Let’s cook – Mothering Sunday
Roasting of the meat
Always allow the meat to come up to room temperature, season well and brown off on top of the stove or in a very hot oven, this stage is important this caramelisation add tremendous flavour.
If you are cooking pork then always make sure the skin is scored well and rubbed with sea salt, pop in a very hot oven and once the skin is starting to turn crispy turn the oven down to continue roasting.
Always place your roasting joint on top of a trivet of vegetables as this stops the bottom of the meat from over cooking.
Remember to rest any roasted meat for a least 25/30 minuets before carving.
Yorkshire puddings
Use equal measurements of flour, eggs and milk, season well and allow to stand before using. Again, make sure that both the oven and tray is hot and do not overfill the trays.
You do not want the batter to be too thick, ideally consistency of single cream.
Remember hot oven, hot tray and do not be tempted to open the oven until they are fully cooked.
Potatoes
Use a good floury potato such as Maris piper or King Edward, peel then cut into even size chunks and cook with boiling water just until there is a bit of resistance when pierced with a knife.
Drain well keeping the water for the gravy. Chuff in the colander and season with sea salt.
You can leave these to go cool before roasting. When ready to roast place on an oven tray with a little goose fat and carefully toss to coat, add a clove of garlic skin left on and a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary and roast in the oven until golden and crispy.
Vegetables
All the vegetable prep can be done the day before or in the morning, just make sure you keep in water to stop from drying up or in the case of potatoes turning brown.
to free up some time.
Just remember the golden rule if it grown above the ground the it goes into a boiling pan of salted water with no lid, and if is from the ground then a cold salted water with lid on!
When draining the veg always keep some of the water as this is a stock base for the gravy.
The gravy
This is one of the talking points…. Gravy!!
Tip off most of the fat from the meat, add a tsp of tomato puree and stir with a wooden spoon to caramelize slightly, add a spoon full of plain flour and again stir to cook out…do not allow to burn.
You can now either add a few glugs of red or white wine, stirring carefully to incorporate the flour, or just add some of the retained vegetable water you will only need say a litre or so. You can crumble in a stock cube if you need a bit more flavour.
Transfer this to a clean pan, add a spoonful of redcurrant jelly then slowly cook stirring occasionally until thickened, season if needed.
Tips to remember.
- Make sure the oven is up to temperature.
- Veg prep can be prepped the day before making sure its covered in water.
- Yorkshire pudding batter can be made in advance to free up some time.
- If you have a dishwasher make sure its empty and load it as you go along putting it on when full, this way the kitchen is cleanish. And will feel less cluttered.
- Vegetables can be kept in serving dishes keeping warm in a low oven until needed.
- Do not rush and just enjoy.