Last Saturday lunch was not random.
Last Saturday lunch was planned. In the diary, “locked in going to happen” planned.
Lunch at my Aunt and Uncle’s home in an oasis of a garden in the dairy country of Gippsland is always a joy and treat.
For years, long lunches have been enjoyed over delicious food, sitting around the table for hours, bantering and laughing, with discussions about food, about the functional design of food vessels or chairs (very creative people in the family), relationships, travel, listening to my uncle’s great yarns (like the story of him trying to jump a creek, only to land on a bloated dead sheep that he thought was a rock!)
My Aunt is a wonderful cook (as are my cousins) with a great attention to detail and fine cutting and presentation, and my Uncle is The Boss of the Weber kettle BBQ. Last Sat, we had kettle BBQ roasted porterhouse steak, done to juicy perfection.
Succulent, carnivore’s heaven.
Fluffy jacket potatoes and a couple of salads–Freekeh salad, and roast onion, rocket, Gorgonzola and walnut salad–completed the mains. And Hazel’s home made bread of course.
Dessert was a fabulous lemon “souffle” with sweet scented strawberries and blood orange segments. Perfect finish.
We came away feeling well fed and that bit more nourished and appreciated.
As we always do.
To compensate for no RLC description, I am divulging my Middle Eastern inspired rice salad which I cooked for Sat. However, I used the ancient of grains–Freekeh–instead of rice. Freekeh is cracked young green wheat grain. I kind of like playing around with recipes and I believe as one gets confident with flavour and ingredient pairings, then one should tweak. I also had fun playing around with the word Freekeh. Nothing rude!

Freekeh Salad
3 cups cooked Freekeh (See instructions on packet)
1/3 cup toasted flaked almonds
1/3 cup pistachio kernals or toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup currents
1/2 cup barberries
2 chopped onions that have been fried in 2 tbs olive oil until soft and caramelised.
1 tsp ground cummin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt flakes
1/2 cup light vegetable oil
1 cup cleaned and chopped fresh coriander leaves
Juice of 2 limes.

Mix all ing together, putting in nuts just before serving if not eating salad immediately.

Long lunch with family.
Freekehn great! (There, I got a little word tweak in!)