lyn1972

Hey thank you ..... where abouts are you ? We are coming to south edmonton all sounds great ... setting myself up here lol we are instant coffee drinkers .... nescafe gold blend mmmmmm and coffee mate love creamy coffee ....... but am up to being converted lol will bring plenty ...... am I allowed tooo..... oh my thats the next thing I havent been on a plane in 20 years ... x

Atlantic Xpat

Spuds:

Peel, Parboil for 15 mins. Drain. Rattle around in the saucepan (with the lid on) so they are floury. Heat oil (should be dripping but oil works too) in a baking pan til its really hot. Transfer spuds to baking pan, spooning over hot oil. Shove in oven at 450F for 40 mins or so. Do this at the end of the cooking cycle & take the beef out 30 mins or so before you are going to eat it to let it relax.

Parsnips: Can parboil first or just peel, chop into chunks, toss in some olive oil and put in a little bit after the spuds.

Yorkies. Make batter to recipe. Hot oil in muffin tins, add batter, in the oven at 450F for 20 mins or so.

Sorted.

Seriously, Go buy this: http://www.amazon.ca/Delias-Complete...mplete+cookery It has the specifics as to how to do all parts of a classic roast, plus many other things in it. Can't be beat IMHO.

Oakvillian

Roast dinners are deceptively easy - it's much more about project management than any sort of cooking skill. But don't tell SWMBO - I've been getting away with impressing her for years with my roasting "skills."

The trick to doing roast beef with decent Yorkshires and potatoes is in the oven temperatures and timings. Other people have already posted on timings & temperatures for the beef. Here's the (limited) benefit of my experience for the rest.

Once the meat's in, see to the veg and other bits. Make the Yorkshire batter - it goes better if left to rest for a while before cooking so makes sense to do that first. Peel, chop and parboil the spuds for 5-8 mins or so (depending on how small you've chopped them), drain them and then give them a good shake in the pan so the edges get roughed up a bit - this helps them go crispy. Same with the parsnips - although it's not so important to parboil, it does help them crisp up nicely. If you remember, save some of the water you drain, to make gravy (the potato starch will help thicken it a bit) - but if not, it doesn't matter

Aim to take the joint out of the oven at least half an hour before you want to eat. Let it relax for 10 mins or so in the roasting pan before transferring it to a carving board, so the juices are all there for a good gravy. Cover it with a bit of foil and an old towel while it's resting if you want, though it will hold its heat well (and you'll be covering it in warm gravy anyway...).

As soon as the joint's out of the oven, whack it up to 450. Heat some fat (goose fat is the very best, but canola oil will do fine) in a roasting pan; when it's piping hot throw the spuds in (tipping the pot away from you: the hot fat will spit!) and pop in the oven, turning/basting occasionally with the fat in the bottom of the pan. Parsnips can either go on a baking tray or (my preference) make a little foil "parcel" of the parsnips and a knob of butter, that way they'll be tender and a bit caramelised at the edges without burning to a crisp. Leave them in the hot oven while the meat rests - they'll be done when you're ready to carve.

My family goes mad for carrots done in a foil packet too. Slice them into batons, rather than rounds, put them in the middle of a largish sheet of foil, add a decent knob of butter (a dessertspoon or so) and a teaspoonful of honey, sprinkle with salt and pepper, fold up the edges of the foil to seal tightly. Throw in the oven (they usually share a small baking tray with the parsnips in my oven, just to support the parcel) with the other veggies.

Yorkshires, too, need smoking hot oil. For individual puddings, no more than a teaspoon or so of oil in each well of a muffin pan is OK. They don't take quite as long to cook - around 15-20 minutes. There's plenty of good batter recipes around (basically flour, milk and eggs with a pinch of salt) - I think BBC Good Food website has a reasonable one. If you can arrange it, make sure there's space on the top shelf of your oven for the puddings.

Peas or sprouts are easy - I usually microwave frozen peas, but steam fresh ones. Sprouts need to be well trimmed, and if you're not doing something fancy with them (sauteed with garlic and bacon? Mmmm) then make sure you cut little slots or Xs into the stalk end to help them cook evenly all the way through, then boil for 7-8 minutes. Overcooked sprouts are unpleasant - they should still have some crunch to them rather than being all limp and soggy.

