what winter means

I love summer, I do, when the farmer's market is bursting with 18 kinds of greens, and all those lovely tomatoes and green beans and fruits that need nothing more than a light rinse under the tap to be enjoyed.

But I also love winter. When you can shove a joint of meat into the oven around noon and it fills the house for hours with a gorgeous, tantalizing, ever-evolving smell, and emerges tender as velvet to be served to a crowd -- right away, or later, or whenever you get around to it.

 
I recently made a leg-of-lamb from the Ad Hoc cookbook, but it was not this one. This one was the seven-hour leg-of-lamb from All About Braising, and it was better than the Ad Hoc version, which is the first time I've ever said that about anything from the Ad Hoc cookbook. I worship the Ad Hoc cookbook. But there's just something about braising the lamb until it falls apart that I like much much better than the kind that takes a shorter turn in the oven.

 
 The seven-hour lamb, as you can see here, is just onions + tomatoes + carrots + time.

 
And time.

(And apparently some fennel I didn't capture in the first shot.)

 
And time.

(Doesn't it look like a Dutch still life or something?)

 
Until the vegetables are soft and the lamb is barely holding itself together and the house smells so good you can barely stand it. Tzatziki, bread, dessert, done.

Winter. It's what's for dinner.

Comments

[Russ]

I was thinking about lamb daube all weekend. Too busy this week to do it, but I think it's a must this next weekend. Lamb shoulder + bottle of burgundy + all afternoon in Le Creuset = serious comfort food.

[business legal advice]

nice posting !every ones likes that looks so great and im sure taste good.

[Astrid]

Will you be posting the recipe? I just purchased a whole lamb and have a leg. I haven't decided how to cook it yet. Your photos look wonderful. Here's me, husband and friends bringing the lamb home!http://carfreeinannarbor.blogspot.com/2010/11/getting-little-lamb-home.html

[Astrid]

Thanks for the recipe! I'll be giving it a try this weekend.

Astrid