Dummies guide to cooking a roast!?

[x.Lilly.x]

Ok so I want to cook a roast dinner Sunday.
Iv always had, chicken, Brussels, Yorkshire pudding, carrots, roast potatoes and sometimes swede.

Can anyone tell me a step by step on what I need and what to do and how to cook it? I think I might cheat though an just buy a cooked chicken as cooking one myself sounds like well all properly end up with food poisoning lol

 

[nik106]

How in depth do you need it to be? Cooking a chicken is pretty simple! When i do mine, i rub it all over in olive oil, and then put it in the tray upside down with tin foil over the top. Half way through cooking time i turn over (if i have loads of time where i'm doing nothing else, i i might turn it multiple times as it helps keep the juices in so its moist). Towards the end of the cooking time, i remove the tin foil to allow the top to go nice and crispy. Most chickens from supermarkets will tell you inside how long you need to cook that particular chicken for and at what temperature. You are supposed to leave meat to rest for 10mins before carving, but i never do.

When working timings out, i work out first the time i want it and the time it takes things to cook. Put your chicken in and prepare all your veg and potatoes - they're more time consuming than you think! Work backwards in times, such as if you want it for 2pm and the chicken takes 2 hours, then put in the oven at 12, if the potatoes take 30mins, then they go in at 1.30 etc..

For nice crispy roast potatoes, i cut all my potatoes to roughly the same size and then boil them in salty water so the outsides are soft but the insides still fairly solid. I preheat the oil for at least 15mins in the oven. When i put drain the potatoes off, i batter them in the colander slightly so they're all fluffy and then pour them into the hot fat. I turn frequently and bake for about half an hour. Par-boiling (soft on the outside, solid in the middle) i recon takes 10-15mins depending on how many you do.

My advice for yorkshires would be to buy them. I've never managed to make them and get them to turn out nice I personally think the Aunt Bessie's batter ones are the best, they're the most like homemade as its frozen batter in a little metal foil and they always seem to turn out nice.

 

[TORino]

Can you get brussels at this time of year?

The chicken roasting tip above is a good one.

Make your own yorkshires though, 2 top tips, get the fat REALLY HOT and smoking and add an extra egg to whatever the recipe says. My yorkshires always rise loads.

 

[Lander]

The only reason I have beef lard/dripping in my fridge is for making yorkshires lol I use Asda's 7p (yes, 7p!!) batter mix and do as said above, get the fat really hot in the oven before pouring in the mix, and try to avoid opening the oven whilst they rise!!

 

[Me, My Girls & I]

I don't like batter mixes! Dunno why, I just prefer my own! I find roasts the easiest thing to do! You can get meat thermometers so you'll defo know when the chicken's cooked! Its all a matter of timing really and once you've got that sorted it's a piece of piss! I whack my chicken in with a sprinkle of salt, or if you've got a slow cooker, 8 hours on low with a stock cube over the top makes a fucking amazing chicken! I love mini new potato roasties, cut them in half and cook in olive oil for about 40 mins with a few sprinkles of rosemary! Sprouts I think it's best to get dozen as you don't get any waste! They only take about 5 mins (i do like mine crunchy tho!)

If you're doing yorkshires, take your chicken out to sit for a bit covered in tinfoil whilst you put the yorkshires in cos you won't need to open the oven then!

 

[Me, My Girls & I]

I don't like batter mixes! Dunno why, I just prefer my own! I find roasts the easiest thing to do! You can get meat thermometers so you'll defo know when the chicken's cooked! Its all a matter of timing really and once you've got that sorted it's a piece of piss! I whack my chicken in with a sprinkle of salt, or if you've got a slow cooker, 8 hours on low with a stock cube over the top makes a fucking amazing chicken! I love mini new potato roasties, cut them in half and cook in olive oil for about 40 mins with a few sprinkles of rosemary! Sprouts I think it's best to get dozen as you don't get any waste! They only take about 5 mins (i do like mine crunchy tho!)

If you're doing yorkshires, take your chicken out to sit for a bit covered in tinfoil whilst you put the yorkshires in cos you won't need to open the oven then!

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

My OH has started sprinkling mixed herbs on our roast potatoes before putting in the oven. Gives them a really nice taste!

 

[Lander]

It's a Jamie Oliver thing in our house at any rate... OH loves that I put Rosemary on our roast potatoes.