Ahh, is there anything more quintessentially British than the roast dinner? That’s why we were delighted when we discovered this week was British Roast Dinner Week.
The week is intended as competition for pubs and hotels to see who does the best roast. Now that will be a hard one to judge but if they want an independent adjudicator we are happy to throw our chef’s hats in the ring!
Hopefully the real judges will steer clear of the establishments who do carvery. Don’t get us wrong, there are some good ones out there, but in our experience, they tend to be a lot more miss than hit.
This is because any food which sits under hot lights for too long is very soon going to dry out and it doesn’t help when the people serving you are full of cold and spluttering all over it; yes, that has happened to one of us before at a well-known national chain.
The ones who seem to excel, are the pubs, especially rural ones. Perhaps it’s because the meat and veg was sourced locally so it hasn’t had to travel far, or maybe it’s just to do with the atmosphere of sitting by the fire in an old country pub drinking a pint of real ale (now we’re talking!).
We travel a lot in our line of work so it’s interesting seeing the regional variations when it comes to a roast. Being from the north, we have to insist on a Yorkshire pudding but they unfortunately don’t always come as standard, especially the further south you travel.
Beef tends to be the ‘go to’ meat wherever you go, but a recent survey revealed those in the East Midlands favour lamb and in Wales chicken rules the roost. Pork, meanwhile, is particularly popular in the South West – must be all that cider – and turkey is a hot favourite with the Northern Irish.
Brussels sprouts are the most popular vegetable to have with a roast in the North East while in the South West they prefer parsnips and green beans, how posh are they?
Choosing the right condiment is also very important. We like horseradish on any meat, not just beef and there’s nothing better than a bit of mint sauce, no not on your lamb, but on your veg, although this may have more to do with the habit of masking the taste of the sprouts when you were young – don’t say we were the only ones.
We won’t be lazy and end with a recipe for a roast dinner because everyone knows how to do one (don’t you?) so in our own inimitable style, here’s something a little bit different.
Indian Style Roast Dinner
Roast shoulder of lamb with Bombay roast potatoes, mango chutney caramelised vegetables, sweet potato and pea mash with mint sauce.
Lamb:
1 x shoulder of lamb
1 x bunch of coriander
1 x bunch of mint
4 x cloves of garlic
20g fresh ginger
Vegetable oil
½ tsp Black pepper
1 red chilli
Using the above ingredients make a paste to marinate the lamb covering the whole joint with a thick layer. Cover and refrigerate, leaving for at least 1 hour for the flavours to marry into the meat.
Pre heat your oven 180oC.
Place the marinated meat into a deep roasting tray with about an inch of water in it and cover with foil. Roast the lamb to specific cooking guidelines for the weight of the lamb (usually 60 minutes per 1kg).
The meat should pull apart when cooked.
Mango chutney roast vegetables:
8 x medium carrots
1 x whole squash (Or any of your favourite vegetables)
1 x jar of mango chutney
Peel and top and tail your vegetables. In a large pan of water, boil your vegetables until just cooked. Set aside and chill as you will be reheating in the chutney to serve.
When ready to serve, in a non-stick frying pan heat up the mango chutney till just starting to bubble. Then add your veg, keep heating over a medium heat till the sugars in the chutney are just starting to caramelise.
Bombay roast potatoes:
8-10 x all-purpose potatoes
10g turmeric
4g salt
1tsp cumin seeds
1tsp onion seeds
½ tsp chilli flakes
½ tsp paprika
1 tbsp melted butter
Peel the potatoes then boil in salted water with the turmeric this will give the potatoes a bright yellow colour. Once just cooked take of the heat and drain and leave to one side for 5 minutes then just rough up in a colander.
Roast in the oven at 200oC till golden and crispy, once cooked just toss in a bowl with spices and the butter.
Sweet potato and pea mash:
400g sweet potato
400g garden peas
1 red chilli chopped
5g fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic
Salt to taste
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp cayenne pepper
50g butter
Boil the sweet potatoes in salted water and once cooked mash. Then in a sauté or frying pan fry in the butter with peas, garlic, ginger and spices.
To finish:
1 x jar of mint sauce
Cornflour
When the lamb is cooked leave to rest for a minimum of 20 minutes Using the juice from the lamb in the tray season with salt and pepper 2 tbsp of the mint sauce and thicken slightly with the corn-starch, season.
Enjoy!
About Neil Shaefer
Marketing & Communications Executive of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.
