Memorable roasts - recipes

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• Comfort food for the chill - recipes

ROASTED LAMB SHANKS WITH MUSHROOMS

Serves 6

1 litre lamb or beef stock

250ml red wine

45ml wholegrain Dijon mustard

5ml salt

3ml pepper

15ml chopped fresh rosemary

20ml chopped parsley

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

30ml olive oil

6 lamb shanks

14 small pickling onions, peeled

250g mushrooms, sliced

3 stalks celery, sliced

300g baby leeks, sliced

3 carrots, diced

In a large jug, mix the stock, wine, mustard, salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley, and garlic.

In a large oven-proof pot or casserole, over a medium-high heat, heat the olive oil and brown the lamb shanks on all sides. Remove from pot, and add the pickling onions, mushrooms, celery, leeks and carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Return the lamb shanks to the pot with the wine mixture and bring to a simmer. Cover with the pot lid and roast in the oven for 2 hours, stirring twice.

l To peel the onions, soak in boiling water for a few minutes. Cut off root end and slip off skins.

ROASTED HARISSA CHICKEN WITH BABY POTATOES

Serves 4 - 6

1 x 330ml can of Appletiser

1.5kg whole chicken

15ml olive oil

10ml crushed garlic

50ml harissa paste

10ml fresh thyme, leaves picked

Salt and pepper to season

750g baby potatoes

Pour a third of the Appletiser into a jug, then place the open Appletiser can on a foil-lined roasting dish.

Wash the chicken and pat dry. Fit the chicken over the can with the drumsticks facing down, let the chicken rest on the ends of the legs and the can, forming a tripod to prevent it from tipping.

Mix together the olive oil, garlic, harissa paste, thyme and seasoning. Rub this mixture all over the chicken. Roast for about 1 hour.

Prick the baby potatoes a few times with a sharp knife, then add them to the roasting pan together with the remaining Appletiser and roast a further 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

lTo make your own harissa paste, soak 3 dried red chillies in warm water until soft. Remove them from the water, de-seed if desired, and add them to a food processor with 3 cloves of garlic, 3ml salt, 30ml olive oil and 5ml each of ground coriander, cumin and caraway.

ROAST PORK WITH QUINCES IN WINE

Serves 8

2kg leg of pork

10ml olive oil

10ml sea salt

250g streaky bacon, diced

3 quinces, washed, peeled and quartered

80ml honey

3 fresh bay leaves

400ml dry red wine

250ml hot water

Preheat oven to 200°C. Trim any excess fat from underside of pork, leaving skin intact. Use a sharp knife to score pork rind. Rub rind with oil and salt.

Place bacon and quartered quinces in a large roasting pan or casserole. Add honey, bay leaves, wine and water, give a good stir and then top with pork. Roast in oven for 30 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 180°C and cook for a further hour, stirring the quinces once or twice.

ORANGE MARMALADE ROASTED DUCK

Serves 4-6

1 x 2.5kg whole duck

2 oranges

125ml orange marmalade

60ml soy sauce

200ml chicken stock

10ml cornflour

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a large roasting pan with foil.

Remove both wingtips at the top joint, reserving them for later use. Reserve neck (discard the rest of the giblets). Trim the excess skin and fat around the neck and cavity opening.

Grate the zest from an orange and set aside. Cut both oranges into quarters. Stuff as many orange quarters as can fit into the duck’s cavity.

Put the remaining orange wedges into a saucepan together with the wing tips, neck, excess fat and chicken stock.

Tie duck drumsticks together with string. With a skewer or fork, prick holes in the skin without piercing the flesh.

Whisk marmalade and soy sauce in a small bowl. Loosen the skin over the breast and thigh meat and stuff the marmalade mix under the skin.

Place breast-side down on a rack in the prepared roasting pan and smear with some of the marmalade mixture. Roast the duck for 1 hour. Turn the duck over, breast-side up, and roast for a further 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the saucepan with chicken stock and oranges to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half. Strain off the extra oil and discard the solids.

Squeeze the juice from the boiled orange sections into a small bowl; add cornflour and whisk until smooth.

Stir orange juice, the reserved zest and any remaining marmalade and soy sauce mixture into the sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes.

Transfer the duck to a cutting board and allow to rest for 15 minutes before removing the string and carving.

Serve with the sauce.

GARLIC AND HERB ROAST BEEF WITH YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS

Serves 6-8

1.5kg beef roast

15ml olive oil

salt and pepper to season

4 cloves of garlic, quartered lengthways

25ml Dijon mustard

5ml salt

250ml chopped mixed fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley)

For the Yorkshire puddings:

300ml milk

275ml flour

2ml salt

3 eggs

180ml oil

Rub the olive oil over the cut of beef, season with salt and pepper and rub again. Make small, evenly-distributed incisions in the meat and insert a sliver of garlic into each one. In a very hot pan, brown the meat on all sides.

Working on a large piece of tin foil, smear the mustard all over the meat, then roll in the chopped herbs. Wrap up in the foil and roast at 180°C for 40-45 minutes for medium.

Rest for 20 minutes before slicing and serving with the Yorkshire puddings.

YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS: Preheat oven to 220°C. hisk the milk, flour, salt and eggs together until smooth. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.

Add 15ml of oil to each hole in a 12-hole muffin pan. Place in the oven to get smoking hot. Working quickly, pour a little Yorkshire pudding batter, a third of the way up, into each hole.

Return to the hot oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and puffed up. - The Star

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