Roasting For One: Crazy or Crazy Delicious?

Published on 'Fabulous Foodie' 15/5/2011

To do justice to food as the most wide-ranging and personal of subjects, I needed additional voices to chime in. I asked dungeekin so he would make me one of the fabulous roasts he discusses below. My plan is working ’cause I’ve been eating awfully well as a result. — Deb.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The topic of solo activities has been weighing upon my mind recently, given that it will be another nine days before I am back again at the dining-table of my beloved. And by ‘solo activities’, for the more earthily-minded among you, I am of course referring to cooking for one.

Specifically, Sunday roasts when cooking for one.

Sunday roasts, with all the trimmings, are of course a British tradition. They’re as much a part of the English way of life as the Queen, substandard dentistry and constant drizzle. Yet when I mentioned on Twitter that I was planning to treat myself to a Sunday roast – alone – the news was met with a degree of surprise.

It seems that many people view cooking a roast (especially if they’re on their own) as hard work – a great deal of effort on a day of rest. And this surprises me, because it isn’t. Really, honestly, it isn’t hard work at all.

A tempting roast dinner – with all the glorious kitchen smells that brings, and the dopey satedness that follows its eating – is actually staggering simple. It’s ‘fire and forget’ food – with a few minutes thought and pre-planning, you can have a juicy roast on the table with luscious accompaniments in two hours – of which, despite impressions, you’ve only had to do about 30 minutes’ work.

It’s true, honest.

I wrote a roast chicken recipe some time ago which outlines the concept, however in order to prove my point I’m going to tell you what I cooked for myself tonight. It was good. More importantly, it was easy, which is a priority when cooking alone. And if you follow this, you’ll have a juicy roast on the table inside two hours, with less work than you’d need to cook a risotto.

Roast Pork, Roast Potatoes, Broccoli, Fried Leeks & Mushrooms.

This will serve one with leftovers (if, like me, you like raiding the fridge for a cold roast potato) or two easily enough.

You’ll need:

• 1kg pork shoulder with the skin on (for crackling);
• Either 4 large or 8 smaller potatoes (floury King Edwards are good for roasting, but you can use whatever);
• 1 head of broccoli;
• 2 large leeks;
• Butter, sea salt, olive oil, black pepper;
• Onion gravy granules (remember, this is a quick job, so it’s not cheating).

Put the oven on. HIGH (250C is good). Boil the kettle. Chuck a good lug of olive oil into a roasting dish.

Once the oven’s up to temperature, put the pork on a plate in the sink. Pour the boiling water over the skin, and watch it start to crinkle. Pat it dry (carefully), drizzle it with a little olive oil and season with lots of salt and black pepper. Pop it in the roasting dish, skin up, and chuck it in the oven. Set the timer for 20 minutes – this is the initial ‘sizzle’.

Peel and chop (if necessary) your potatoes, and pop them in a saucepan of salted water to parboil.

Go and watch TV for 20 minutes, there’s nothing you can do right now.

When the timer goes, go and turn the heat on the oven down to 170-180C, and reset the timer for 30 minutes. Carefully take the potatoes out of their boiling water, set them aside and turn off the heat on the saucepan – you’ll need that water later, so keep hold of it. Go back to the TV for the remaining time.

Thirty minutes later, when the oven goes ‘ping’ – take out the roasting dish, pop in the potatoes, and give them a careful flip or two to cover them in the oil and meat fat. Back in the oven – set the timer again, this time for 40 minutes. Pour yourself a glass of wine, and return to your scheduled afternoon viewing….

Seriously, you’ve done maybe ten minutes work and there’s now nothing else you can do for almost an hour. Leave everything alone.

Once the 40 minutes is up, you have 15 minutes of business ahead (ish). First, take the pork out of the oven, then carefully remove the skin, and wrap the pork in foil to relax while you finish your meal. Pop the crackling back on a shelf in the oven, so it carries on drying and crisping up.

Turn on the heat under the saucepan you used earlier, and heat some butter and olive oil in a frying pan. Put some gravy granules in a jug.

Chop as much broccoli as you need, and chuck it into the saucepan. Chop the leeks and mushrooms, and put them in the frying pan Cook until the leek and mushroom mix, and the broccoli, are both tender, then simply turn the heat off under both pans, and drain the water from the broccoli straight into the gravy mix, and stir.

Unwrap your meat, carve. Turn off the oven, take out the potatoes and the crackling. Add everything to the plate. Serve. Eat.

Now, seriously, how hard was that? You have a perfect Sunday roast, leftovers to nibble on, and the sense of replete achievement that comes with a meal most people seem to think is ‘hard work’.

Though of course if you’re on your own, you do have to do the washing-up . . .

