3. All Kind of Roast recipes

Ingredients
1 x 1.8 kg whole free-range chicken
olive oil
1 x 330 ml can of beer
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded
1 bunch of spring onions, trimmed
½ a bunch of fresh coriander

For the rub:

1 heaped tablespoon smoked paprika
1 heaped teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 heaped tablespoon fennel seeds
1 heaped tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1-2 dried red chillies
1 heaped teaspoon sea salt
1 heaped tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 heaped tablespoon soft dark brown sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Remove the chicken from the fridge and leave aside to come up to room temperature. Bash the rub ingredients to a fine powder in a large pestle and mortar, then drizzle the chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle over the rub and use your hands to massage all those lovely flavours into all the nooks and crannies.

Crack open the beer and pour out around two-thirds of it (or drink it!), then carefully lower the chicken cavity onto the can so it looks like it's sitting up. Position the chicken so it's upright on a roasting tray, then place in the oven and cook for around 1 hour 10 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. To check it's done, insert a knife into the thickest part of the thigh – the juices should run clear.

Brush the chicken all over with the barbecue sauce, then return to the oven for a further 10 minutes, or until dark and sticky. Meanwhile, finely slice the chilli and spring onions and pick the coriander leaves. Once ready, carefully remove and discard the can, then carve up the bird, scatter over the chilli, spring onions and coriander leaves, then serve.

Garlic roast lamb with hotpot potatoes

Ingredients
1.8kg part-boned leg of lamb
5 garlic cloves, sliced
a few rosemary sprigs
a few thyme sprigs, plus a few extra to serve
50g butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced
400g pack diced mutton or lamb shoulder, finely choppped
2kg large potatoes, such as King Edwards, thinly sliced
300g carrots, sliced at an angle
3 tbsp plain flour
700ml lamb or beef stock, plus 450ml (optional)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
steamed green beans and wilted spinach with nutmeg (optional), to serve

Method
Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cut small pockets into the skin and flesh of the lamb by piercing it with the point of a sharp knife. Stuff each pocket with a slice of garlic, using 3-4 of the cloves, and a few leaves of rosemary. Stuff some more inside the lamb, with some thyme, where the bone has come from. Put in a roasting tin, season well and cover with foil.

Melt half the butter in a large frying pan. Fry the onions, stirring frequently, until softened and golden. Tip into a second large roasting tin. Cook the chopped mutton or lamb in the pan until brown. Add to the onions in the tin, and toss with the potatoes, carrots, remaining garlic and herbs (chopped), 2 tbsp of the flour and some seasoning. Pour the stock into the frying pan, then add the Worcestershire sauce and the remaining butter. When melted and boiling, pour over the potatoes, cover with foil and bake with the lamb for 1 hr.

Uncover both the lamb and the hotpot, and cook for 45 mins more until the potatoes are golden and cooked all the way through. Allow the lamb to rest for 15 mins before carving. Leave the potatoes in the oven (covered if starting to brown too much) until ready to serve.

Drain the fat from the lamb’s roasting tin, reserving the juices. Put the tin on the heat and stir in the remaining flour. Pour in 450ml boiling water or stock and stir until thickened to a gravy. Cut the hotpot into 8 and lift onto warmed plates. Carve the lamb into thick slices and place on top, then spoon round a little gravy. Serve with the green beans and spinach – add a little grated nutmeg to the spinach, if you like.

Garlic & herb roast lamb on boulangère potatoes

Ingredients
2kg leg of lamb
4 garlic cloves, sliced
few rosemary sprigs
few thyme sprigs
2kg large potatoes, such as King Edwards
2 onions, thinly sliced
600ml chicken stock
50g butter

Method
Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cut small pockets into the skin and flesh of the lamb by piercing it with the point of a sharp knife. Stuff each pocket with a slice of garlic and a few leaves of rosemary, or scatter with thyme. Put in a roasting tin, season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then cover with foil.

Peel and thinly slice the potatoes, rinse under the cold tap and pile into a large ovenproof dish or roasting tin. Toss with the onions, remaining slices of garlic and a good scattering of herbs.

