bobbybb1

I tried it and whilst the chicken looked nice, my bird said she certainly wasn't moist, was I doing something wrong?

Chip

Smooth a little **** of butter around the body cavity before stuffing it

Chip

Chip

Ah yes of course , infused with a little fresh basil as well




Mum used to use a little semolina as well to give a lovely crispy coating to the spud.



Chip

oldsplice

God, you wouldn't have wanted to let my mum loose with semolina! Anything could happen! She made Toad in the Hole once.........my dad was eating it, and said 'This tastes funny'. Turned out she's made sausages in egg custard!

SJ_Skyline

That's just so last century. Chip really meant a tomato-based reduction.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

My missus one New Year, we were doing a Beef Borguignon and it required a bottle of Burgundy, we had a bottle of Red Wine but not Burgundy so I was despatched to find said wine, however I took too long and she made the executive decision not to wait, but she didnt use the red we had she thought using the wrong variety might spoil it so she used Cider instead :cuckoo

We server the whole family Beef Strongborguignon.

Wasnt that bad actually !

Dr.No

I'll go with a mixture of most of the methods above:

- Maris pipers, cut up - ideally on diagonals/triangular to give more surface area
- (at this point, put the oven on (200-220 unless you're roasting other stuff as well and need a lower temp) and preheat a good solid roasting pan with quite a lot of oil/fat/dripping in). I get moaned at by Mrs No for using beef dripping or duck/goose fat and often make do with olive oil - which to be honest gets equally as good results most of the time.)
- Par boil spuds for 10 mins or so, then drain water and place a lid on top and shake firmly to roughen edges
- Tip a goodly amount of semolina over the potatoes (wth an aim to coat them with it) and shake lightly in the saucepan again.
- take the hot roasting pan from the oven, and place on the hob with a burner going under the pan to keep heat in the pan/oil whilst you load it up
- Tip or spoon the spuds into the pan
- Spoon hot oil over the spuds individually, ensuring that they're all coated
(if you dont have enough oil/fat to do this then (a) use more next time, (b) drizzle olive oil/melted fat over them)
- Put back in the oven for about an hour, turning at least once

Scoff the best roasties in the world...

DN

Lee247

That's one veg I cannot stand. :shudder:

dpb

Im with lydia , a glaring omission

Lydia72

All the more for me then

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Cheers for all the tips, will report back and let you know how it went.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Cheers for all the tips, will report back and let you know how it went.

Steve vRS

I was always told to stuff the neck, opening the skin out so you could get a lot of stuffing in contact with the meat.

Steve

Dedrater

I assume you are making pigs in blankets with that bacon and sausage!

oldsplice

We had our first roast of the season tonight! Chicken.

Jamz3k

all this talk of spit roasting and stuffing our sausages in bacon blankets! Its like we have left Scoobynet and joined Premiershipfootballplayers.net.

Lydia72

We had our first stew and it was bloody gorgeous (Jamie Oliver recipe, never tried it before). One good thing about the cold weather, I can start stuffing myself with stews and crumbles

Lee247

Crumble, mmmmmmmmmm. Not had that in a while.

Chip

We had our first stew last night as well. Loveley it was too. With dumplings as well.

Chip

Lydia72

Me neither but I want it now I've mentioned it. I'm nice and warm and toasty and don't want to go out so I will have to see what wins - desire for the crumble or laziness

Lee247

That's the trouble. Once it's in your head you have to have it

Come on J4CKO, how did you get on????

dpb

So Jacko , was it 'good' enough to get out of cooking for the next ten years

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

We have agreed on a 6.5/10, as a rating, I thought it was pretty good and it was certainly tasty but I think there is still room for improvement, where 10.00 is a proffesional chef and 8/9 is mum/grandma territory.


Was all hot and properly cooke.

Roasts were pretty crunchy

Bailed on the gravy and went for instant as earlier there didnt seem to be any juice form the chicken, loads later on so need to be patient.

Certainly a proper roast with no major faults.

Steve vRS

I sometimes add a little water to the roasting tin of the chicken looks like it is not producing juice for the gravy.

Steve

dpb

Or it could be a decent bird !

My one hardly juiced up at all , but she was quite dear

SJ_Skyline

Well done J4CKO

fitzscoob

I'm a bit of a novice at cooking too, however I have now successfully cooked my second roast (to prove the first wasnt a fluke!) and one thing I do to the roasties after par boiling them and roughing them up a bit, was to sprinkle them all with some season all, seems to encourage them to crisp up a bit.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Coq Au Vin next time I think, always a favourite of mine.

SJ_Skyline

I'm sure Mrs J4CKO will enjoy tasting your coq!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Todays was the best so far,

Roast Pork (from local butcher)
Roast Potatoes
Mashed Carrot + Swede
Peas
Roast Parsnips
Stuffing
Yorkshires (not optional according to the kids)
Cauliflower Cheese ( I made the cheese Sauce)
Mash
Apple Sauce (I made it)
Gravy
Crackling, separated from the joint whilst it was resting and roasted a bit longer
Apple/Herb Stuffing

To Follow

Jam Roly Poly and Custard, ok was Sainsbury's but I couldn't find Suet to do my own.

3 Lagers whilst cooking perhaps caused a delay as turned the oven off rather than than to full power


Have to say, it was pretty good, I am honing my skills, the cooking is easy, its all in the timing (and not turning the oven off).