Roast Dinners

davybuoy

I have eaten lots of roast dinners in my life time and consider them some of my favorite food, but now I am facing cooking them for the first time and I am looking for any hints. But specifically;

Roasting Chicken/Turkey

- In a self basting pan Vs uncovered in the oven
- Packet Vs own stuffing recipes

Roast potatoes

- How for best results

Gravy

- Packet gravy (my wife likes) Vs home made (I like)
- How to make gravy from scratch?

Vegetables

- What is good for a change from cabbage/processed peas/carrots?

Cookery books

- Are there any specifically for Roast dinners?

watna

I make a pretty damn good roast chicken if I say so myself.

I mix lemon rind, butter, rosemary and salt and rub it all over the chicken and under the chickens skin. I then stick the lemon up his bum. This way the lemon juice goes in the rasting juices and makes the gravy yummy.

It's similar to this recipe below and makes a huge difference to roast chicken (makes it less dry imo). I also roast garlic cloves with the chicken (put them in half-way through cooking) which also adds to the gracy as well as giving you yummy roasted garlic to eat.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/ROAST-CHICKEN-WITH-LEMON-AND-THYME-102159

To make gravy I use the roasting juices, some gravy browning and some flour. I add hot water if I need more bulk to it.

As for veg, has to be mashed carrots and parsnips.

Homemade stuffing is pretty easy too. You can get a lot of simple recipes online depending on what herbs etc you like.

I'm afraid I can't help you with roasties. In my last place my oven wasn't hot enough to make them properly but I must try them now I have a super hot gas oven. What I do is boil them first and then roast in the oven with oil but I can't give you any more tips then that.
You can't beat a good roast. I haven't had one in months and now I have to have one this Sunday!

pebblesjm

I'm here to tell you how to roast BASTING FREE Impossible you say.....not at all;)

Gently slide you hand between the skin and the breast starting at the neck end and keep pushing through til you can comfortable fit you hand in and the skin has been loosened all round the top.

Next mix together butter, garlic, lemon zest, herbs of your choice (mixed herbs de provence work nice), salt, pepper. ** the essential bit of this is the butter and you can flavour it whichever way you like but this is just my fav**

Then place this mixture into the pouch you have made and squish is around so theres butter mixture all over, result: juicy, tastey chicken!!!

As for covering or not I usually leave uncovered for first have, get a bit of colour on the bird and then cover.....hope you enjoy:D

Minder

Roast chicken/turkey at 190c for 20 minutes per lb or 22 minutes per 500g plus an additional 20 minutes. To test if it is cooked, pierce the thick part of the thigh to the bone with a skewer of small knife. It is cooked when the juices run clear. Chicken is fine if roasted uncovered, but because of the long cooking time, turkey is best covered loosely with foil. Uncover for the last 1/2 hour to brown the skin.

Gravy is great when made from the juices from the pan and a stock made from the same meat or bird and allows the roast to rest. Pour off some of the fat leaving enough to cook a couple of tablespoons of plain flour, cook the flour for a couple of minutes before gradually adding the hot stock and use a balloon whisk to avoid any lumps. The flour and stock will thicken into a paste, add more hot stock and cook the gravy on the hob in the roasting tray, 10 to 20 minutes. Check seasoning. If you like wine in your gravy, add that at the start to allow the alcohol to cook off.

Not all varieties of potatoes are good for roasting. Par boiled to soften the edges, then drained and shaken in the pan to fluff the edges before sliding into a roasting tray with a little hot fat or oil. Goose or duck fat make fantastic roasties. Again season with salt & pepper. About 60 to 70 minutes I find, but will depend on the size of the spuds. I like to add a couple of smashed garlic cloves after about 30 minutes.

Veggies - roast parsnips and carrots always go down a treat. Braised red cabbage is a must with roast beef or turkey. Turkey must have sprouts on the side - parboil and finish in a frying pan with cubes of bacon or ham. Roast sweet potatoes are good with chicken. If you are feeling really adventurous, try making a spinach souffle to go with roast beef. Delia has recipes...