Proper gravy seems to scare people. Put the roasting pan on the stovetop, set a medium heat under it, stir up all the juices and scrape any bits off the bottom of the pan. When it's bubbling, add around a tablespoon of plain flour. Stirring constantly (with a balloon whisk to help break down any lumps), add in a glass or two's worth of wine - a slug of port or brandy won't go amiss, too. Simmer and stir a few more minutes, add some of the potato water if you need more volume, check the flavour, season if necessary. If it's too runny let it boil down a bit, if it's too thick thin it with a little more water.

Enjoy!

One comment, though: I don't think I've ever done a roast meal for only 2 people. I would seriously consider catering for at least four, and seeing to the leftovers over the next couple of days. "joined-up meat" cooks better when there's more of it - otherwise it's all the outside crispy bits and not enough of the beautiful pink flesh on the inside. A balance is needed...

Lagotoz

We have Shaw cable here in Vancouver but so far haven't worked out the channels worth watching and really miss UK TV (never thought we'd say that!). We've resorted to NetFlix.

lyn1972

We would be edmonton.thanks

Almost Canadian

There is an elk and bison farm (covering many acres) south of Calgary next to a barn at which my daughters used to keep their horses. A butcher selling the meat is situated very close to the farm.

Lagotoz

We're in Vancouver (Kitsilano). You can bring some food goods over, have a look on the CBSA website (Canada Border Services). I wish I'd brought a crate of coffee and a huge box of Walkers Cheese & Onion crisps!! Not missing anything else (yet). Food is definitely more expensive here but I believe that depends on province and what items the government subsidizes, the cost is balanced by lifestyle though as recreation is much cheaper.

lyn1972

Now this sounds yummy carrots done in oven will def be trying when I need recipe tips no where to come mmmmmmm I bet you have lots round for a roast lol

dbd33

It'd take an awful lot of jet skiing to balance the price of cheese.

Souvy

There has been some pretty good advice on here already. This one I will print and keep!

Lagotoz

Agree, agree, agree

I miss cheese

caretaker

It's probably better in Calgary, the lobsters are shipped live and the beef is going to be prime. I saw a travelogue that included a trip to a 'destination' seafood cafe in NS and I wouldn't mind going there at all, I'm a lobster fan! We used to have lobster night at the bar back in the '80s, get cases flown in from Pictou Island Fisherman's Co-op and boil them up out on the roof on Coleman stoves. Iirc $25 paid for 2 big lobsters and a bottle of red. That was a great event to volunteer at the bar as we got the leftover lobsters.

Zoe Bell

Ben makes the best roast potatoes ever

he par boils them first ( puts them straight into boiling water), puts fat in oven at the same time as the poatatoes go in the water

when they are part cooked yuo starin them , shake them really well to fluff up the outsides and then put them into hot fat

baste them at regular intervals

and I hate you all for making me hungry for a roast

MillieF

Souvy, yes, dbd, is right it is all in the timing and practice... since I've moved to Canada...my kitchen is awaiting restoration and I can't afford the lamb! However, you should par boil your spuds (a good chipping potato is best for roasties) at high boil for ten mins, then drain off the water and shake the pan a bit to roughen up the edges, they need to be pretty dry. Put a heavy bottomed roasting dish on the hob, and put a good lob of oil in it...I used to use Goose fat, but I can't get it here, so I use Duck fat here, or I have used Colza, and when it's hot pop your spuds in and brown them very quickly for a couple of minutes, then put the pan in the oven and 50 minutes later you will have great roasties. I briefly brown some carrots, and parsnips, and a bit of turnip and anything else rootie that I fancy, and pop it into a tin foil package with some butter and herbs and seal it up and put it in with the spuds, and it will be ready at the same time.

I make my own gravy mostly, unless it's a quick dinner, there are good quality stock cubes on the bio bits in the supermarkets. I don't buy prepacked food here, it is utter rubbish, sodium and crap laden. We eat well from scratch. I so wish we could get venison or any exotic meats, I do love wild boar, had it lots before, can't get it here. I do have a chunk of Moose in my freezer, and we are going to try it this weekend! I am very excited.

All of the 'better' restaurants here, in our bit, are little more than gastro pubs, they have decent fish though.

We eat well, and exercise, but nevertheless I have gained weight since coming to Canada.

Piff Poff

Yeah - a specialty place not Sobeys or Superstore, there are loads of elk and bison farms around that sell the meat too. I remember being able to buy Ostrich in Tescos.