At Anna’s Table: How to Create the Perfect Sunday Lunch — My Recipes, Table Tips and the Pieces I Love This Season

It's this time of year again – that moment just after Halloween – where I realize I’ve (yet again) not been particularly organized in planning for the months ahead. November and December are filled with all the best things: friends, family, travel, food, and drink. It's an indulgent season, to be sure. And though it’s a marvellous time, it can also be an exhausting time, working through the Christmas hosting prep and beyond. I know as soon as Christmas Day passes (namely, Boxing Day for the Aussies and Brits), I will be out of gas and most likely eating ham on toast for most of the day.

At this moment, though, I'm enjoying the calm before the frenzy of feasts, and that involves creating comforting food and cozy spaces that ward off the chill in the air. By now we’ve been through the back-to-everything sprint of September, tidied the garden (ish… still much still to do here), have had the first fire of the season, and are enjoying that easy kind of cooking and entertaining that is the Sunday lunch.

The Easy Art of a Sunday Lunch

I do love a Sunday Roast, though this year I’ve been a little less grand-plan-roast-y and a little more casual figure-it-out-as-you-go-along-y. Nevertheless, there is still a sense of theatre: The more formal dinnerware comes out, and the rumpled, devil-may-care washed linens and bistro glasses are replaced with more considered fall table decor ideas, pressed napkins and wine glasses with stems. There is still room for whimsy on the table though (always!), and my table arrangements tend towards the more sculptural sticks-in-a-jar foraging style, starring large branches of autumn colors (I've been raiding my crepe myrtle for stems) or the end-of-seasons blooms (have I mentioned my dahlia table arrangements?!).

Freezer as Muse

It's also the time of year I seriously start batch-cooking – cauldrons of chicken broth and fragrant herb sauces, using up my glut of end-of-season leafy herbs, and enough Bolognaise sauce to feed a rugby team. My freezer makes it look as if I'm some sort of crazed food hoarder preparing for imagined months of scarcity, ignoring that there is nothing scarce about November and December, ever. But growing up on a farm in rural Australia, some distance from the nearest supermarket, the goal was always to preserve as much as possible and not waste a thing, so an organized freezer brimming with food is in my DNA.

This habit really comes in handy when figuring out what to cook for Sunday lunch because, in order to fit more in the freezer, something must come out. I unearthed pork chops, slice-and-bake cheese biscuits (good, quick pre-dinner drink pairing), aforementioned chicken stock, red wine syrup spiked with aromatics, and some frozen plums. There was also a chicken stew (and more slow cooker recipes) I had forgotten was there (more of a weekday affair), frozen nuts (the best way to store these), boiled new potatoes, some lovely pre-made pastry, and even a chocolate cake. This is not to say I had everything pre-cooked for the menu, but a little help can go a long way.

The Warm-Up Act

I begin with the chicken stock, simmered until reduced by at least a third and transformed to a rich deep golden shade. Add salt to taste, plus a few grinds of pepper, and serve it with a little dry sherry like they do at one of my favourite restaurants in New York, Antons. This combination has served as a simple make-ahead appetizer at many a dinner party: The flavor is deep and satisfying as only chicken soup can be, with the sherry cutting through to give it some edge. I serve it in vintage tea cups so it looks impressive, tastes delicious and nourishing, and it always earns a few oohs and aahs.

The Main Event

For Sunday lunch I’m serving the doctored-up broth with pork chops on fennel, onion and apple with smashed potatoes on the side and a Plum and Fig Clafloutis. Most can be prepped in advance, so you can spend more time on table drama.

Roast Pork Chops with Fennel, Onion and Apple (serves 2-4)

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Pat 2-4 thick-cut pork chops dry and season with salt, black pepper, and about 2 teaspoons each crushed caraway and coriander seeds, pressing them into the meat.
• Heat a cast-iron pan over medium–high with a little oil and sear the chops with a sprig of rosemary for about 2 minutes per side until browned, then remove to a plate.
• In the same pan, add 2 sliced fennel bulbs and 1 sliced onion with a pinch of salt and pepper (and a little more oil if needed) and cook 5–7 minutes until lightly caramelized.
• Add 1 thinly sliced apple and stir briefly, then return the pork on top and transfer the pan to the oven for 8–10 minutes until just cooked through.
• Rest the pork for 3–4 minutes, then stir 1–2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (to taste) into the fennel and apple and spoon onto a plate.
• Crisp a few sage leaves in butter and scatter them over the pork to serve, slicing the chops across the grain and place on top of the fennel and apple.

