Here’s how to make the perfect roast dinner every time – and the secret ingredient is a typical SPANISH delicacy
IT’S a classic dish that is part of our history – but not all Sunday dinners are created equal.
Yesterday we told how a Bristol pub got a roasting for serving up a sad plate of dry beef and turkey with a measly portion of veg.
The £11.79 meal was swiftly branded on social media as Britain’s worst roast dinner.
But today we begin the search for Britain’s BEST roast.
To nominate your favourite pub or restaurant, email [email protected] – ideally with a snap of their dish – and the winners will be judged by our top taste testers.
As a starter, today The Sun’s favourite foodie, Alex James, reveals what makes his perfect roast dinner.
IN FOOD
Meat
ROAST beef is the big one, utterly delicious and emblematically British – but what we think of as a roast is actually baked beef.
Roast beef traditionally meant spit roast, on an open fire. It’s the ultimate for me, as you get a really crispy crust and the meat hardly loses any precious juices.
Whatever the meat, you want a bit of chunkiness to the slices. Don’t go too thin or you’ll lose the textural element.
To make a joint go further, I’m all for adding “side” meats – pigs in blankets with turkey is a great example. Spicy chunks of chorizo are lovely with chicken, and I promise no one will complain if you serve crispy, smoky bacon with your Sunday roast.
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Vegetables
NO chef can help fiddling and, given the choice, they’d probably never cook exactly the same meal twice.
There are no hard and fast rules for vegetables – just go for the best- looking ones you can get your hands on. But remember, a wise man once said that any fool can cook a steak but it takes real skill to do a vegetable justice.
Seasonal vegetables are always good, as they tend to be cheaper, but on the other hand it’s pretty hard to beat a bag of frozen baby peas.
Vegetables should bring a punch of colour as well as flavour and goodness. Adding cream/butter and a few chopped herbs will always enhance them too.
Potatoes
IF I’m honest, a big bag of extra-chunky frozen chips has got me out of trouble more than once on a Sunday.
Personally I find goose fat roasties a little too rich alongside roast meat but there is no right or wrong, as long as you cook your spuds with love.
With fattier joints such as pork shoulder, just slicing large potatoes down the middle and baking them cut side up works a treat – they’ll really soak up the juices.
I reckon they want to be between two and three bites big, and hit them with some fresh herbs for serving. Add onions or chives, which are just starting to appear now, and parsley is magnificent with potatoes too.
Sides
IF you’re pulling out all the stops, I would definitely go for something in a cheese sauce, such as cauliflower cheese. It’s absolutely vital.
For me, the finest, knee-trembling mouthful is where you get a little bit of gravy and a little bit of cheese sauce on the same chunk of roast potato.
Heaven. Of course, Yorkshire puddings are magnificent with beef, but also with other meats.
No one in my family has ever said: “Oh no, Dad – why have you done Yorkshire puds again?”
Gravy
THE perfect gravy should be slightly too rich to eat on its own. Tinned beef or chicken consommé are excellent cheats for enriching gravies.
I am sometimes tempted to sneak a few mushrooms and onions in too, especially in the colder months. It shouldn’t be too thick and don’t drench your food in it – except the Yorkies, of course.
Condiments
THEY used to say you could tell a sailor as he’d have mustard with his lamb, not mint sauce, but I like both and I think anything goes when it comes to sauces.
Wheel ’em all out – morello cherries in eau de vie, truffles, even the ketchup. The simplest trick is to lay on a bowl of good, flaky salt mixed with freshly cracked pepper. It’ll do wonders for pretty much anything on the table.
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When I was seven I’d help my grandad cook Sunday roasts at his seaside B&B. His signature dish was roast lamb, and he started me off on the mint sauce.
Mix together salt, sugar, Sarson’s vinegar and finely chopped fresh mint. I was hooked, immediately.