Heat the stock and butter together, then pour over the potatoes. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven with the lamb for 1 hr. Uncover, put the lamb on top of the potatoes and roast uncovered for 45 mins more. Allow the lamb to rest before carving, for about 15 mins. Leave the potatoes in the oven (covered, if starting to brown too much) until ready to serve.

Garlic chicken with herbed potatoes

Ingredients
8 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
4-8 rosemary sprigs, lightly crushed
a few pinches of light muscovado sugar
2 unwaxed lemons
8-12 chicken drumsticks and/or thighs, on the bone with skin on
4 heads green garlic
1kg salad potatoes such as Charlotte or Nicola
2 tbsp chopped parsley
green vegetables or salad, to serve

Method
For the marinade, whisk the first five ingredients together, season with black pepper and a large pinch or two of sugar. Finely grate the zest of half a lemon and set aside, then squeeze the lemon juice from that half into the marinade.

Put the chicken in a nonmetallic dish and spoon the marinade over. Halve the other lemon and add the three halves to the chicken, and marinate until ready to cook. (This can be done up to two hours ahead or overnight if that suits you better.)

Just over an hour before you want to eat, preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Cut a thin slice off the top of the garlic (this makes it easier to squeeze it out later) and halve the potatoes or cut them into largish chunks, depending on their size. Drain most of the marinade into a roasting tin and add the potatoes and garlic, tossing to make sure that they are coated in the oil. Roast, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.

Add the chicken, rosemary and lemon to the tin, scraping in any bits of marinade. Toss to mix, arrange the chicken skin-side up and season well with salt, then roast for another 40-45 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked, and the chicken is golden and crisp and the garlic is squashy. Mix the reserved lemon zest and parsley, scatter over the chicken and serve immediately with seasonal green vegetables or salad. The best way to eat the garlic is to squash it out of its skin with a knife and spread it onto the roasted potatoes and chicken.

6-hour slow-roasted pork shoulder

Ingredients
2 kg higher-welfare shoulder of pork, bone-in, skin on
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, halved
2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
2 sticks celery, halved
1 bulb garlic, skin on, broken into cloves
6-8 bay leaves
600 ml water or organic vegetable stock

Method
This is a proper old-school Sunday roast with crackling. Leaving the bone in adds a bit of extra flavour and having a layer of fat helps to keep the meat nice and moist as it roasts. This isn't the kind of joint you carve into neat slices. If you've cooked it right, it should pull apart into shreds with a couple of forks. If you're worried about scoring the crackling yourself, ask your butcher to do it for you, that's what he's there for. Preheat your oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.

Place your pork on a clean work surface, skin-side up. Get yourself a small sharp knife and make scores about a centimetre apart through the skin into the fat, but not so deep that you cut into the meat. If the joint is tied, try not to cut through the string. Rub salt right into all the scores you've just made, pulling the skin apart a little if you need to.

Brush any excess salt off the surface then turn it over. Season the underside of the meat with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Place your pork, skin-side up, in a roasting tray and pop in the preheated oven. Roast for 30 minutes, until the skin of the pork has started to puff up and you can see it turning into crackling. At this point, turn the heat down to 170°C/325°F/gas 3, cover the pork snugly with a double layer of tinfoil, pop back in the oven and roast for a further 4 and a half hours. Take out of the oven, take the foil off, and baste the meat with the fat in the bottom of the tray. Carefully lift the pork up and transfer to a chopping board. Spoon all but a couple of tablespoons of fat out (save it for roast potatoes!). Add all the veg, garlic and bay leaves to the tray and stir them into the fat. Place the pork back on top of everything and return to the stove without the foil to roast for another hour. By this time the meat should be meltingly soft and tender.

Carefully move the meat to a serving dish, cover again with tinfoil and leave to rest while you make your gravy. Spoon away any fat in the tray, then add the water or stock and place the tray on the hob. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to scrape up all those lovely sticky tasty bits on the bottom of the tray. When you've got a nice, dark gravy, pour it through a sieve into a bowl or gravy boat, using your spoon to really push all the goodness of the veg through the sieve. Add a little more salt and pepper if it needs it. Serve the pork and crackling with your jug of gravy and some lovely roast potatoes (As a treat, you can try roasting them in the fat you spooned out of your roasting tray. Some stewed red cabbage and a dollop of apple sauce will finish this off perfectly.)