How To Get A Hot, Tasty Bird

The subject of roast chicken came up recently in conversation with a Colonial of my acquaintance, when I mentioned I was doing a roast bird as Sunday lunch for Boy and his brother.Some dribbling may have been involved at this point.

You see, it appears that the lady in question has been on a search - a quest, even, for The Perfect Roast Chicken. I have this mental image of her wandering the United States a la David Carradine in 'Kung Fu', entering deserted diners in one-horse dustbowl towns, ever seeking poultry-based enlightenment.

Of course, I was happy to help, in the spirit of Hands Across the Oceans to which I so fully ascribe.

Here, then, is my method of cooking roast chicken. I can't say it's TPRC, but it seems to work pretty well, and is neutral enough that you can tweak the seasonings, should you desire, to match the weather outside.

You will need:

1 decent roasting chicken<. Organic/corn fed if you wish, in all honesty I couldn't give a proverbial flying one at the equally proverbial donut. Just PLEASE, for the sake of your tastebuds if nothing else, make sure it's free-range.
1 Lemon;
1 Onion*;
As much garlic as you like/can stand/will still get you kissed;
Butter; Olive oil.
Sea salt and black pepper are a given, right? Right.

First, stick your oven on. I'm with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on the 'sizzle', so whack your oven up to 250 if it'll go that far, and let it preheat.

Halve the lemon, halve the onion, peel and halve a couple of the garlic cloves and leave the rest untouched. Stuff half a lemon, half an onion and the peeled garlic firmly up the bird's backside.

Butter first. I think it's well worth pinching Jamie Oliver's suggestion of massaging butter unto the flesh under the skin of the chicken - just gently work your fingers between flesh and skin and, when you've got a pocket there, slip in some butter.

Drizzle the chicken in olive oil, grind over a good wodge of black pepper and sprinkle with sea salt. Don't be reticent about this bit, plenty of salt. If you like (and I do) you can also shake over a few squirts of Maggi Liquid Seasoning (which I'm utterly addicted to), to add a spot of 'unami' to the skin's flavour.

Massage the whole bird, making sure it's fully coated and the butter is nicely spread over the breasts.

By now your oven should be as hot as [insert your favourite heat-related simile]. Chicken into roasting dish - make sure it's a GOOD one, it'll need to be later. Chuck the remaining half lemon, half onion and the whole, unpeeled garlic cloves into the dish and chuck dish into oven.

Wait 20 minutes. Don't go near the oven at all. No basting, no checking - just let it get blasted on full heat and sizzle away.

After your 20 minutes has elapsed, you're allowed to open the oven. Pop the dish out, give it a bit of a shake and turn the heat down to about 190. Back into the oven.

Now, the next bit's up to you - basting. Some do, some don't. I sometimes do, other times I just relish the 'fire-and-forget' nature of roast chicken and don't bother. I tend to find that there's plenty of moisture anyway. But the occasional shake doesn't hurt.

I've found that leaving it to its thing for another hour works out about right for an ordinary-sized bird. If you're doing one that's roughly the size of an ostrich, you may need more. But for a normal (feeds 4 with the usual accompaniments) chicken, an hour seems fine.

Give your bird that hour, then remove it from the oven. If you're unsure, you can always test if it's done by sliding a skewer into the breast or leg and checking the colour. Clear: done. Pink: back in the oven for a bit. These days I don't tend to bother, it's up to you.

Tip the chicken upwards over your roasting dish, to allow those glorious juices to pour out. Worry not, there's still plenty of juice left. Wrap the bird, tightly and well, in two or three layers of good kitchen foil and set it aside. You won't be going back to it for 20 minutes...

RIght, remember, I said about a good roasting dish? Here's why. Whack it straight onto the hob, on a high heat. Bring the juices up to a fast boil, scraping at the sticky, unctuous bits of meat juice on the bottom of the pan. Throw in some water, or wine if you prefer. Don't forget to press the lemon and the onion, and squish the roasted garlic cloves. How much water you add depends on how much gravy you like. You shouldn't need more salt, but hey, what's tasting for? Sieve it into another pan to get the bits out, then put your smooth gravy back on the heat. Keep tasting.

Reduce. And reduce, and taste and reduce, until you're getting where you want to be - glossy meat-juice gravy with highlights of roasted onion and garlic and the tang of the lemon juice. Skim the fat off if you wish. I don't wish. Thicken with butter or cornflour if you need to. Once it's right, LEAVE IT ALONE and just keep it hot.

Carefully unwrap your chicken from its 20-minute stint in a health spa. Marvel at the amount of juices collected in the bottom of the foil, and carefully pour them into your glorious gravy.

Carve. Serve with whatever accompaniments you deem appropriate for the season - my old staple of watercress, rocket and spinach leaves goes very well with it in warmer climates.

