One thing I did enjoy when living in England was the traditional Sunday lunch. We would either head to our local pub and enjoy a roast or head to our friends and spend most of the day eating, drinking and talking. This was partly because one of our friends was French and she did enjoy as much as we did sitting at a table for half the day enjoying the food and conversations about nothing and everything! As a matter of fact this is what French do when they have a meal, they like to spend quite some time at the table! Now that we live in Germany, we don’t have a pub or “Sunday lunch” friends to head to but I like to spend time in the morning preparing a full Sunday lunch.

This morning I roasted an organic chicken using a method I learned from a TV cooking program in England (I cannot remember which one nor whose famous chef showed it). The trick is to slice a lemon halfway trough lenghtways and insert a sprig of thyme into the slit and place it inside the cavity of the chicken. During the roasting time, the lemon releases its juice which melts with the chicken’s juice and the combination of both flavors just work out perfectly! The other trick is to cover the chicken with 2 to 3 garlic gloves, olive oil and thyme leaves which you blend together until it becomes quite liquid. Place the chicken in a roasting tray with plenty of sea salt and black pepper. Cover the chicken loosely with foil and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes at 200 degrees (depending on its weight). Then remove the foil and roast for another 30 minutes at 160-180 degrees. The chicken is fully cooked when the juices run clear. Turn off the oven and let the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes before carving it. I accompany the chicken with lovely roasted potatoes and buttery green beans.

I also usually like to bake a cake or tart. Today, I decided to bake a gooey chocolate cake which is super easy to prepare. Melt 100g dark chocolate and 90g butter in the microwave until you obtain a smooth consistency. In another bowl, whip together 3 eggs and 130g caster sugar until it becomes smooth and pale. Add 50g flour (I added wholemeal flour) and then add the melted chocolate and butter. Pour the mixture onto a baking tray and put it in the oven for only 10 to 15 minutes so that it is gooey in the middle. In my case, I baked the cake just after I had removed the chicken from the oven.

For a starter, I did a simple cucumber and chives salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.

These are simple moments I treasure!
What about you? How do you usually spend your Sundays?