The Meat

One of the things I love about cooking meat is the inherent conviviality: I associate meat dishes with get-togethers, whether that means a special occasion or just a big family meal. Eating meat should always feel like an event, and while I’m not suggesting it should be reserved solely for holidays and birthdays, I do think it warrants a kind of welcoming, hospitality-driven treatment that results in dishes meant for sharing. All of the meat dishes in this chapter—which include beef, pork, and lamb—are geared to be crowd-pleasing, and many of them, such as Leg of Lamb and the Prime Rib with Parmigiano-Reggiano Popovers, have fun presentations that are great for gatherings. (I’m the only person in my family who eats pork, but I love it, so whenever I want to make the Roasted Pork Shoulder, I know it’s time to have some people over.)