Sunday roast cook off

Jay-Jay_4

kittykat100 wrote:

Don't you use Bisto to make the gravy>>???

Gawd... Am scared.. Will give it a go, but I usually cook the meat with the pots around it in the tin. I have never used a Rack....

Note to self.... Buy bottle of nice Cava for dutch courage

No I don't use Bisto but I confess to using [STRIKE]MSG[/STRIKE] OXO cubes If you start with the 'proper' gravy you can add a teaspoon of your gravy granuals for flavour. It's not exactly healthy but a teaspoon of gravy granuals in proper gravy is better than JUST granuals and water.

I don't put my pots around the meat because they 'steal' my juices which I use for gravy. I do mine seperately to conserve precious gravy making stuff.

Don't buy Cava Buy white wine (or sherry from last Christmas) for chicken or red wine for Beef (gravy):D

Penelope_Penguin

kittykat100 wrote:

Don't you use Bisto to make the gravy>>???

Gawd... Am scared.. Will give it a go, but I usually cook the meat with the pots around it in the tin. I have never used a Rack....

Note to self.... Buy bottle of nice Cava for dutch courage

Hi, Kitty! Have you decided what sort of joint you're going to cook? If you're really not sure, a chicken is probably a good choice. They're inexpensive, so if you need confidence boosting, you won't feel like you need to take out a second mortgage.

I'd recommend a corn-fed one, if you can find one. Speak to your butcher. M&S do lovely chickens. They're more pricey than supermarket ones, but worth it IMO.

Someone mentioned flavouring your chicken. I find a lemon will work wonders, and will make a lovely tangy gravy, with a slug of cream added as an option.

When you cook your roasties around your joint, do they turn out crispy? I would expect that they'll soak up your gravy juices, and be tasty, but softer.

You don't necessarily need a rack to cook the joint. I only use one when I'm cooking a duck, as I want the fat to sweat out.

Penny. x

scottishspendaholic

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much for all the advice!

I am really looking forward to our challenge! I am up for cooking anytime - whatever suits everyone else.

I don't have a rack though - should I buy one? I just have a cheapy roasting tin from Tesco...

A rib of beef - will that have ribs in it? Sorry this is a stupid question - I'm not very good with lots of bones...

Another question - do I do yorkies and roasties or one or the other?

Sorry about all the questions - my mum wasn't a very keen cook so I didn't have anyone to learn from!

scottishspendaholic x

Penelope_Penguin

OK, this is a rib of beef. This looks like 3 ribs. That means there are 3 big bones in this. They'll each be pretty big (look at the top of the rib, and you can see the rib ends), don't have thoughts of tiny wee fish bones. Is this why you're not good with bones, or is it the "deadness" that puts you off.

I have a friend who's a huge carnivore (in all senses of the word ) but can't bear to think that anything was alive, so no bones, or anything like that for him.

As I said, rib of beef is pricey (but good value, IMO). If you're planning to do this, please do some research and see how much your joint will cost in advance, so that there are no nasty surprises on the cost front.

If you're really planning to go for Roast Dinner Supremo title, roasties and yorkies will be expected. Remember, this is a warm up for christmas dinner - you'll have to do pudding, stuffing, pigs in blankets, parsnips, sprouts, etc, etc, then.

Penny. x

mrs_mug_2

ooh I've never made proper gravy. I'm going to give that a go I think.

Roast beef in this house. Budget it tight so it will be the cheapest cut I can find for the meat, sorry but we'll have veg, roast potatoes, yorkshire puds and I might do some mash too.

mmmm could just eat it now....

Penelope_Penguin

mrs_mug wrote:

ooh I've never made proper gravy. I'm going to give that a go I think.

Roast beef in this house. Budget it tight so it will be the cheapest cut I can find for the meat, sorry but we'll have veg, roast potatoes, yorkshire puds and I might do some mash too.

mmmm could just eat it now....

You could do a pot roast, using silverside, or other cheaper cut. You'll need a lidded ovenproof casserole, big enough for your joint. Brown your joint in fat (lard, dripping, oil) then add big chunks of veg (onion, carrot, celery) and stock. You then oven roast long and slow. TBH, if you're using supermarket beef, this gives a better flavour, and more tender meat, IME.

Though it's worth eating lentil curry and chick pea rissoles for a few days, to cook rib of beef for a special occasion.

Penny. x

jobbingmusician

Special post for those (DFW? Students?) who think they can't afford to join in.

Good news! Sainsburys are doing BOGOF 'fresh British turkey seasoned bone in THIGH JOINT' for £3.29. Each of these will feed 2 people generously, so you can join in with meat costing £1.65 for 2! The only disadvantage of these joints are that they are very difficult to carve, so you might end up with hunks of meat rather than neat slices. (you might even end up with one of you happily knawing the bone! ) We had one last night (we got ours reduced even further, as they were on the last day ) and it was delicious.

If you are thinking of this, buy them now and freeze them (or check with Mr S that the deal will still be on by 8th Oct) :rolleyes:

aurora_borealis_2

Good tip for students

I'm going to recruit my student daughter to join in (sali_mali on here) who will be cooking in Liverpool, if she agrees.

Great work jobbingmusician :T :T :T

freyaluck

ohhhh can I join in to pleeeaasssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
sorry to many eeeeeeeeeeeeeee's their.
are we going for the 8th or 15th as both are good for me.
I love making and eating roast, but not very good at making them, although can make my own stuffing yummy
can I have some tips on really nice crispy roastie please, apart from using an arga as I don't have one:(
roast beef is cool with me, althogh don't have the pennies for ribs, so will have to find a nice joint, hopefully reduced;)
frey

Jay-Jay_4

Ah, the great meat debate I think this is often what puts people off making roast dinners, it's so complicated.

I learnt to cook a roast dinner with the very cheapest of cuts of meats available and they were fine. In an ideal world we would take our wicker baskets down to the butchers for an organically fed chicken from a local supplier but in reality I would imagine that it's a supermarket chicken/prepacked beef joint that will be adorning the trolleys of most of us.

If I had started my disasterous first roast dinners with rib of beef it would've been a very infrequent experiment When we can pick up a supermarket chicken for three quid and spend very little on veggies it works out as a pretty cheap yet extremely tasty meal. We can get the timings right, tweak our preferences and then work up to the butcher wearing our organic wicker baskets....

I don't personally like silverside but a piece of topside can be really nice if you cook it pink and slice it thinly. You can buy a small rib of beef at a supermarket, it looks like a thick steak and may not have a bone in it. It will be fine but you won't roast it for very long as it's large but thin. I'd say that for supermarket beef a piece of topside is an easy start. Try to get a 'square' shape rather than one that goes to a point unless one of you likes your meat well done.

Is that helpfull or boring? :rotfl: