Leiths Intermediate Term, Week 6

Week 6. Talk of being halfway through the course has been and gone, to be replaced with talk of exams…despite them still being 4 weeks away. Whilst exam fear slowly sets in, the cooking continues…I feel like every week I say have a new nemesis in the kitchen but this week I really did: turning vegetables. Taking a round carrot, making it square, then making it an even 7 sided barrel. I’ve never been a patient person and this definitely tested me as my slightly lopsided carrots above show! Thankfully learning potato rosti saved the day – anything cooked in that much butter has to be good!This week’s main challenge was tunnel boning a leg and shoulder of lamb. Essentially this involves getting a bone and joint out of the piece of meat in one piece without opening up the meat – picture digging the Channel Tunnel, our teacher said. It’s always nerve-wracking if even the teachers admit it is hard and so it was a very welcome surprise when it actually turned out to be satisfying! Half an hour of innuendo and butchery later and it was much more enjoyable than jointing a chicken ever was. We used cuts from the shoulder to create our own dish, hence the lamb on spicy tomato and butterbean stew above. Five months ago I wouldn’t have imagined myself saying things like ‘perhaps a basil oil would have brightened up the plate’ but it appears I do now! By a Friday afternoon sometimes you’re not quite thinking straight…which may be how my fab roast partner Rosie ended up dipping green beans in citrus sugar syrup instead of gravy and I have a brand new burn on my wrist, to replace the burn that had just faded in exactly the same place. Nevertheless we managed to get our truffle pasta, stuffed lamb roast dinner and citrus cake all served so we could focus on the bigger issue: how to take a cake, half a roast, a whole raw shoulder of lamb, pasta dough and a weeks worth of chefs whites home on the bus. Bring on week 7…