other
1. Adjust the servings on the plan below to suit the number of guests. When following the recipe, remember to adjust the servings there too to match this menu.
2. If you’d like to vary the menu or add ingredients to your shopping list, you can click the ‘Save to my Planner’ button and edit it from there.
There are instructional videos in the Video Vault to show you how to adjust servings on the recipes and add ingredients.