MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!

When I was growing up, we didn't go to church and I think as a result, didn't have a "Sunday roast". Sure, we had pot roasts. Lovely, tender hunks of beef slow cooked for hours with potatoes, onions, and carrots and then topped with a rich milk gravy made with the au jus. But other animals or fowl weren't represented. As I mentioned before, I never had roast lamb until my 20s when I dated a guy whose parents were English.

For Christmas 2013, I bought this cookbook and set out to practise cooking basic fundamental dishes that most people probably learned while still in primary school. The book is well-designed with plenty of pictures and easy to understand steps. With the exception of liver and onions and other crimes against food, I've made at least half of the recipes.

Nowadays I don't eat big hunks of meat, so this a post of nostalgia more than anything else. Oh how I do miss big pieces of tender, juicy meat covered in a layer of flavourful fat and seasoning.

Leg of Lamb

I can't think about lamb without hearing Granpa Simpson saying, "Call me mint jelly, cuz I'm on the lam!"

I bought this leg at the Asian shop for about 5 euros. It weighed .725 grams.

 Cut little slits in meat and stuff with cloves of garlic and rosemary sprigs. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Surround the leg with shallots still in the skin and carrots.

 

 

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I looked on lineand found that a general rule is to allow for 25 minutes/500g. I cooked it at 230 for 15 minutes and then 180 for 35. It was perfect. However my sauce (not pictured here) was meh. Used 1/4 cup of stock, 1/4 cup red wine, 1/2 tsp blueberry jam, 1/2 tsp cranberry jam. I don't think I let it reduce enough. Served with red wine risotto (Giada de Laurentis recipe on foodnetwork.com), peas, asparagus. End result was a bit too salty. I realized that since I've never had risotto at a restaurant, I don't really know what the consistency is supposed to be. But it was pretty good overall.


 

Standing Rib Roast

This meal was a bit of a splurge, both money and calorie-wise. I bought this rib roast at Buckely's. 1.5kg and 26 euros.
Rub all parts with olive oil, salt, and cracked pepper. Rub fat part with mustard. This is a standing rib roast recipe so I had to prop it up with onions on each side.

 





The internet told me to cook it at 200 for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 180 and then cook 12-15 minutes per 450 grams. By my calculations that was 36-45 minutes  My oven tends to be overly hot, so I cooked it for 35 minutes and let it rest for about 25. I then discovered I didn't have a clue how to cut it and definitely didn't have a sharp enough knife for beautiful slices. So we ended up with chunks and bits.

 

The result was a bit on the rare side but that's how I like it. I served with mashed potatoes, red wine sauce, and sautéed spinach.

Pork Belly

1kg of pork belly bought at local butchers (FX Buckley's).
Marinade:
6 cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, ground black pepper.  I did not have juniper berries or peppercorns.
1tsp of wholegrain mustard
Grind ingredients in mortar and pestle and rub on pork. The recipe calls for scoring the skin with a knife but I found I couldn't do it. Need a sharper knife?

Preheat oven to 240. Put 3 halved onions on bottom of roasting tin and put pork on top, skin side up. I forgot to do the very important step of putting 1/2 of water in the bottom of pan but remembered 10 minutes in. Roast for 40-45 minutes or until skin is bubbly. Mine only crunchy and bubbly in parts. Maybe I needed more time? Did the lack of water at beginning have anything to with it? The internet told me that getting the skin right takes a lot of practice....

Reduce heat and cook 30-35 minutes more. The meat was so tender and succulent but the skin was not edible.

Served with  roasted apples.

4 cored and peeled apples. Melt butter in a frying pan and sprinkle 3TB sugar and add white wine. Add strained juices from roasting tin. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. The result was a bit too sweet for me.

Served with mashed potatoes and braised fennel.

I used the leftover pork belly to make hui gou rou (twice cooked pork), a Chinese stir fry.