There’s nothing like slow-cooked meat, falling off the bone, so soft you can cut it with a spoon. It’s special occasion food, something for a dinner party or holiday, something you order at a restaurant because who has five hours to sit at home and wait for the low heat to work its magic and turn the meat into succulent soft eloquence? You do.

A leg of lamb, a bottle of wine and time: the central ingredients to make a memorable, celebratory meal on a Wednesday night.

This is the kind of food that reminds me that I love to cook because I love to eat. And reminds me not to keep the good things for special occasions or going out to restaurants (RIP). We can’t do that now, we should never have done that: we have to make celebrations wherever we can, we have to toast to being here, to being home, to having time.

I decided to braise a leg of lamb on a Wednesday, somewhere in our second month of quarantine, because the lamb was on post-Easter sale and I was dangerously close to losing my cooking mojo, bored of making economical dishes for a less-than-enthusiastic crowd night after night after night. I understand that buying a leg of lamb is not in everyone’s budget these or most days. But if you can get your hands on one, it really feels like something special. Something to be savoured.

Braising can be intimidating but it’s really one of the easiest ways to cook meat and is extremely quarantine-friendly. It requires a modicum of effort in the beginning - chopping and sauteing some vegetables, putting a pot in the oven - then it just needs to be checked on and maybe fiddled with for a minute over the course of 4 hours. That’s it. I have to admit that even I, a seasoned braiser (I feel like there’s a pun there? No?) still get a tiny surge of panic every time I start - what if the meat never gets tender? What if the juices burn to the bottom of the pan? What if I waste this huge, expensive piece of meat when we are trying to cut down on meat and the poor lamb died for nothing and why did I think this would be a good idea?

But braising? It’s magic - it works every time. The important thing is knowing how long to cook your cut of meat for: too short, and it will not be tender. Too long, and it will dry out and not be tender. The magic number for leg of lamb is 4 hours. Maybe a little more, maybe a less less. Just check it as you go. This particular recipe is pretty foolproof.

Even if you think you have no reason to celebrate, you do. You’re here, you’re home, and you’ve got time.

Braised Leg of Lamb with Olives & Garlic

Adapted from the legendary Melissa Clark in the New York Times. I simplified it significantly. This is one of those recipes that begs to be messed with: what’s important here is the cooking method, not the madness. The method is, in brief: cook leg of lamb slowly for 4 hours in wine, broth and vegetables, mix in olives, then add garlic at the end. I would recommend not leaving out the very last step - adding in the garlic-salt paste. It really adds zing to what may otherwise risk being a heavy dish. Serves 6.

1 bottle of wine (I used a cheap Spanish red, but MC calls for “fruity white”)

2 cups chicken stock (I used water and 1 chicken stock cube)

1 leg of lamb, bone-in (about 2.25 kg/5 pounds)

3 onions, thinly sliced (I used a mix of red and yellow)

3 carrots, peeled and chopped (these add a lot of sweetness)

3 celery stalks, roughly chopped

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 bay leaf

1/2 - 1 cup pitted green olives, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled

salt and pepper

parsley, coarsely chopped for serving, if desired

Preheat oven to 450F/225C.

In a very large pot, large enough to fit your leg of lamb, sautee the onion, carrots and celery in some olive oil for 10 - 15 minutes. Add in the rosemary and bay leaf. Turn off heat and add just enough wine to cover the vegetables, then place the lamb on top, fatty side up. Drizzle some olive oil on the lamb, and use your hands to rub in some salt, then grind pepper on top.

Put the pot in the very hot oven and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. (NB: my pot wasn’t quite big enough for the lamb, so the bone was kind of sticking out the top. That’s ok. When it comes time to cover the pot, just do your best.)

Then reduce heat to 325F/160C, add the remaining wine and the 2 cups of broth. Cover and bake for 1.5 hours, then carefully turn the lamb over and bake for another 1.5 hours.

Uncover the pot, add in the olives and bake uncovered for 30 minutes, then turn over lamb again and bake for another 30 minutes. The meat should be soft enough to cut with a serving spoon - if it’s not, cover and continue cooking until it is. (You can do all of this ahead of time and reheat before adding the garlic and serving.)

Just before serving, reheat lamb in the oven if you made it in advance, then use a mortal and pestle to smoosh the 2 cloves of garlic and a big pinch of coarse salt into a paste, then stir the paste into the juices in the bottom of the pot. Place a hollowed-out mound of mashed potatoes or something similar (grits? polenta? pureed celeriac or Jerusalem artichoke?) on each plate, top with some lamb (use your hands!), some vegetables and some garlicky, luscious pan juices. Top with some finely chopped fresh parsley for color, if desired.