‘Butterflied leg of lamb’ was a bit of a challenge, but Alice believed that the majority of the class would rise to it. And there was spinach and rosemary soup to start.
‘My mouth is watering already,’ admitted Rachel, as she sat down waiting for Leah to arrive.
Alice checked the temperatures in the ovens, and that she had enough of everything to begin cooking.
‘A good butcher is essential,’ she advised as she showed them how her butcher had deboned the meat and shaped it, making it quicker and easier to cook. Then she explained how to make the marinade that she had used for her lamb.
Once the lamb was in the oven she prepared a tray of gratin potatoes to serve with it, and then demonstrated how simple it was to make the light spinach soup, blending a little rosemary in the oil used to fry the onion and potato, before adding the stock and finally the fresh spinach.
It was a bit of a squeeze in the ovens, and it worked out well that tonight Rachel and Leah were cooking the lamb between them, as were the Elliots, and that Kerrie had asked Lucy if she’d mind sharing the cost of buying the lamb, as her boyfriend Matt wasn’t around and she would never manage to cook, let alone eat, it all on her own. Lucy was delighted as this week she was extra-tight on funds as she had to leave her old boots in to be repaired as the stitching was going on the toes.
Lucy was busy making her soup, tasting it, herself and Emmet chatting away easily. Alice felt Emmet was a bit of a dark horse, but he was a very able cook, had a relaxed way in the kitchen, and never got het up.
Everyone kept checking their ovens, and the lamb was melt-in-the-mouth when it was finally ready. The gratin potatoes were hot and bubbling as Rob and Gemma and Paul and Kerrie all decided to sit down to enjoy the meal while it was still piping hot.
Alice, hungry herself, joined them.
‘Well worth all the work and the wait!’ was the verdict, as the meat was carved up and served.
‘The rest will heat up beautifully tomorrow,’ Alice promised.
As she tidied up, Alice noticed that Rob had stayed behind.
‘You know me, I hate eating on my own,’ he explained, packing away the remainder of the lamb and potatoes to be taken home.
‘Rob, when I was training we’d all devour everything we made almost the minute it came out of the oven. The head chefs would be furious with us, but it all tasted so much better than reheated later!’ Alice laughed. Then she said, ‘Will you have a cup of coffee before you go? I’m having one.’
‘Decaf, please.’ He nodded, putting the bag down.
Twice during the past few weeks Alice had gone out with Rob again. Sunday lunch and a walk in Glendalough two weekends ago, and last Saturday they’d gone to a jazz session in the Killiney Court Hotel, where he had introduced her to his brother and his wife and a few of his friends. It was nice to have a bit of male company, but she wasn’t sure about where it was all going. Rob had been a perfect gentleman. He had held her hand, and even given her a polite goodnight kiss on the lips, but that was it.
‘Alice, I wanted to ask if you are free to come to dinner on Saturday?’ he said as he helped her to load up the dishwasher and clear away a few things. ‘I’ll book somewhere nice.’
‘Rob, that’s so kind of you, but actually I can’t – I’m going to Galway this weekend to see Jenny.’
She liked Rob, he was such a nice man, but she wasn’t ready to fall into another relationship so quickly. She didn’t want Rob to presume that just because they were both on their own she was ready to get entangled romantically with him!
‘Then what about the following weekend?’ he persisted.
‘Yes, that would be great.’ She laughed, giving in. ‘Something I’ll look forward to!’
Rob and herself were chatting away about the class when Sean and Dara arrived back.
‘Rob’s one of my students,’ she said, introducing them.
‘One of the more mature ones,’ Rob added.
‘What was cooking in the kitchen tonight?’ Dara asked, sniffing around the kitchen.
‘There’s some lamb and potato gratin left, if you fancy them.’
Sean got up to sort it out. The two of them helped themselves to the leftovers and sat down again beside Alice and Rob.
‘They’re like vultures,’ Alice teased. ‘Honestly, they’d eat me out of house and home.’
‘Look, I’d better get going,’ said Rob, gathering his things. ‘I’ll see you next week, Alice.’
As the boys filled Alice in on the big plans for Dara’s upcoming twenty-first in two weeks’ time, with his folks giving a dinner in his house first and then going on to a nightclub in town, she thought of poor Rob returning alone to his empty house.