Marinating and inventing...

I got an organic leg of lamb the other day at the store (reduced of course!) and was stuck for something new to do with it other than roast it like usual. So quick inventory of the fridge and larder yielded some possibilities and I soon got to work.

I decided to marinate the meat since it was a work night and I don't have time to do much when getting home but put dinner in the oven and get it quickly to the table. So decided that I had a few lemons - always good for juice and zest. I also had some garlic and a bit of onion. Again just chopped it roughly - pretty doesn't matter in a marinade. I then got out the olive oil - an essential! Then some fresh herbs from the window sill containers - some chervil, parsley and coriander. Oh yeah, and some dried herbs too - oregano (my fresh kind has only just come up), some ground coriander and finally a few coriander seeds as well.

So into a zip lock bag goes the leg of lamb, juice of three lemons and zest, some garlic, onions, good few glugs of olive oil, and herbs. All get put back in the fridge for the day (I did this in the morning before work) and turned at lunch time (yes, I work so close to home I can often come home for lunch!).

When I got home it all got dumped into a dish and into a hot oven for about 80 minutes or so and it was lovely. The lemons did their job and it was permeated throughout but not in a over-powering kind of way. Lamb is usually quite tender but roasting it usually if done too well is tough. this was just right.

My point in all of this is - there was no recipe. I see people all the time (telly especially) going through a recipe and such and really it is about your own tastes and what you like. I just put together things I thought would work - worst case is you have a crap dinner - but you learned!

I have had only one real disaster - the fruit disaster (see previous post). Others might have more - I do too I just don't always reveal them. But that you try and can laugh (usually at a later date!) then that is half the battle. I might recount some day the petit four disaster - but it was an editable disaster! I'm not quite at the laugh stage!

BTW, earlier in the week I went with the librarians who buy our promotional items for the libraries. Our title for this month's promotion was 'Food for Thought' - quite apt. Anyway, I went as 'cookery book' advisor. Translated that meant I got to pick the cookery books. I also got to help getting some of the fiction stock as well. I had a blast going through the books and deciding what was good/bad. I only wish we had more money - but alas we made do. Enjoy!

What is art?

I was watching Nigel Slater last night on the BBC and he was interviewing Keith Allen and one of his friends who was cooking a dish for Keith said 'Food is art without the evidence'. I could find nothing via searching to attribute this quote to.

It took me a while to register it but think about that quote for a minute. I thought how true that saying is. While we strive to cook we eradicate all the evidence of its existence. Well some people document its (as we see on other blogs) existence but by and large we (humans) cook and then consume.

Then I began thinking of other thoughts - dangerous I know. Is all of your cooking geared towards that final 'look'? That final picture perfect meal that we all strive for - otherwise why buy cookbooks? Why continue to beat ourselves up when it doesn't quite look like the picture?

Perhaps it is me getting older that I feel I don't have to 'conform' to anyone's expectations of me and especially about my cooking. I like to cook for people and I like to see that they have enjoyed the meal but I'm getting less impressed by the 'look' of something. Yesterday, I had some blackberries (brambles in the UK) and decided to make muffins with them. So I just took a few recipes I had and made my own - fearful of what might come out of the oven.

However, as usual my fear was for nought. The muffins were quite tasty and even appealing (although no pictures survive) despite my fears. I began to ponder this idea of why I am so fearful. I've had only one real disaster - we call it the fruit disaster. I once saw this program about fruit and creme fraiche and in some important way forgot something because it was awful - both in taste and presentation.

Otherwise, most of my cooking adventures are or have been edible (I'll skip over the mint doubling episode too!). I think the fear comes from the unknown. While I'm cooking or baking I just tend to throw in what I think will work. While I use recipes as a guide I often deviate from them. A friend of mine says we all have our palette. Mine just happens to be in cooking although I am quite good at a number of other things too!

Here's to the adventure in art of cookery.....I feel a title in there somewhere!