Crisp Smashed Potatoes

I always have a stash of baby or new parboiled potatoes in the freezer, the first step in this genius method for prepping the ever-reliable spud: The freezing makes them even crispier.

• Pour some frozen potatoes onto a baking dish, spray or drizzle with olive oil (or duck fat) and place in a preheated 450°F oven until soft-ish, about 15 minutes.
• While still warm, smash each potato gently with the back of a jar or tumbler so they split and flatten with craters at the tops, then drizzle with more olive oil all over (the spray works perfectly here) and roast until crisp and browned, about 20-25 minutes.
• Serve sprinkled with salt or herbs to taste.

Plum and Fig Clafoutis

• Butter a 9×13" baking dish and sprinkle the base with turbinado sugar (optional).
• Toss 6 plums (quartered) and 6–8 fresh figs (halved) with about 2–3 tbsp cooled red wine syrup (you'll find the recipe for this in my last column on figs and dahlias) (also optional), to just lightly coat.
• Arrange the fruit cut-side up in the dish. In one of the best food processors, blend 1 cup whole milk, 3 large eggs, ½ cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt, then add ½ cup all-purpose flour and pulse briefly until smooth (the batter can be made ahead and chilled up to 24 hours).
• Pour the batter gently over the fruit and bake at 350°F for 40–50 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve warm with mascarpone and more red wine syrup.

Styling it Up

I’ve been so inspired by the fall landscape and wildlife colors this year – I even saw a pheasant near my home in the North Fork a few weeks ago – that I can’t resist setting a gorgeous table with a fall dinner party theme, even for a simple Sunday lunch. Sometimes I find whimsy in restraint, keeping things spare and simple; other times, I add a hint of drama where quiet would have done just fine. Here, I have set a foundation of a foliage-inspired tablecloth and layered fall colors and textures in the linen and glassware. I’m using my vintage Sanssouci Rosenthal dinner set, Italia wine glasses, and some amber glassware with the mushroom-shaped bud vases I scored at White Flower, a Vintage Garden and Flower Shop, which is near my house in Southold, North Fork.

For flowers, I make it up as I go along. There is not a lot of expertise and certainly no equipment involved, so often it is a feat of engineering that the stems stay in the non-arrangement arrangement. I do like to group certain flowers and add something unexpected. My go-to fall flower and foliage decor idea has been magnolia leaves for structure, with groupings of sedum, dahlias, dried hydrangeas, and hellebores (the only store-bought flower, but I do love them), and now I’m adding some long stems of rosemary.

Savor this time before the season completely ramps, cook for one, two, or a crowd. Spend the day cooking or fling it together. Cook simply, make it gorgeous, and get ready to dive right in.

This & That

• The one thing: a good quality food processor is the work horse of the kitchen, there are good brands at different price points. I like this Cuisinart 50th anniversary edition food processor from Williams Sonoma for its nostalgic look.
• Invest in: well-designed flatware. You use it every day, and a quality set should last through all the daily meals and parties. I have had this Astier de Villatte stainless steel flatware set from John Derian, and I still love it. I've also been looking at this beautiful Bean and Bone collection from RW Guild, the perfect mix of modern simplicity.
• For the table: If you are looking for linen napkins to update your table this season, these Eastfork Italian linen napkins come in all the rusty hues of fall. I’ve been obsessed with the Hortus Home tablecloth ever since I saw it at Field & Supply Market in the Hudson Valley. And the mushroom bud vases from White Flower. Nate, the owner, has a truly beautiful eye for vintage and new garden and flora-inspired pieces.
• Coveting: this Tiffany Twist Tumbler has been handcrafted and mouth-blown in Murano, Italy.
• Cooking from: Ottolenghi's Simple (at Amazon) – I return to this for inspiration again and again
• Listening to: The Diary of a CEO, this long-format podcast hosts conversation with thought leaders on everything from health topics to relationships, and business leadership.

Finds of the Week

The leaves are turning, the oven’s on, and the table’s set — I can’t think of a better way to ease into the season. See you in two weeks for the next chapter.

At Anna's Table is a biweekly column and modern guide to Savoir-Faire, in which Homes & Gardens' Editorial Director, Anna Last, shares a glimpse into the mindset of the moment, as well as what she's doing in her kitchen and bringing to the table with the best of the season's produce.