Best roast leg of lamb

Ingredients
1 bulb garlic, 3 cloves peeled and crushed, the others left whole
1 small bunch fresh rosemary, half the leaves removed and coarsely chopped, half in sprigs
zest of 1 lemon
olive oil
2 kg quality leg of lamb
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1.5 kg potatoes, peeled and cut in half

For the mint sauce
4 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
2 pinches salt
1 tablespoon hot water
3 tablespoons wine vinegar

Method
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºC/gas 6 and place a roasting dish for the potatoes on the bottom.
Mix the crushed garlic, chopped rosemary, lemon zest and olive oil together. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and rub the marinade into it. Place on the hot bars of the oven above the tray.

Boil the potatoes, simmer for 10 minutes and scuff the edges. Add the rosemary sprigs and whole garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper and drizzle over a good lug of olive oil. Tip the potatoes into the tray and place under the lamb to catch all the lovely juices. To make the mint sauce, mix the chopped mint, sugar, salt, hot water and wine vinegar.

Cook the lamb for about an hour and 15 minutes if you want it pink, or an hour and a half if you want it more well done. Take it out of the oven and cover with tinfoil and leave for 15 minutes before serving. Carve and serve with the potatoes and mint sauce.
Tip: Try putting a few parsnips or carrots in with the roast potatoes.

Perfect roast beef

Ingredients
1.5 kg quality topside of beef
2 medium onions
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
1 bulb garlic
1 small bunch fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture
olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method
To prepare your beef: Take your beef out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/ gas 9. There's no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled.

Pile all the veg, garlic and herbs into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Drizzle the beef with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the meat. Place the beef on top of the vegetables.

To cook your beef:
Place the roasting tray in the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook for 1 hour for medium beef. If you prefer it medium-rare, take it out 5 to 10 minutes earlier. For well done, leave it in for another 10 to 15 minutes.

If you're doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them – get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking. Baste the beef halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning. When the beef is cooked to your liking, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the beef to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so. Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside while you make your gravy, horseradish sauce and Yorkshire puddings.

Perfect roast chicken

Ingredients
1.6 kg higher-welfare chicken
2 medium onions
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
1 bulb garlic
olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon
1 small bunch fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture

Method
To prepare your chicken. Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/gas 9. There's no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled. Pile all the veg and garlic into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird. Carefully prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife (if you have a microwave, you could pop the lemon in these for 40 seconds at this point as this will really bring out the flavour). Put the lemon inside the chicken's cavity, with the bunch of herbs.

To cook your chicken
Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you're doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them – get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking. Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning. When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so. Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside. Now is the time to make your gravy.

To carve your chicken
Remove any string from the chicken and take off the wings (break them up and add to your gravy for mega flavour). Carefully cut down between the leg and the breast. Cut through the joint and pull the leg off. Repeat on the other side, then cut each leg between the thigh and the drumstick so you end up with four portions of dark meat. Place these on a serving platter. You should now have a clear space to carve the rest of your chicken. Angle the knife along the breastbone and carve one side off, then the other. When you get down to the fussy bits, just use your fingers to pull all the meat off, and turn the chicken over to get all the tasty, juicy bits from underneath. You should be left with a stripped carcass, and a platter full of lovely meat that you can serve with your piping hot gravy and gorgeous roast veg.

Posh roast pork party kebabs

Ingredients
2 kg boneless rolled higher-welfare pork loin, or 2x1kg higher-welfare pork loin joints, at room temperature
1 small bunch fresh rosemary, leaves picked, plus a few more small sprigs
3 heaped tablespoons fennel seeds
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
10 handfuls mixed salad leaves (such as baby chard, rocket, watercress and red or white chicory)
1 small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 fresh green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
500 ml fat free natural yoghurt
1 lemon
extra virgin olive oil
10 pitta breads

Method
Preheat your oven to full whack. Lay your pork loin out in front of you, pat the skin dry with kitchen paper, then use a sharp knife, or a Stanley knife, to score the skin about 1cm deep at roughly 1cm intervals. If you've got a good relationship with your butcher, you can ask him to do this for you.

