Roast dinners

[Diflower]

Ok so maybe this should belong in Kitchen but it's more general

Lots of questions, I was pondering as I cooked
Do you have a roast every Sunday?
Summer and winter?
Lunchtime or evening, or somewhere in between?
Always the same meat? Rotation? Whatever's on offer?
If you have chicken, do you slice it, or have it on the bone?
Do you always have Yorkshires, whatever the roast?
Would you always have roast potatoes?
How many veg? And what kind?
Proper, roasting-tin made gravy, with flour added to the fat, or instant (Bisto-type), or flavoured, unthickened tin juices (Jus)?

And those roast potatoes.
Frozen roasties or fresh potatoes?
What size do you cut them?
How long do you par-boil?
Do you save the water for the gravy?
What kind of fat?
How do you put the pieces of potato in - rounded side down, or cut side down?

Some of you may have noticed it's weeks now since I first fancied roast beef. We still haven't had it
I could go to the butcher or Waitrose but that really does cost a lot. Really I'd buy it from Sainsburys who are generally reliable for it, but haven't been there for ages.

So in answer to some of the above, today we bought a smallish (3lb/1.3kg) chicken from Morrisons.
I put wedges of onion, a quartered carrot, and 2 cloves of garlic in the roasting tin and sat the chicken on top (having untrussed it, and cut off the leg and wing tips and added them to the tin).
Then shoved a sprig of thyme inside, with a quarter lemon, which first squeezed over.
After 20 mins on hot, turned oven down, added 1/2 glass white wine to tin, plus some whole shallots.

At the end, took chicken out to rest, shallots too, then sieved rest and put back in tin with potato water and seasoning, bubbled on hob to make jus.
Roast potatoes, the shallots, carrot, cauliflower, purple sprouting broccoli, and cabbage
Bb always has a drumstick, a wing, and either a chunk or slices of breast.
I have a thigh, plus a chunk or slices of breast.

I'm not expecting answers to all of it lol, just an idea - and any particular secrets would be good

[Kaz]

We have a roast most Sundays, not so much in the summer, often then we'll barbecue, but almost always in the Winter. Even if it's just Mick and I, and we go out, it would usually be for a pub roast It's traditional, we like it and Harry loves it so we have one when he's here

The meat varies, it might be chicken, lamb or gammon, rarely beef. Yes we always have yorkies, as we love them, the veg might be frozen or fresh depends what I have in, and I usually do frozen roast spuds these days although my own are lovely, and I do par boil them when I do them. Mick and I like 'real' gravy but the kids like granules so I do those mostly......Always two or three veg, and at least one will be green. I like my veg

When I make my own roasties I cut the spuds in halves or thirds, then par boil for about five minutes, then shake them up before putting into hot fat. If they are going round a joint, I baste them in the meat fat, if on their own I use sunflower oil. I use the water from the greens to make the gravy up, I wouldn't use potato water though.....

When we have a chicken, Mick carves, he and Harry like a leg but I only like the breast meat so I'll have a few slices of that

[Diflower]

Ah now that's just the sort of answers I hoped for Kaz
Gives a proper picture doesn't it?

Why not beef?
Why not potato water? That's something I got from my late ex-FIL, he always saved the tattie water for the gravy.
I tend to use oil for the roasties too, if they're not around the meat. I'd probably have frozen but the freezer's too small and we don't have them often enough. When I've had them though, they do always seem a bit dry

Lol I showed Bb the carrot, cauli, and purple sprouting and asked if he thought it was enough (it probably was!) but as soon as I said would you like cabbage as well he said ooh yes

[molly]

Do you have a roast every Sunday? Often
Summer and winter? Not so often in summer
Lunchtime or evening, or somewhere in between? Somewhere in between
Always the same meat? Rotation? Whatever's on offer?Usually beef
If you have chicken, do you slice it, or have it on the bone?sliced
Do you always have Yorkshires, whatever the roast?nearly always but I completely forgot them today
Would you always have roast potatoes?Always
How many veg? And what kind?Today was roast parsnips, broccoli and sweetcorn
Proper, roasting-tin made gravy, with flour added to the fat, or instant (Bisto-type), or flavoured, unthickened tin juices (Jus)? Roasting tin gravy…..made by husband, I am useless at gravy

