Not everyone wants to give up meat in January. Indeed there are those who believe that the winter months are precisely the time to indulge in one of our greatest contributions to world gastronomy: the Sunday roast.
Michelin-starred chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen is such a person. “I do love a roast,” she says. “It’s such a homely meal, and all over the country people have been brought up on them.” Perhaps that’s why the answer to the question of who does the best roast is so often one’s own mother or grandmother. No other meal evokes such familial memories.
With respect to those matriarchs, after 20 years in the kitchen at the Northcote hotel in Lancashire, which she now runs as well as overseeing the menus at the Game Bird at the Stafford hotel in Mayfair, Goodwin-Allen thinks most of us could improve our technique. “People have been brought up to cook their meat in a hot oven,” she says, “but by roasting at a lower temperature for longer, you get a much more succulent, more evenly cooked result.”
She realised we needed a bit of guidance when she started sending out whole chickens to be cooked at home during lockdown. “At first people would query the cooking instructions saying to roast it at 120C fan, but once they tried it, the comments started coming back saying they’d never cook chicken any other way again.”
What holds true for chicken is equally true for lamb, beef and even fatty cuts such as pork. “By cooking pork at a lower temperature, it renders all the fat, which keeps the meat moist. Then you can finish it off in a hot oven to crisp up the crackling.”
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Miso-glazed rump of beef, roasted on thyme onions with duck fat roast potatoes
The miso marinade adds a lovely depth of flavour to the beef and makes the onions almost a meal in themselves. Rump isn’t fatty — I’d encourage you to serve it rare so that it remains juicy, but obviously cook it for longer if you wish.
Serves
6 people
Ingredients
80g brown miso paste
80g treacle
20ml red wine vinegar
50ml water
1.5kg rump of beef
4 medium red onions
4 medium white onions
60g beef fat
1 bulb of garlic
6 sprigs of thyme
100g beef stock
For the roast potatoes
3 large King Edward potatoes
2 tsp salt
50g duck fat
½ garlic bulb, smashed but unpeeled
2 sprigs of rosemary, torn
01 In a small bowl mix together the miso, treacle, red wine vinegar and water. Place the beef rump in a deep dish and pour over the miso marinade. Rub until the beef is completely covered and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature at least an hour before cooking.
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02 Heat the oven to 100C (120C non-fan). Peel the onions and cut each one into quarters. Place them in a roasting tray. Add the beef fat. Cut a bulb of garlic in half, lightly smash to release the flavours and add to the onions. Tear and add the sprigs of thyme, pour in the beef stock and sprinkle in a good teaspoon of salt.
03 Remove the beef from the marinade and place on the onions, fat side up. Roast for 70 min.
04 Meanwhile pour the leftover marinade into a saucepan and reduce until slightly thickened.
05 Remove the beef from the oven, place on a wire rack, reserve the onions and keep them warm. Coat the beef with the reduced marinade and leave to rest for a good 15 min. Carve and serve with the roast onions.
06 To make the roast potatoes heat the oven to 220C (240C non-fan). Chop the potatoes into even-sized chunks and put in a saucepan. Add just enough cold water to cover and 2 teaspoons of salt. Set the pan over a high heat and bring the water to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 min until the potatoes are just cooked.
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07 Drain the potatoes, return to the pan and cover with a lid. Shake the pan vigorously to fluff up the potatoes. This will give your roast potatoes a great crust.
08 Add the duck fat to a medium deep tray and place in the oven. Once very hot, add the potatoes and garlic.
09 Scatter over the rosemary, season with a little more salt, then place in the oven for about 20 min until fully golden and crispy.
Rack of rare breed pork, crackling and spiced apple compote
The secret of good crackling is to start with very dry skin. Either blot it with kitchen towel or, better, leave the pork uncovered in the fridge for a couple of days so it dries out.
Serves
6 people
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Ingredients
For the pork
2kg good-quality rack of pork
Half a medium onion, peeled
2 cloves of garlic
80ml olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp whole-grain mustard
20g parsley
4 tsp maple syrup
For the spiced apple compote
6 granny smith apples
60g white sugar
500ml apple cider
3 cinnamon sticks
3 star anise
10 cloves
01 Remove the pork from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for an hour before cooking. This will produce a juicier, more evenly cooked joint. Heat the oven to 140C (160C non-fan).
02 Put the onion, garlic, olive oil, Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, parsley and maple syrup into a food processor and blend to a smooth paste.
03 Score the skin of the pork evenly with the point of a sharp knife. Generously season the pork all over with salt. Put a wire rack into a roasting tray (this will allow the heat to circulate around the pork and give an even cook). Rub the onion paste into the flesh side and place the pork on the rack.
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04 Roast for 1 hour 40 min, then remove from the oven and turn the heat up to maximum.
05 Leave the pork to rest for 15 min, then put it back in the oven for 15 min until the skin is lovely and crispy. Serve with the apple compote and your choice of vegetables.
06 Peel the apples and cut into chunks. Put in a small pan, add the sugar and cook with the lid on over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5-8 min until the apples are tender.
07 In a separate pan, combine the cider, cinnamon, star anise and cloves and, over a medium heat, reduce to a syrupy consistency that will coat the back of a spoon.
08 Pass the syrup through a sieve and add to the apples. Mix well and leave to cool.
Roast chicken with the ultimate stuffing
The key to this dish is to carefully create a pocket between the skin and flesh of the chicken, including the legs, as it will keep the bird moist and also help the skin to crisp up. Removing the wishbone is optional, but it does make the breast much easier to carve. You can, of course, use ordinary breadcrumbs instead of brioche.
Serves
4 people
Ingredients
1 whole 1.4kg chicken
100g onion, finely diced
Olive oil
140g sausage meat
100g finely diced smoked bacon
100g brioche breadcrumbs
100g butter, melted
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 tsp chopped thyme
2 tsp chopped parsley
2 pinches of salt
01 Heat the oven to 120C (140C non-fan). Remove the wishbone from the chicken by making a small cut either side of the bone, scraping slightly to expose the wishbone and then twisting it off.
02 Carefully separate the skin from the breast and legs of the chicken by pushing your hand underneath the skin and using your thumb to release it.
03 Place the diced onion in a small saucepan, add a dash of olive oil and cook on a medium heat for about 2 min until soft. Remove and set to the side.
04 Combine the sausage meat, bacon, brioche crumbs, butter, garlic, thyme and parsley in a medium bowl. Add the onions and salt and mix well.
05 Divide the mix in two and put one half into the cavity of the chicken. Put the rest into a piping bag or carefully use your hand to spread the stuffing under the skin, evenly covering the breast and legs. Be careful not to tear the skin. Place on a tray and cook in the oven for 1 hour 20 min.
06 Remove from the oven and turn up the heat to 200C (220C non-fan). Leave the chicken to rest for 15 min, then put it back in the oven for a further 15 min until golden. Serve with its juices and vegetables of your choice.
Lisa Goodwin-Allen is executive chef at the Northcote hotel, Langho, Lancashire (northcote.com) and oversees the menus at the Game Bird at the Stafford hotel, London W1 (thestaffordlondon.com)
