Roast on Sunday

What’s Sunday without a classic roast dinner to enjoy? Just any other day, so make sure yours is set to impress

As autumn rolls in and the colder weather with it, warm your customers with a classic Sunday roast. There are few things more comforting than a hearty roast – it’s like a hug for the senses! And with people still seeking comfort from food post-pandemic, it’s a crowd-pleaser, and a profit booster to boot.

However, you don’t need us to tell you what makes up the traditional favourite, though we do have a few twists up our sleeves to reinvigorate this popular meal.

First off, take a look at the meat you offer. Decide how many different ones to add to your menu and consider rotating them every so often or having a roast of the week.

Then consider simple touches that can really elevate the meat into something special. Try these ideas.

» Rub crushed sea salt and rosemary into chicken skin and chill overnight.

» Sit a chicken on sourdough croutons made by tossing bread chunks in olive oil and seasoning and adding to a roasting tin with garlic and lemon halves.

» Make a spicy marinade with ginger, spices, garlic, chilli and natural yogurt and rub over a chicken.

» Score the skin on a joint of pork loin on the bone, rub with salt and poke slices of garlic and rosemary into slits. Roast and serve with apple and horseradish sauce and crackling.

» Drizzle beef with oil, season well with sea salt and black pepper and rub all over.

SPUDS

A roast isn’t a roast without roast potatoes. There’s so much you can do to add flavour and texture, including parboiling, then drying and tossing in the pan to fluff up the edges, which turn gloriously crispy in the oven.

Top tip

DEGLAZE YOUR MEAT PAN WITH RED WINE, SHERRY OR CIDER, DEPENDING ON THE MEAT, AND SEASON FOR GRAVY WITH A PUNCH OF FLAVOUR

Pork

Cook the joint in a pan with about 2cm of water as it’ll create steam in the oven and keep the meat succulent.

Chicken

Put butter under the skin and rubs lots of salt and thyme over it.

Beef

Sear in a pan before roasting as this keeps all the juices in and creates a deliciously moist roast.

GET STUFFED!

Stuffing shouldn’t just be for chicken and Christmas, add it to every roast and use fruits such as apricots, apples and cranberries partnered with sage and thyme and other woody herbs to lift it.

SHOULD YOU, SHOULDN’T YOU?

That’s the debate when it comes to Yorkshire puddings. The look of delight when a customer gets one with their meal that they’re not expecting is worth making sure you add to every roast you serve.

ON THE SIDE

Whatever you do, don’t sideline the side dishes; let them shine and your roasts will be the talk of the town. Give veg some love with simple ideas such as adding a roasted garlic and herb butter, a sprinkling of chilli on broccoli, a crumble of feta over roast carrots, or a squeeze of lemon juice and seasoning to greens – they’re easy wins. For a more sophisticated upgrade, try shredded sprouts with bacon and chilli butter, kale and cauliflower cheese, leek, squash and parsley crumble and whisky-glazed carrots.

TREAT TIME

Pork crackling is a real treat with a roast. It’s golden, crispy and full of flavour but getting the cut of pork right is important. Go for leg as there’s a decent layer of skin on it. Plus the fat helps prevent the meat from drying out so you can cook it at a high temperature for long enough to get that scrumptious crackling. Prep well: the skin needs to be dry; score the skin; add salt to draw the water out; and use a little vegetable oil to help the skin puff and not dry out.

Top tip

INCLUDE VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN VERSIONS SO NO ONE MISSES OUT

FINISHING TOUCH

Never underestimate the sauces! They’re the perfect partner to a roast and the finishing touch. Go for the expected so you don’t have disappointed customers but also try something different such as a roasted garlic sauce with beef or a chilli sauce to pep up chicken.

ROASTS WITH A TWIST

» Forget the usual nut roast and serve up nut roast en croute for vegetarians.

» Serve chunks of roast lamb with roasted peppers, crumbled feta and dill.

» Rather than roast a large lamb joint, serve up shanks in thyme with mashed potato, roast carrots, sliced leeks and kale.

» Drench a boneless joint of gammon in ginger beer for a sweet and warming spicy flavour.

» Cook a beef pot roast – you can use silverside instead of ribeye, which is much cheaper.

Top tip

USE ANY LEFTOVERS TO CREATE TASTY SANDWICHES AND MEALS FOR MONDAY, SUCH AS A BEEF OR LAMB RAGU, OR A CHICKEN AND PASTA SALAD

GINGER BEER GAMMON

»PREP: 5 MINS »COOK: 2 HRS

Ingredients

»FOR THE JOINT: 2kg boneless gammon joint; 1 onion, peeled and quartered; 2 carrots, peeled and roughly sliced; 1 tsp black peppercorns; 2 cinnamon sticks; 2 bay leaves; 1 litre ginger beer; 2 oranges, quartered

»FOR THE GLAZE: 2 tbsp clear honey 50g light brown sugar ½ tsp cinnamon 1 orange, juiced

Method

1. Put the gammon in a large pan and add the onion, carrots, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves. Pour over the ginger beer and top up with enough water to cover the gammon. Bring to the boil, skimming off any impurities. Simmer for 1 hr and 15 mins, topping up with boiling water if the pork starts popping out. Remove from the heat and leave to cool in the liquid for 1½ hrs.

2. Preheat the oven to 190˚C/gas mark 5. Remove the gammon and transfer to a board. Remove the skin and score the fat into diamonds.

3. In a small saucepan, heat the honey, sugar, cinnamon and orange juice over a low heat, then increase the heat and simmer until it becomes syrupy.

4. Line a roasting tin with foil and transfer the gammon on to it. Add the quartered oranges. Brush half the glaze over the fat of the gammon, then roast for 45 mins, brushing the remaining glaze over it halfway through.