Cookery books - Clarrisa Dickson Wright has a book called Roast - with 40years experience you can't go far wrong. Ramsay's Sunday Lunch is good for roasts - love him or hate him, it's hard to ignore 3 michelin stars. Delia is the fall back for many people - everything you need to know is there. Hugh FearlesslyEatsItAll has a Meat book the includes plenty of recipes among all the animal husbandry stuff. Sophie Grigson also has a Meat Course book - that is out of print, but second hand copies are available on amazon.

Delia is a good buy because she has all the trimmings included.

DadaKopf

This recipe is stunning: http://www.recipezaar.com/277732

I'm a strong believer in never needing ready-made gravy. The real stuff is just so easy to make, there's no point in lording a load of MSG all over your succulent roast. It tastes like crap compared to the real stuff. You'll see.

This dish is beautifully accompanied by a nice Cotes du Rhone. I had it with a Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage, but the 45e Parallelle organic bottle in Superquinn for €8.99 would also rock hard.

Pigletlover

I love roasts and roast chicken is one of my favourite dinners. I personally don't like lemon with chicken or fish so I tend to leave that out. I keep it simple by just rubbing a garlic clove over the chicken and then spreading some butter mixed with thyme (you can use any herb you like), salt and pepper over the breast and legs. I always cover the roasting tin (not the chicken) with tin foil and make sure it's sealed in tightly around the edges, this keep the chicken nice and juicy, and then for the last 20-30 minutes I remove the foil to let the chicken brown. I don't know how long to cook for, I judge it by eye, but I find for a medium chicken it usually takes around an hour and a half at 180c. Check to see if it's cooked by sticking a sharp knife into the thigh, when the juices run clear the chicken is cooked. Leave to rest for 10 minutes covered loosely with tin foil before carving.

For easy sage and onion stuffing, fry a small chopped onion in butter over a low heat for around 10 minutes, add a tablespoon of sage and mix with breadcrumbs and a little salt and pepper.

Roast potoatoes are a must. You can boil them for a few minutes if you want to fluff up the outside, but I find that they just hold more grease this way. What I do is just cut up large potatoes into 3 or 4 pieces (large potatoes cut up into more pieces work better than small potoatoes cut in 2 because you get sharper angles which crisp better), coat with olive oil and place in the oven around 40 minutes before the chicken is due to be ready.

Sorry I can't help with the gravy, I hate the stuff so I just use Bisto. I've made home-made gravy a couple of times, but no matter how hard I tried to seperate the juices, there was always a bit of grease floating around the top which was not very appetising.

Vegetables. I love vegetable so I keep it fairly varied. Obviously there's carrot and parsnips, but roast parsnips are very nice, as are french beans and asparagus. If you have left over cabbage it's gorgeous fried. Sometimes for a change I serve roast chicken with fried rice and a selection of stir-fried vegetables with a dash of soy sauce or else I'll roast some peppers red oinion, courgettes, aubergines, cherry tomatoes with a couple of cloves of garlic.

olaola

Ahhh - roast dinner. Ultimate comfort food!

I keep my chicken covered for most of the journey - I have a slightly shonky gas oven too, so it's nessassary.
I turn it upside down every so often. I dunno if this really helps! I usually stuff it, but I find I get less juice out of the bird for the gravy.

Stuffing - onion, thyme, parsley and some lemon zest.
Stuff lemon wedges & garlic in the wings/legs of the bird.
Garlic under the skin on breast.

The gravy - I pour the juice into a pot, then I get the tray (while the bird is resting) and put it on the heat and pour the water from the spuds/veg and loosen up all the burnty crispy bits. Then I pour it all into the pot and I add half flour & half bisto. And cook until thickened.

Faith

Okay, this is probably a really stupid question, and I've been avoiding asking it, but now I must. How do you get stuff under the skin when the bird isn't cooked? I can barely see the skin, never mind slide my hand under it! Is there a trick I'm missing?

olaola

Faith wrote: »

Okay, this is probably a really stupid question, and I've been avoiding asking it, but now I must. How do you get stuff under the skin when the bird isn't cooked? I can barely see the skin, never mind slide my hand under it! Is there a trick I'm missing?

