Please help me with my Sunday Roast | ExpatWoman.com
 

Please help me with my Sunday Roast

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 11:08

Hello as you may know I am a terrible cook yet something came over me and I invited 6 people for Sunday (well Friday) roast tomorrow. They are Spanish, Arab, Italian and Greek and they think that as I was raised in England that I know how to do a proper roast dinner. Actually I have never made a roast dinner before. In fact I have cooked only 10 times in my life.

I am going to make roast leg of lamb, roast potatoes, roast carrots & parsnips, brussel sprouts, yorkshire puddings and gravy.

They are coming at 3 tomorrow.

I am confused because I do not know how to arrange timings. For example if I make the yorkshire puddings in advance is it okay or does it have to be fresh just before it is served? Which of these things can I make in advance? How will everything fit inside my oven?

:( I am confused but I shall not give up and I shall persevere.

I do not know what pudding to do for afters.

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 30 April 2012 - 16:40
Congratulations Glamour girl! Yorkies are worth persevering with, I make 12x large and 15 medium ones for 4 adults and a pud loving toddler and they all disappear! You'll be doing Christmas dinner before you know it. One idea is, can you get OH to do the meat on the BBQ? It lessens your work then. Tip two, for sauce, saute mushrooms or onions in gravy, add Stout (if drinkers there) reduce and then add cream. Sprig of sage or rosemary or thyme and salt and pepper too. :)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 29 April 2012 - 16:57
I have never had a yorkie... I must try one after reading this thread :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 29 April 2012 - 16:55
Ahh, we forgot to tell you how morish yorkies are. Yum, I could eat them on their own with gravy. Edited to say, glad it all went well. <em>edited by MirdifIngrid on 29/04/2012</em>
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 29 April 2012 - 16:29
Good afternoon everyone I thought I would let you know how my roast dinner went thanks to all of your help and advice :) Firstly it was nearly canceled when OH and I had a row about him refusing to offer wine to our guests who drink. It began small but then we were throwing many things in each others face and I cried all Thursday night and ignored him half Friday. We did not reconcile but I felt bad for letting down the guests so I asked them if we could change it to Saturday instead and they were nice and accommodating so on Friday night I did the shopping. I could not find everything in C4 so had to go to Spinneys as well. I arrived home at 10 PM very tired opened the lamb leg and guess what it smelt rotten! Like farts to be precise. OH had to return it on C4. So off to a bad start then I decided to make the bannoffee pie while I waited for him to return it was my first time and the proportions were incorrect according to my dish and I did not have enough cream. Everything was going wrong so I only topped half of it and had to wait until the next day before I topped everything else. Anyway the next day I rose bright and early and everything went smoothly. The roast potatoes were perfectly crispy on the outside and soft inside and Aunty Bessy did not fail. They only had 1 packed so I had 12 puddings which I thought would suffice for 8 but then one guest ate 6 of them while we were carving the lamb! His friend ate 5! So there was only one left I was astounded! Aside from that everything was lovely and the timings were fine and I feel very accomplished all of a sudden. Thank you very much for all your help :) <em>edited by glamorgirl on 29/04/2012</em>
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 27 April 2012 - 12:17
*hmm, some people in life just love to go on and on and always have the last word...........* OP: enjoy your lunch!:) :\: Only trying to help Pom - did you get out the wrong side of the bed today? No, had a "superb" rest thanks :) Why did you actually think I was referring to you btw? :\: I'm certain you are always trying to help, but you do come across in general as not just the "Queen of Yorkers" but the Queen of Self-Promotion......I guess it's nice to be so confident about one's self! ;) ouch!
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EW GURU
Latest post on 27 April 2012 - 11:51
Yorkshire puddings are the easiest thing to do out of the roast dinner there's no need to buy them, so easy my 11 yr dd makes them all time when I do the roast. Flour egg n milk :) They ate not easy!!! I consider myself a good cook but boy I really struggled with yorkies. Even had my Yorkshire friends come to see what I was doing wrong and they still came out like biscuits! Everyone said the fat needed to be smoking - it made no difference. I becme a bit obssessed about yorkies! I eventually tried nigella lawsons recipe in her feast cookery book and hey presto! I am now the queen of Yorkers and I now think they are the easiest things to make but it took me years to get there so if it was my first time doing a roast dinner for guests I would not add to my stress unless I had the nigella recipe. edited by Clairehdp on 27/04/2012 Agreed, they are not easy until you perfect them, and when you do, they are pips to make ;-) hence my original suggestion of buying them this time. Coupled with the fact if you dont cook very often having the requiste number of pots pans and trays is not likely to happen without incurring , possibly, unnecessary expenditure.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 27 April 2012 - 10:43
*hmm, some people in life just love to go on and on and always have the last word...........* OP: enjoy your lunch!:) :\: Only trying to help Pom - did you get out the wrong side of the bed today? No, had a "superb" rest thanks :) Why did you actually think I was referring to you btw? :\: I'm certain you are always trying to help, but you do come across in general as not just the "Queen of Yorkers" but the Queen of Self-Promotion......I guess it's nice to be so confident about one's self! ;)
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 27 April 2012 - 10:35
*hmm, some people in life just love to go on and on and always have the last word...........* OP: enjoy your lunch!:) :\: Only trying to help Pom - did you get out the wrong side of the bed today?
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EW GURU
Latest post on 27 April 2012 - 10:17
*hmm, some people in life just love to go on and on and always have the last word...........* OP: enjoy your lunch!:)
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 27 April 2012 - 10:00