Present to your Colonial acquaintance, and sit back, secure in the knowledge that you've organised a hot and tasty bird.


*Variation

In summer, I find that replacing the onion with a lime works well. Add a (light) touch of chilli and, when you take the bird out to relax, stuff a handful of coriander** into the cavity to infuse the chicken with its scent and flavours. Perfect picnic chicken.

** Cilantro, for the Colonials reading this.

Review - Limoncello, Abingdon 5 December 2008

Limoncello Restaurant

13, Ock St
Abingdon
Oxfordshire
OX14 5AL
Tel: 01235 530900

I like Italian food, but sometimes it can seem as if the myriad chains of Yet Another Generic Italian Restaurant are strangling real, quality Italian meals. So it's great to see a small, family-owned Italian restaurant in Abingdon doing so well.

Limoncello is situated on Ock Street in Abingdon, and despite it's proximity to the (frankly dire) Ask!, never seems to be lacking business. A nice touch is the plate of olives on the table from the outset, giving you something to nibble on while you peruse the menu without having to pay extra for it (as so many places do).

The food itself, while not spectacular, is good, honest fare, well-cooked and well-presented. I started with grilled sardines, which were lifted from the ordinary by a light mint dressing, and The Darling G's mussels were well complemented by their tomato, garlic and basil sauce.

For main courses, I chose a sirloin steak which was perfectly cooked - and the tomato, garlic and oregano sauce, while strong, was not overpowering. The Darling G went for a rack of lamb which was perfectly cooked for our tastes (though maybe a touch too rare for others), though its red-wine sauce was a little bland. The side dishes of saute potatoes, green beans, carrots and fried shredded courgette were well-cooked and tasty.

Service was quick, attentive and old-fashioned, with even the traditional large pepper-grinder coming out for every single course! I found myself wondering if they'd do the same for my espresso.

The whole meal was washed down with a pretty good bottle of house Red, and finished with a liqueur coffee for The Darling G and the ubiquitous double espresso for me (plus a couple of free Limoncellos!). The bill including drinks and service was a not-unreasonable £60.

So the conclusion? Don't bother with the execrable Ask!. Support a local business rather than a chain, walk a few yards up the road and eat at Limoncello.

Review: Wagamama Oxford, 30 November 2008

Wagamama
8 Market Street
OXFORD
OX1 3EF
phone : 01865 249 183

Noodles shouldn't really be interesting. However, visit Wagamama and I can assure you they will be!

Sited on Market Street, just far enough from Cornmarket to avoid the crowds of Japanese tourists and frantic Christmas shoppers, the cube-shaped exterior and large glass frontage hint at what's to come.

Inside, the blocky theme continues with chunky tables and bench seats, arranged not in the usual clusters of two and four but instead in long refectory-style formations. Of course, being British, we found a spot at a discreet distance from our co-diners.

As for the food - well, this is fast-food Japanese style. The food was very quick in coming, hot, tasty and well-presented, and with portions large enough to satisfy even my stomach.

The Darling G went for the Steak Soba (fried noodles) and I chose the Wagamama Ramen, a noodle soup with chicken, fish, mixed vegetables and the obligatory (pointless and tasteless) Tofu, my feelings on which are well documented. You can see the Ramen in the above photo, and I liked the quirky wooden soup spoon (though it actually made it impossible to eat the soup with any dignity!)

The cost of the meal was reasonable, at £31 including drinks and service. Green Tea was free, which was a thoughtful touch.

Overall, Wagamama Oxford is fun, funky and fast. A good destination for a quick and filling lunch when you're out and about, though personally I still prefer Yo! Sushi overall.

Easy Pork Steaks That Taste Complicated!

Given the globe-trotting nature of The Darling G's employment, you may have correctly surmised that I spend a great deal of time eating alone. As a result, it can be difficult to make sure that I eat properly - but I try, and what I thought I'd do is share with you the odd recipe or two that I use, when alone, so cook up something tasty (and quick) to eat! This one, for example, normally takes me about 25 minutes overall. Plenty of time for a busy Man. And it looks, and tastes, as if it took a great deal longer.

Oh - and if you're single, you can use them as an 'offer to cook', which should result in you no longer being single. Just call me the Lurve Doctor.

So for this one, you'll need:

• Two Pork steaks (or chops, I don't really care);
• Various veg (I used baby sweetcorn, brocolli, mange-tout and leeks. Choose anything that'll steam quickly);
• A lug of Veg stock (or pork stock) and some water;
• A couple of spuds;
• A glass of red wine;
• Plenty of butter.

Peel and chop your spuds, and stick them on to cook.