I don't know if I can explain this... it's just there!! You have to stick your hand between the skin + meat - kind of like a doctor doing lipo, to seperate the two.
I just poke wee holes in the skin and push shards of garlic in (it's easier if they are pointy). Gives the breast great flavour.

lucylu

I generally do all roasting in Roasting bags. I dont ever have issues with the meat drying out.

(tip recommended by that Pierre Marco White )
take a Chicken stock cube crumble into a small drizzle of olive oil and make a paste and brush it all over onto the chicken and Roast it, it gives a golden crispy skin - not for you non MSG lovers

Otherwise put 1/2 lemon, 2 whole carrots 1 onion quartered, a red pepper quartered into a bay leaf, fresh thyme and tarragon and bird into roasting bag, drizzle in olive oil and season, toss around in the bag, tie it and put a few holes in the top of the bag...cook!
Avoids scrubbing a roasting dish clean

A sign a chicken is cooked is when you can remove the leg bones from the chicken easily
Stuffing - i like my stuffing dry but to make it wetter add extra milk.
Chop finely a small onion into a small pot with about a dessert spoon of butter ..allow them to cook until they are clear 8- 10 mins
In a food processor make breadcrumbs about 2 slices of (wholegrain,brown or white) bread per person (crusts and all) put in about tablespn of fresh herbs and blitz, Season and if you like add some lemon rind, add in the onions. 2/3 way through the chicken cooking time , take the bird out & take some juices about 2 tablespoons and mix through stuffing.. Place stuffing on greased dish and put a few little knobs of butter on the top to make it crispy.. put back into the oven for the reminder 1/3 of chicken time

To make gravy, drain the juices off the meat into a small saucepan and put 4 or 5 ice cubes into it, the fat will generally come to the top easier for chicken stock and for beef and Lamb will harden and cling to the ice & makes it easier remove.
Add dessertspoon of flour when stock is cold ( to avoid lumps and also if you take off too much fat it may go lumpy too) a drop of gravy browning

Roast potatoes. Pick potatoes that are equal in size and peel
Put in pot and boil for 10 mins
Put goose fat in a roasting tin at a temp of 220 - 230c depending on the oven
strain the potatoes and give the pot a rattle this will make the skin more crispy, add any flavourings now if you want any ie crushed garlic, rosemary salt pepper
carefully put the potatoes in the roasting tin and toss making sure you have covered them all in fat.. you must be quick at this or the oil will cool down and the potatoes will soak up too much fat.
Put back in the oven for about 45 mins ...depending on potato size

DEVOUR

Minder

Faith wrote: »

Okay, this is probably a really stupid question, and I've been avoiding asking it, but now I must. How do you get stuff under the skin when the bird isn't cooked? I can barely see the skin, never mind slide my hand under it! Is there a trick I'm missing?

Start at the neck end and unravel the roll of skin that is tucked under the chicken. As you open up that bit, you will see the top end of the breast meat. Push your finger along the meat and the skin will separate - it will be a bit tough crossing the breastbone as there is a fine membrane there. As you work, you will get more fingers in until there is a big pocket into which you can shove a handful of butter. It is sometimes easier to fill the pocket and work the butter around the bird evenly from the outside.

A cracking filling is a couple of teaspoons of harissa - the north african chilli paste. Roast as usual.

tSubh Dearg

When I roast a chicken I rub it all over with olive oil, rather than using butter, it's just as tasty but a bit healthier.

I usually cook it for 30 mins right way up, 30 mins upside down and then another 30 right way up. It makes the breast meast incredibly moist.

My beginners guide to making gravy goes like this:

1) Remove the chicken from the pan and pour any juice that comes off it back into the pan. Pour a small bit of boiling water into the pan and with a (preferably wooden) spatula work the burnt on bit into the water, to give yourself extra flavour and to help with the washing up later!

