Home ... ? Part 2

Ah, now I understand: home is where the hob is! But if you've just tuned in to the Disco, please don't be put off by the opening beat - I promise that this isn't one of those sickly recipe-based blogs where ingredient amounts are designated by 'cups' and 'sticks' of butter and 'heavy cream' fly around with distinctly non-gay abandon (why are the majority of such blogs always North American? And why are they always, always so desperately prim?). Anyway, as I was saying, this blog doesn't revolve around the ramblings of a desperate housewife permanently on the lookout for new ways with 'hamburger' (they mean mincemeat) or Betty Crocker cake mixes. To the contrary; you'll find some very undomesticated ramblings here. But I do love food, glorious food, for both professional and amateur hour purposes. Not that last night's dinner was amateurish - no siree! But in my attempt to ground myself again (post-Liverpool, and all that), I managed to rustle up an extremely tasty little number that I feel obliged to share with you. If you prefer your dinner in (a) ready meal form or (b) from the nearest takeaway, skip the rest of this post and come back tomorrow, when I'll no doubt be hungover, morose and sorry for myself. But if you fancy getting your hands dirty in the most satisfactory way, read on (and have a notebook to hand):

Nigel Slater started it (doesn't he always?). He suggested using lamb chump chops, but I couldn't find any (I think I'm supposed to use the word 'source' instead of 'find' here) so I chopped up a slab of lamb loin instead (not a nice job unless you've got a very sharp knife, which I haven't). Whatever you find/source/use,  you need around 400g of lamb lumps, which you then put in a bowl with 6 tbs of plain yoghurt, two cloves of crushed garlic, 1 tsp of ground cumin and a handful of chopped fresh mint leaves. Mulch the whole lot together with your hands, making sure you really squidge the marinade into the meat, then cover it and forget about it for anything up to eight hours (but if you're in a hurry, even half an hour is better than nowt). When you can be bothered to turn the oven on, heat it up to around 200 degrees, tip the meaty minty mixture into an ovenproof dish and bake it for about an hour. I served mine on a tangle of rocket and fresh spinach, with the juices poured over the leaves and a little dollop of cannellini bean hummous (also very easy to make yourself) and a pool of fresh tsatsiki (ditto) artfully splurged either side of a toasted pitta bread. The result? It was the nicest thing I've cooked in ... ooh, days. Do it! 

This evening we're having Thai green curry made with roast vegetables (sweet potatoes, carrots and aubergines) on brown rice. I might even sling a banana loaf into the oven at the same time. By tomorrow, I'll be fully grounded again, and all ready to hit the new sushi bar in town with a couple of girly mates, followed no doubt by a mini knees-up at GP. 

It's good to be home.