Bash your rosemary leaves, fennel seeds, garlic and a tablespoon of sea salt in a pestle and mortar. Keep bashing until the mixture is nice and fine then rub it all over the pork - making sure you get it into the incisions. Place the pork on a roasting tray, scatter with the whole rosemary sprigs then put into your hot oven. Immediately turn the temperature down to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and roast the pork for 1 hour 20 minutes or until crisp, golden and cooked through. If the crackling isn't as crisp as you would like it, remove the skin from the pork and place under a hot grill for 5 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, get your salad together. Wash and spin-dry all of your leaves then put them in the fridge until you are ready to go. Next, make the yoghurt dressing. Roughly chop the parsley leaves then add to a bowl with the chillies and yoghurt. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a nice big pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well then set aside. Just before you want to serve your kebabs, pop your pitta breads in the oven for a few minutes or warm them in a griddle pan. Serve the pork on a board with a big carving knife, salad leaves, a pile of warm pittas and bowls of chilli yoghurt. Let everyone carve their own pork and help themselves to a beautiful kebab.

Roast fore rib of beef with beetroot & horseradish

Ingredients
2 kg fresh, different coloured beetroots
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
5-6 kg quality fore rib of beef, French-trimmed, rolled and tied
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 small bunch fresh thyme
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 small handful freshly picked marjoram or parsley leaves
300 g crème fraîche
juice of 2 lemons
4 cm chunk fresh horseradish, peeled and grated, or 3 tablespoons from a jar

For the marinade
1 small handful freshly picked rosemary leaves
6 cloves garlic, peeled
6 good-quality anchovy fillets in oil, drained
zest of 2 lemons

Method
Preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Wash and scrub the beetroots thoroughly to remove any dirt or grit, place in a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil, then simmer for about 50 minutes. Meanwhile, put all the marinade ingredients and a few generous pinches of salt in a pestle and mortar or Flavour Shaker, bash them up, add a couple of lugs of olive oil and rub all over your beef joint. Put the joint on a large roasting tray and into the preheated oven for an hour.

When your beetroot is almost cooked, drain and peel while still warm, then cut each one in half and toss all the pieces in a bowl with the garlic, thyme sprigs, balsamic vinegar and a few lugs of olive oil. After its hour is up, remove the beef from the oven and scatter the beetroot halves all around the meat in the tray. Place the tray back in the oven and cook for a further 30 minutes, by which time the beef should be medium and the beetroot perfectly roasted (feel free to cook the meat to your liking, though). Allow the meat to rest for up to 20 minutes – you may need to keep the beetroot warm in a low oven.

Chop the marjoram or parsley leaves and mix with the crème fraîche and lemon juice. Spike well with the horseradish and season to taste. Carve the beef on to a large platter with the resting juices. Serve with the roast beetroots, flavoured crème fraîche and some lovely roast potatoes.

BBQ Onion Bombs

Ingredients
500g ground beef
2 Large onions
250g bacon
1/4 cup each - chopped parsley, chopped mushrooms and diced onion
1 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tsp each soy and worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp each brown sugar and meat seasoning mix
1/4 cip bread crumbs
BBQ sauce - optional

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
Start off by cutting the tops and bottoms off of your onions and ridding them of the tough exterior skin.
Slice your onion in half length-ways and start to peel the layers of onion apart.
You want to keep the biggest layers of onion you can to stuff, however, make sure you're not keeping the tough exterior onion layers, that won't taste (or cut) very well.
Set your onion shells aside and mix the meatloaf -
Mix ground beef, diced onion, parsley, mushroom, as well as your spices, condiments and bread crumbs into a bowl and mix by hand.

Take a small handful of your meatloaf mixture and place it inside one of your onion layer pieces, then press another layer piece on top of the mixture, making an onion sealed meatball.
Continue with the rest of your onion layers until your meatloaf mixture is gone.
The number of onion bombs will depend on the size of the onions you buy.
Now, let's wrap this thing in bacon.

Wrap 3 slices of bacon around each bomb, you may need more bacon depending on size.
Secure the bacon with tooth picks so it doesn't unravel while it's cooking.
Bake for 20-30 minutes until cooked through
The last 10 minutes or so of cooking, put your favourite BBQ sauce all over the onion bomb and let it caramelize.
You may want to turn on the grill to get a more roasted colour on the bombs.