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Cobb salad is the original ‘what’s in the fridge’ salad. You can use whatever vegetables you like. Leave out the chicken and bacon if desired, or use prawns instead. One of my daughters went through a stage of hating ingredients being mixed together, so this salad was perfect for that lovely era. Naturally, I left the dressing on the side for her too.
Come over, bring the kids!” That’s the mood behind this menu, which will please eaters of all ages, with a few little flourishes specifically for children and for grown-ups. The pastry ‘wands’ are a kid-friendly concept, but you might like to add chilli flakes to the allotment for grown-ups. Confession: I have pretended valiantly that the Sticky drumettes are for the kids, moments before I sneak a few myself.
Hot Tips
The hero of this menu is a slow-cooked fall-apart lamb shoulder with a sweet-tart onion accompaniment which, like the fennel, will probably appeal to adults more than children. Everyone can fight over the potatoes and even the most serious adult will enjoy making a cookie tower.
TO SERVE:
Start with the Soup, then put the Chicken and the Lamb on the table together with the Salad. For dessert, I tend to choose the icy poles in summer and the cookie towers in cooler weather, but there’s no rule against serving both!
Make Ahead
1 WEEK
Icy poles
3 DAYS
Soup and pastry ‘Wands’ (store pastry in an airtight container and refresh in a moderate oven for 10 minutes before serving)
2 DAYS
Agrodolce, Cheesecake
DAY BEFORE
Marinate Chicken, make Cookies and Cobb dressing
SAME DAY
Cobb salad, Lamb and vegetables, bake Drumettes
Hot Tips
The hero of this menu is a slow-cooked fall-apart lamb shoulder with a sweet-tart onion accompaniment which, like the fennel, will probably appeal to adults more than children. Everyone can fight over the potatoes and even the most serious adult will enjoy making a cookie tower.
TO SERVE:
Start with the Soup, then put the Chicken and the Lamb on the table together with the Salad. For dessert, I tend to choose the icy poles in summer and the cookie towers in cooler weather, but there’s no rule against serving both!
Make Ahead
1 WEEK
Icy poles
3 DAYS
Soup and pastry ‘Wands’ (store pastry in an airtight container and refresh in a moderate oven for 10 minutes before serving)
2 DAYS
Agrodolce, Cheesecake
DAY BEFORE
Marinate Chicken, make Cookies and Cobb dressing
SAME DAY
Cobb salad, Lamb and vegetables, bake Drumettes
SET THE MOOD FOR YOUR PROGRESSIVE DINNER EVENT WITH DANI’S SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS
This was a tricky and fun playlist to put together and involved a few heated discussions with my kids who are inclined to think that they know everything about music and that anything that came out last year is ‘so old, mum’ [insert devastating eye roll]. I hope you all enjoy – there are hits and memories from the dark ages, a handful of novelty songs and Iggy Pop’s I’m Bored because I usually hear that from my kids whenever I take them somewhere.