And those roast potatoes.
Frozen roasties or fresh potatoes? Fresh
What size do you cut them? depends on size of potato but not too big
How long do you par-boil?about 10 minutes
Do you save the water for the gravy?no
What kind of fat?Lard
How do you put the pieces of potato in - rounded side down, or cut side down? just leave them how they land when I pour them in

We often have brisket cooked on the hob, lots of gravy that way, but yesterday the rump was cheaper. Amazing how expensive brisket has become in the last couple of years.

[Diflower]

Mmm now that sounds nice Molly, except the veg
I'm a vegaholic so would need more (roast parsnips don't count, they're the same as roast potatoes ) and would never have sweetcorn but I know a lot do.
I can't do that with the potatoes, I think I'm a bit ocd in some respects I do them first rounded side down, but first roll them all sides in the fat, then after 20 mins they go widest flat side down, then narrow flat side down, and usually back to rounded-side down

I know what you mean about brisket, we used to get a really big bit for about £4 from the farm shop, and I'd do it in the slow cooker, but now it's more like £6 and I can't justify it, I'd rather go without for a week and buy a better cut.

[Kaz]

Not beef as neither of the youngsters like it much, and Mick and I tend to have it when we have Sunday lunch out, so it's a treat

I use the veg water for gravy as I was told many years ago that the vitamins from it were good for you LOL - water from the spuds is just starch, isn't it?

Frozen roasties don't go dry if you cook them around the meat, especially a chicken - and with a sprinkle of rosemary they taste lovely

Di, I could easily eat four different veg, but none of my lot would eat more than three

[miasmum]

We rarely have a roast on Sundays, it's too much like hard work.

If we went out I would but we don't usually as Luke is home.

We have sunday dinner at 5, tonight was tuna and pasta bake

I par boil my roast potatoes, shake them up, add flour and rosemary shake again and stick them in the roasting tin however they land

I slice chicken breast but keep the legs and wings on the bone

Thats about it I can't answer the rest, I hate cooking can you tell

[Diflower]

Kaz that's a good point about frozen roasties, I've only ever had them cooked separately
Yes the potato water is starchy (not just starch!) so helps thicken the gravy

Mm we don't often have a proper roast either, I agree it's a lot of work but do enjoy it. I do like cooking as you know, but a roast is somehow not as satisfying to do.
It's lovely to eat but the process is just constant 'do this, do that, now do that again', and at the end you have to juggle everything.
Carve the meat, keep the gravy hot or beep it in a jug in the microwave, drain the veg but have them hot (I cook them a bit ahead and reheat over a hot hob), and if you're doing Yorkshires as well, then everything hinges on them
And as for all the washing-up, if you don't have a dishwasher...

[Kaz]

Timing is crucial I agree - a roast is one thing I can cook well, and time well, probably as I've been cooking one most Sundays for 35 years

[lissie]

I find cooking roast dinners the easiest thing to do.
The timing doesn't have to be exact as in baking and nothing
terrible happens if you leave it a bit too long
We have a roast every Sunday and have done for almost all
of the 56 years we have been married.
I also cooked in the pubs we ran and have cooked roast dinners
for up to 50 people at a time
I never use frozen roasties as they don`t seem to taste the same
and the veg. is always fresh.
OH has his potatoes roasted in olive oil (as the fat from the meat is
a no go for him) but I cook mine round the joint after par boiling for
about 15 mins then draining and giving a good shake.
I use the "Bisto Best" granules for gravy (dearer but lower fat for OH)
When I cook chicken I stuff a lemon inside with any fresh herbs from
the garden and start cooking breast side down and turn it over half
way through.
I make the Yorkshires and make sure the fat is really smoking before
I put the batter in otherwise they don`t rise properly.

lissie