Cooking (mostly meat)

Lately we've been experimenting a lot with meat from the farmer's market. We have a local pork producer who often has lamb and grass-fed beef. There's also a fisherman from the Bay Area, and now a local free-range chicken grower. Over the past year, we've branched out from our original purchases of filleted white fish (usually cod or something similar) and pork chops to crab, salmon, tuna, scallops, prawns, pork loin, grass fed ground beef, sirloin steaks, lamb stew meat, and most recently, a whole chicken and a 5-pound leg of lamb.

Memorable recipes have included seared tuna on heirloom tomato salad, risotto with asparagus and lamb, basil-stuffed scallops, prawns and crab with homemade mayonnaise, and hamburgers on homemade focaccia with a variety of cheeses and toppings.

A few weeks ago, we bought a whole chicken and I roasted it, stuffed with some garlic and herbs, and basted with lemon juice and olive oil. It was divine, although it could have used more salt. I don't know if I could have or should have brined it. I saved the bones in the freezer to make stock, which I'll try to do soon.

Last night, Loris cooked a leg of lamb. I'm not sure of his exact recipe or method - I just know that it took a lot longer than he expected, there were rosemary, garlic, potatoes, onions, and carrots, and it was amazing. Eight of us finished off that 5-pound sucker. It was tender and juicy and really fantastic. My husband is a wonderful cook.