Tuesday 5 June 2012

The Perfect Roast Dinner

Along with most of Britain, my Sunday evening is not complete without a Sunday roast, with all of the trimmings. I don't care if it is Chicken and stuffing, Pork and apple sauce, Beef and Yorkshire puddings or Lamb and mint sauce - it's all yummy to me. I know that most people have a certain family way of cooking their roast dinners and it is something that is different in every household, but I thought I would do a post on how I do mine. Along with the meat, a lot of effort goes in to making the perfect roast potatoes (the highlight of the meal for me!!).

Here's a bit of background for you - I was lucky enough to grow up with a Mummy who has an Aga, this multi-functional appliance makes light work of a roast dinner (and many other treats too) and is something that instantly makes me think of home. It is definitely a style of cooking that most people find a bit daunting, if you are someone who likes recipes and timings then these are not for you! You basically get an idea of how long things will take and which oven to put them in and then you just play it by ear from then! It is not easy to change the heat on these meaty machines in a hurry, it takes a long time to heat up and a long time to cool down. You basically just have to wing it. Then, I moved out.

Seeing as there are not many student halls that have Agas (!) I had to learn how to cook conventional style. A few burnt dinners and raw sausages later, I just about got the hang of it. Once a bit confident, in my later years of being a student, I took a crack at a roast dinner all of my own, upon the request of my new boyfriend! I think I have just about cracked it now and this is how it goes...

To make a scrummy dinner for two (hungry adults) people:
    • Meat of choice (we went for a 1.3lb of roasting Pork Loin)
    • 3 large baking potatoes (I find these fluff up the nicest on the inside and get nice and crispy on the outside)
    • Seasonal vegetables (we had green beans, Chantenay carrots and cauliflower cheese - J's fave!) 
    • Oil
    • Salt
    • Flour
    • Gravy granules
    • 1 medium onion
    • Sauce for your meat (we had Bramley apple as it was Pork)
    • Tasty bottle of wine/non-alcoholic beverage of choice
MEAT:
Take your roasting meat and follow the instructions on the packet. Most supermarket packaging will give you weight and timings for your piece of meat. Butcher's meat will be a bit more illusive but you can ask your butcher to weigh your meat for you and then you can apply the following cooking times:
  • Chicken - 20 minutes per lb + 20 minutes resting time.
  • Pork - 25 minutes on highest heat + 35 minutes per lb + 30 minutes resting time. 
  • Lamb - 20 minutes per lb for rare, 30 minutes per lb for a more well done meat + 30 minutes resting time.
  • Beef - Rare - 11 minutes per lb, Medium - 14 minutes per lb, Well done - 16 minutes per lb + 30 minutes resting time.
Be aware that these times are approximate, if you are unsure then check that your meat is throughly cooked through before serving. As a general rule of thumb, if the juices run clear, the meat is cooked.

As we chose Pork, we wanted some crackling. For this - pop your oven up to 240 degrees. Cover the Pork in salt and oil, rubbing it in to the skin. The skin usually comes scored, if not then add a few deep cuts diagonally across the fat on the top of the meat. Put the Pork in the oven at this high heat for 25 minutes. After this, turn it down to 190 degrees and apply the above cooking times.

For example: our piece of Pork weighed 1.3lbs so cooking time was 25 minutes + 46 minutes + 30 minutes resting time.

You should have perfect crackling by following the above guidelines but if not, fear not! Carve the skin and fat off of the top of the meat and lay out flat on a baking tray. Pop this under the grill for about 10 minutes and it should crackle up nicely. Keep your eye on this though as it can catch and burn very quickly!

POTATOES:
Peel your potatoes, allowing 1.5 large potatoes per person as a generous helping. Chop in to rough chunks - you should get around 4 chunks per potato. At this point, cover a sided baking tray in about 0.5mm of oil and stick in the oven, below the meat. You can use Goose fat for this if you are feeling fancy, but normal oil will do just as well. 

Par-boil the potatoes on a simmering heat for about 10 minutes. The potatoes should not be cooked all the way through but just softening around the edges.

Take off the heat and drain them. Sprinkle on a light handful of flour and a generous sprinkling of salt.

Pop the lid back on and grab a tea towel as the pan will still be hot. Now shake the potatoes vigorously, holding down the lid. Have a check to make sure that every potato has softened around the edges and is now covered in flour.

When your meat has around 30 minutes left to go, get your heated tray of oil out of the oven, being very careful not to spill it and spoon the potatoes out on to the tray. This may cause the oil to spit so do be careful. Pop them back in the oven, turning every 15 minutes or so until crispy - usually taking around 40 minutes at 190 degrees.

VEGETABLES:
Depending on what vegetable you chose to cook, follow the instructions on the packet. For the vegetables we chose - I bought a pre-made cauliflower cheese (cheeky, I know, but not many people really have the time!) which took around 30 minutes in the oven, and I boiled the carrots and the beans for about 10 minutes in the same pan. These can be cooked whilst your meat is resting.

GRAVY:
Once you have taken the meat out to rest, pour the juices in to a small saucepan. Chop up your onion and cook it off in the meat juices. For ease, I like to add gravy granules now but you can always make your own gravy with flour etc. Stir in the gravy granules and top up with boiling water. You can add more of each to make the gravy the right consistency that you like. I also like to add wholegrain mustard here or sometimes a few herbs.

All that is left to do now, is carve your meat and serve up. Pour yourself a nice glass of wine or a fruit juice spritzer and enjoy!

The before and after gravy pictures - yummy!
Now, seeing as it is a bank holiday, I couldn't let this pass without whipping up a plate of Rosie T's Slutty Brownies - a thing of marvel and legend! They are the perfect thing to scoff on if you have any room left after your roast dinner. Or even to have later on with a cup of tea :)


E x

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