Step by Step Series: The Roast

Welcome to our new series; step by step. This has been prompted by Victoria moving out and the dishes she has been asking for help with. 

Todays post is a complete guide to making a roast dinner. Something which I have never thought too much about - but then I have been doing them for quite some time now - and honestly only put any thought into it when Victoria said she was nervous about making them and said she was not sure what she needed to do.  She is a really good cook so it surprised me.

For anybody that has made a roast dinner before you will know that there is no one part of it that is particularly difficult in terms of cooking but there are lots of things to juggle as you pull it altogether. and it is also a fair amount of work. 

If you have never made a roast before it might feel very daunting but it really is perfectly doable, just have a timeline with everything you want to make and it will keep you feeling fully in control.

A couple of tips.  You should cook your meat from room temperature and so should take it out of the fridge an hour before you plan to cook.  When you finish cooking, don’t forget to rest your meat so that the juices can redistribute.  I have given a recipe for really delicious meat gravy and vegetable gravy that is worth the time (and minimal effort) but if you don’t want to do this extra step, feel free to buy ready made or granules.

A rough breakdown and timeline to give you an idea and get you started using a 1kg sirloin beef joint as my meat of choice, cooked to medium with Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy and I am assuming an eating time of 3pm. Below is a vegan alternative as well as other meats.

Different meats cook for different times and at different temperatures.  Here is a guide to each: beef, chicken, lamb, pork, vegan turkey

I hope this guide helps. Happy cooking.

K