2) Seperate off as much of the fat as you can (the clear substance sitting on top of the juices), but don't worry if there's some left as it will be absorbed later in the thickening. If you have a gas hob I would just put the pan directly over the heat, with an electric hob I transfer it to a pot. You need a fairly hot heat.

3) Put 2 tbsps of flour/cornflour in a container with at approx 200mls of water. Mix them together thoroughly and add bit by bit to your meat juices.

4) At this point the juices should be starting to thicken. Now if I'm making gravy for lots of people this is the point where I use a stock cube and some boiling water to make it go further, even better is to use the water you used to boil your veg, gives a really nice flavour to the gravy.

5) Now is the point where you have to balance the adding of stock to the adding of your water and flour mix until you get the right consistency of gravy for you. The remaining fat will have disappeared by now as the flour absorbs it.

6) Season to your liking. I find a bit of salt really brings out the flavours. If I have it I'll also put in some fresh thyme or sage.

7) Put on chicken!

The Sweeper

Take free-range, organic chicken. (If you can't afford organic, at least buy free-range.) Wash it under the cold tap, and dry it with a clean teacloth.

Allow it to sit, draining any further water, on said teacloth on your draining rack. (Yes yes, boilwash teacloth after using for this.)

There are three chickens I like, depending on the day:

Chicken with bacon and mushroom stuffing:

I make a bacon and mushroom stuffing that is, essentially, diced onion, chopped smokey bacon, chopped mushrooms, breadcrumbs, parsely, thyme, black pepper, a little garlic and an egg to bind, starting by frying off the onion and bacon in a mixture of 1tbsp butter and 1tbsp olive oil.

I stuff the chicken, including pushing some stuffing up under the skin at the neck end.

Then slice two large, peeled onions in half. Rub the outside of the neatly stuffed bird with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Put the four onion-halves in the base of a roasting tin to form a square, and balance the oiled bird on the onions.

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Chicken with lemon: use a sage, onion and lemon zest stuffing with some anchovies for flavour. Mix olive oil and lemon juice like a vinaigrette and pour over the bird, rubbing into the skin. Use lemon halves to balance the bird in the roasting pan the way the onions work in the previous recipe.

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Chicken with herb butter: this recipe is utterly excessive and totally glorious. Use about 200g butter, and huge handfuls of every fresh herb you can find - parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme being four favourites. In a mortar and pestle, grind sea salt and black pepper - a teaspoon of each. Then add a couple of cloves of garlic and grind them to a paste with the seasonings. Finely chop your selected herbs. Put the room-temperature butter in a bowl, then combine the herbs and the garlic and seasonings.

Push the herb butter under the skin of the chicken, into every part you can reach. The breasts should be utterly covered with a thick layer of under-skin herb butter, then rub it under the chicken, around the legs and inside the body cavity. Keep going until you run out of butter.

Balance the bird on four onion halves again, and cook for the first 20 minutes at a high temperature to frazzle it a bit, then switch to about 170-180 and cook until the legs and wings will fall off if pulled. To serve, pull the chicken apart into pieces and serve, in the roasting dish full of melted, garlicky herb butter. Serve with freshly baked crusty bread. Steam a load of french beans on the side to allay the guilt.

Generally when I'm roasting I don't cover the bird. I cook it at about 180 in a gas oven, and I like to roast my chickens until the legs will come away easily if pulled, but - and this is important - THEN I REST THE BIRD FOR AT LEAST 30 MINUTES - while I'm finishing gravy or warming plates and hollering for people to come to the table and fix their drinks and such like. Resting is vital to allow juices to run through the bird and it prevents any drying out.

If I'm making gravy, I do it the way Minder describes - add flour to the pan, form a roux, add stock, add white wine, a dash of soy sauce and some pepper, then whisk and cook the gravy. Buy a gravy separation jug - one of ones where the spout comes up from the base of the jug, so when the fats rise to the top of the gravy, the spout pours nothing but good gravy from inside the jug.

Dizzyblonde

I rub my chicken all over with olive oil, lemon rind, crushed garlic and rosemary. Then I stick the lemon up its bum. After eating this I could never eat 'plain' roast chicken again.