I have a wonderful group of friends who come over several times a year for brunch, lunch, or dinner. I’ve blogged about some of their meals before. Last week, I was able to squeeze a lunch in before everyone’s calendars became overwhelmed with holiday commitments. The meal needed to be gluten free, since one of the guests follows a gluten free diet. My meal-plan included Fish Soup, Gluten Free Popovers, Salad, and Almond Cake.

Instead of The Feast of 7 Fishes, we had The Feast of One Fishy! The weather has been cold, so I wanted something warm and soothing. This soup is based on a Catalan Fish Stew, broth based, with potatoes and a dollop of herbed aioli. One of the guests cannot have gluten, and I’ve been wanting to try Gluten Free Popovers. She was thrilled with them! I can’t pretend they are as good as the ones with gluten. But they achieved a respectable height, and were hollow in the middle, which is the hallmark of a popover. I served them with herb butter and a small side salad with persimmons and pomegranate arils. Lastly we had a moist, tender gluten free Almond Cake garnished with Whipped Cream and Sugared Grapefruit Zest.

This is a good menu for entertaining since much of it can be done ahead and assembled last minute.

The broth base for the soup can be done a day ahead, as well as the aioli, almond cake, and sugared zest. The popover batter should be made hours ahead and kept at room temperature, but bake the popovers 30 minutes before serving. Popovers must be eaten right out of the oven since they quickly collapse as they cool.

In addition to being a great menu for entertaining, it works for any celebratory family meal, or a leisurely Sunday lunch. You’ll find links below for each of the recipes. I hope you enjoy them!

Happy Holidays! Wishing you all a wonderful 2022!