The ability to cook a roast is like being able to produce £50 notes out of your fingertips – people love you for it, especially in halls or shared houses…
Roast dinners are easy to cook – the tricky bit is the timing. Work out how long your meat will need in the oven, then work everything back from there. Here’s a little guide to cooking times:
The meat How long (per kg)? What temperature?
Chicken 45 mins, plus 20 mins to crisp 180°C (gas mark five)
Beef
Rare 45 mins plus 20 mins at the end 180°C (gas mark five)
Medium 55 mins plus 20 mins at the end
Well done 66 mins plus 30 mins at the end
Pork
Medium 66 mins plus 30 mins to crisp 180°C (gas mark fi ve)
Well done 77 mins plus 35 mins to crisp
Lamb
Medium 55 mins plus 25 mins at end 180°C (gas mark five)
Well done 66 mins plus 30 mins at end
The tasty timeline
First!
Put the oven on to get hot. Whack it up to 200°C, then turn it down when it’s time to put stuff in there.
Spuds!
You’ll need:
• potatoes. About one big potato per person should do it
• enough oil to coat a tray by a couple of millimetres.
The crunchy roast potato is the holy grail of cookery. Let us show you the way…
1. Boil water
2. Peel the potatoes, cut them into quarters
3. Put the potatoes in the saucepan and cover with boilingwater. (Gently!)
4. Boil for about eight minutes until partly cooked
5. Drain with the pan lid and shake to rough up the surfaces (it lets the oil get in and makes them really crunchy)
6. Leave. Turn your talents to the meat
Flesh!
You’ll need:
• meat of your choice (from the butcher, it’s far cheaper and
far nicer, and a good joint is essential to a good roast)
Now do this:
1. Turn the oven down to the temperature you need
2. Put the meat on a rack or on a pile of veggies. (When it cooks, juices and fat escape and it can end up boiling rather than roasting)
3. Put in oven and wait for people to come flocking
Once the meat is cooked leave it on the side for 10 minutes. When it’s cooking, it gets quite tense (well, wouldn’t you if someone put you in the oven?) and it takes about 10 minutes for it to relax. It gets to chill out, you get meat that melts in the mouth. Everyone’s a winner
90 minutes to go…spuds in!
First, get your tray of oil and put it in the oven to get hot for15 minutes. Then get it out of the oven and put the potatoes in (hot oil spits – and hurts – so put them in really gently and wear oven gloves).
Occasionally turn them over so that they’re evenly coated. Get them out and drain them on some kitchen roll when you’re ready to serve.
Obviously, if your joint is only going to take 90 minutes to cook, put everything in at the same time. Easy!
15 minutes to go…veggies!
You’ll need:
• a handful of veg per person
• a pinch of salt
Chop everything up into bite-size pieces (French beans just need to have the ends chopped off), put them into a saucepan filled with boiling, salted water. Prod everything with a fork every minute or so, until you can put it the whole way through without too much resistance. It shouldn’t take much more than five minutes.
If everything starts to turn grey and fall apart in the pan, you’ve gone too far.
10 minutes to go…the gravy train!
You’ll need:
• a glass of wine or cider
• half a teaspoon of marmite
• something to put the gravy in
1. Lift the meat out of the tray and leave it to rest on a warm plate
2. Put the tray on the hob and swish the lovely juices about with a wooden spoon
3. Put a glass of red wine in the tray (white if you’re cooking chicken, and cider if you’re cooking pork)
4. Let this simmer away
5. Stir in the marmite. It sounds strange, but it tastes delicious – trust us. If not, gravy granules will be fine.
6. Drain, using a sieve, into a gravy boat/measuring jug/vase
Is it done?
Spike your meat in the thickest part with a skewer, or knife.The juices should run clear (unless it’s beef, when it’s better to be a bit red in the middle). If in doubt, cook for another 10 minutes, then check again, just to be on the safe side. Repeat until you’re happy.
And…go!
Carve meat. Serve with veg and potatoes. Drench in gravy. Eat. Be popular.
Other things…
The veggie alternative!
You’ll need:
• broccoli and asparagus (or you can use any spare green veg you have)
• some crumbled feta cheese
• some sprigs of fresh mint
• ready-made filo pastry
Bundle all the ingredients on top of a few sheets of filo. Pull all the corners together and twist the pastry to seal. Put in the oven about 15 minutes before you serve.
Fancy flesh!
Try these to make the meat even better:
Chicken – wedge some butter, thyme and lemon rind under the skin
Beef – roll it in peppercorns, mustard seeds and crushed garlic
Pork – rub belly with some honey and 5-spice powder
Lamb – keep it traditional: rub on some garlic, rosemary and salt
Crunch!
Put a sheet of foil over the meat when it first goes into the oven, to stop it drying out. About 15 minutes before you’re ready to serve, take it off. The end result should be: crisp on the outside, juicy in the middle. Like an armadillo. (Don’t roast an armadillo.)
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