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Do you know how long it's been since I cooked for the sheer pleasure of cooking?

I don't mean cooking because I'm hungry & have to eat.

I don't mean cooking because I have a party to go to.

I don't mean cooking because I'm writing a cookbook.

And I certainly don't mean cooking for this damn blog.

I mean cooking for pleasure. Cooking because I want too. Cooking because it fulfills something in me that goes beyond an empty belly.

Cooking for the love of it. That's something I used to do quite a bit of of. It's something I recently decided to do a bit more of.

One of my great pleasures in life is brunch, and that includes cooking for brunch. Well, on a Sunday not too far in my recent past, I got up and decided Ken and I would have a brunch for two– and I would cook it. For pleasure.

It was a pleasure I was looking forward to. But, to be totally honest, I don't get a lot of pleasure from shopping. So to keep the pleasure ratio high I decided I'd cook this brunch with whatever I had on hand. There would be no cruising the internet for inspiration. My cookbooks would stay on the shelf. No lists allowed. Just cooking for pleasure.

This is what I came up with. Curried Lamb Hash with Poached Egg. It was my pleasure. GREG

Curried Lamb Hash with Poached Egg serves 4 CLICK here for a printable recipe

• 1 1/2 lb boneless lamb, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 t vegetable oil
• 1 bn green onions white and some light green parts, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1/8-inch dice
• 3 clv garlic, peeled & minced
• 1 (2-inch) piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 pn kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper, as needed
• 4 T curry powder
• 1 T coriander seeds
• 2 t ground cinnamon
• 4 cardamom pods, roughly chopped
• 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• 2 c tomato puree
• 2 c coconut milk
• 1 c snow peas, trimmed
• 1/2 c cilantro leaves
• 1/4 c mint leaves
• 4 poached eggs

Place the lamb chunks into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Pulse 6 or 7 times until coarsely ground, then run the machine 10 or 12 seconds until well ground. Take care not to over-process it into a paste. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large cast iron or non stick skillet set over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook stirring occasionally until lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Add the diced red peppers, garlic, and ginger. Cook about 1 minute. Add the ground lamb, the curry powder, the spices and a pinch each salt and pepper. Cook breaking meat up with a wooden spoon until well-browned, 10 to 12 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium, add the tomato puree and coconut milk. Stir to combine and cook, stirring occasionally, scraping the bottom and breaking meat up further with a wooden spoon until quite thick and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes.

Add the snow peas, cilantro and mint 5 minutes before the end. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Serve warm topped with poached eggs.