Put a frying pan on a low heat. Add a good knob of butter and a bit of oil. Chuck in the pork. Cook the steaks on a lowish heat for 10 minutes. Leave them alone - don't move them.

You've got plenty of time now to sort out your veg and pop it all into a steamer. Stick the kettle on as well.

Turn the pork steaks. Another ten minutes. DON'T MOVE THEM.

10 minutes later:

Steaks out of the pan, spuds off the heat, water into the steamer, veg onto the steamer, Put the steaks aside to relax, set the timer for another 10 minutes.

Whack the heat right up under your frying pan, pour in your wine and scrape the pan clean. Add your stock and water. Let it reduce while you mash your spuds.

In the last two minutes, throw a bit more butter into the sauce and stir like mad. It'll thicken up and go glossy.

Pork steak. Mash. Fresh, steamed veg with a killer wine reduction. Less than 30 minutes from first getting the idea, and rather tasty if I do say so myself.

And it could get you lucky. Aren't I helpful?

Review: Cafe de Paris, Monaco 18 October 2008

Cafe de Paris is one of the main tourist traps in Monte Carlo, situated as it is on Casino Square.

For a quick coffee while touring the Principality, there's nowhere better, and you can sit in the square watching the tourists dribble over the vast array of supercars parked outside the Casino and Hotel de Paris. The hot chocolate is especially good, served in a jug rather than just a small cup.

As for dinner - that was more of a mixed blessing really.

Firstly, it's a good idea to dress for dinner - while there seemed to be no public statement of the fact, simply everyone, French or otherwise, were outfitted in suits and dresses.

Despite its size, service from the waistcoated staff is quick and attentive.

Our starters were both excellent - Gerry went for their onion soup, which was fresh and tasty (though not as deeply flavoured as others) and I chose a soupe de poisson, served with side dishes of grated cheese, croutons and rouille. It was fully flavoured, and deeply satisfying. First class. However, while my main course of grilled whole seabass was as good as my starter, Gerry's chicken was disappointing - slightly overcooked and a little dry.

The meal was washed down with a bottle of white, and we skipped desserts.

Overall, this meal was an enjoyable experience, but not really worth the 135-Euro price tag. It was merely a good meal, and for that sort of cost in the UK I would expect excellence, which sadly wasn't delivered.

In conclusion - you should definitely visit Cafe de Paris. But go there during the day for coffee, and find somewhere else for dinner.

Review - BeefBar, Monaco 17 October 2008

42, quai Jean-Charles Rey
98000 Monte-Carlo, Principauté de Monaco
Tel. +377 97 77 09 29

Monaco. The glittering Principality with petrol in its veins, and a place where a simple steak frites can be elevated to fine dining.

BeefBar is situated overlooking the harbour in the Fontveille quarter, so you enjoy your meal while gazing covetously at the superyachts moored there. There's no dress code (which seems quite rare for the better restaurants in the area), however we were advised by the concierge at our hotel that I would be 'more comfortable' wearing a shirt. Thankfully, a tie wasn't necessary!

The menu is simple - a few starters, some cold meat dishes, and a range of cuts of beef, arranged on the menu not by cut, but by nationality, with a description of the key points of each nations' offering.

I started with pan-fried foie gras served topped with ground nuts and figs, which was absolutely sublime - however, I actually preferred Gerry's starter of chunks of seared tuna, marinated in garlic, shallots, wine vinegar and ginger, served with individual pots of wasabi cream and ground pistachio. It was almost, but not quite, a ceviche, and utterly fantastic.

Both of us chose sirloin steaks for our main course - Gerry opting for an Argentinian steak, which was as good as Argentine beef always is - and I went for a Kansas beef, from a slightly older animal (27 months as opposed to 18). Both were superb - the differences in flavour were clear, with the Kansas beef more intense and with a fuller, herbier flavour.

The steaks were served with a small pot of creamed potato, which I think will become my accompaniment of choice for beef in future. However, as no mention was made of this accompaniment on the menu, we also ordered some side dishes, and this was unfortunately where we were a little disappointed.

The frites were excellent, and the dish of steamed legumes also well cooked and presented - however the kitchen forgot about our leek gratin, and when it did come out was cold and the parmesan topping unmelted. The waiter handled our complaint well, and as one would expect we weren't charged for the offending dish.

The whole meal was washed down with a bottle of decent French red, surprisingly reasonable given the cost of the rest of the meal!

We didn't bother with desserts, as the portions of the previous courses were more than adequate (especially the 400g steaks). Though the portion of creamed potato was a touch small for two.

Total cost for the two courses, including wine and service, was a not-inconsiderable 195 Euros. However, given that this was in Monaco, which is somewhere we're unlikely to visit very often, it was worthwhile even at that cost.