Yorkshire puddings are the easiest thing to do out of the roast dinner there's no need to buy them, so easy my 11 yr dd makes them all time when I do the roast. Flour egg n milk :) They ate not easy!!! I consider myself a good cook but boy I really struggled with yorkies. Even had my Yorkshire friends come to see what I was doing wrong and they still came out like biscuits! Everyone said the fat needed to be smoking - it made no difference. I becme a bit obssessed about yorkies! I eventually tried nigella lawsons recipe in her feast cookery book and hey presto! I am now the queen of Yorkers and I now think they are the easiest things to make but it took me years to get there so if it was my first time doing a roast dinner for guests I would not add to my stress unless I had the nigella recipe. <em>edited by Clairehdp on 27/04/2012</em>
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 27 April 2012 - 06:49
Yorkshire puddings are the easiest thing to do out of the roast dinner there's no need to buy them, so easy my 11 yr dd makes them all time when I do the roast. Flour egg n milk :)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 22:41
Just purchased in spinneys, Waitrose frozen yorkshire puddings. Whatever roast potatoes you do be sure and have a very very hot oven to cook them in. Good luck ! <em>edited by McB on 26/04/2012</em>
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EW GURU
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 17:56
No no to tiramasu, Eton mess is much easier, do the pavlova and if it breaks use it for Eton mess. ;-) Eton mess is much more traditional english as well. Def no no to frozen roasties, real ones are easy enough, dont stress if you cant find goose fat, although its certainly in park n shop and spinneys.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 16:34
Aunt Bessie's Yorkshires and Roast Potato's are in full stock in Spinney's Town Centre Springs! She's my go-to-Mamma when I need roasties in a hurry ;) Ooooooh no - you have to make your own roasties those frozen ones are awful. AGREE my own with goose fat take some beating :-) I will make my own roast pots but I will use Auntie Bessy's yorkshire puddings! I have some duck fat in the fridge so I will use that with your tips of boiling first :) I am excited now! I may make Tiramisu thank you :)
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 16:19
Aunt Bessie's Yorkshires and Roast Potato's are in full stock in Spinney's Town Centre Springs! She's my go-to-Mamma when I need roasties in a hurry ;) Ooooooh no - you have to make your own roasties those frozen ones are awful. AGREE my own with goose fat take some beating :-)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 16:16
I do Claire! The lovely ladies from EW gave me some wonderful tips on how to make the perfect roast potato and I am pleased to say - I have perfected it now :D It's a permanent fixture on my Sunday menu! Now Yorkshires - that's another story, Aunt B will have to do for now!
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 16:04
Aunt Bessie's Yorkshires and Roast Potato's are in full stock in Spinney's Town Centre Springs! She's my go-to-Mamma when I need roasties in a hurry ;) Ooooooh no - you have to make your own roasties those frozen ones are awful.
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 15:58
"I was hoping to do a dessert I could prepare the day before " You could make a Tiramisu the day before and keep it covered in the fridge it will actually be better the next day. No baking required. http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/10412/easy+tiramisu
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EW GURU
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 15:47
Aunt Bessie's Yorkshires and Roast Potato's are in full stock in Spinney's Town Centre Springs! She's my go-to-Mamma when I need roasties in a hurry ;)
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 15:37
This is all making me VERY hungry :-)
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 15:30
Thank you for being so encouraging. :) I appreciate your help. I was going to use this for the roast: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/402619/roast-lamb-studded-with-rosemary-and-garlic?pager.offset=20 Do you think it will be fine without the wine? Two guests are muslim so I cannot cook with wine in this instance. Just use water or some stock instead it will be fine - or you could try those alcohol free wines they sell in C4, although I haven't tried them (they are against my very being!)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 15:19
Thank you for being so encouraging. :) I appreciate your help. I was going to use this for the roast: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/402619/roast-lamb-studded-with-rosemary-and-garlic?pager.offset=20 Do you think it will be fine without the wine? Two guests are muslim so I cannot cook with wine in this instance.
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 13:48
Ive tried that recipe and they were awful! I agree I think as its your first time go with aunt Bessie's. Pretty sure they ate in the freezer section. Banoffee pie sounds great. I'm sure your guests will love it.
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 13:45
Aunt Bessies are in most supermarkets Choitrham, Lulu, Waitrose, Spinney's etc
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 13:44
Wow thank you everyone for all your comments you are wonderful!!!!!! I did not realise Yorkshire puddings would be so difficult I was going to follow this: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1104650/classic-yorkshire-puddings It seemed easy to me! Perhaps I shall use Aunty Bessie instead where can I find her Yorkshire puddings are they frozen or a packet mix? I will definitely do a timetable thank you as you are right it will help me organise everything in my mind. and keep me on track. I was hoping to do a dessert I could prepare the day before I do not think that is possible with bread and butter pudding, am I right? Or with Eton mess. I was thinking of bannoffee pie do you think that is suitable? You have all been so very amazing I am very grateful thank you I will definitely let you know how it went.
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 12:23
I always part-boil my potatoes first, then toss them in a little bit of oil and butter, some herbs and seasoning, then roast them. Roast the parsnips in with the potatoes. OR, boil the carrots and parsnips together, then mash them together adding a little butter - always love that, then pop in a dish and bake for a while - yum. Don't overdo the Brussels, nothing worse than soggy sprouts. Love Eton mess as a pudding. Also another dead easy one to do is bread and butter pudding. Tonnes of recipes for that online. Ooooooh I do a bread and butter pudding but I grate in some orange peel and slug in some cointreau - it's amazing! A top London chef told me to try it and I've never looked back! Yup I soak all the raisins in Brandy :)
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 12:18
Book a table at Raffles and save yourself the hassle!! They do great Friday roasts! :)
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 11:59
Agree if you have to serve Yorkshires on your first roast, unless you're pretty confident, buy a packet of Aunt Bessies. Personally I make them only with beef (old Yorkshire aunt would roll in her grave othewise!) Plus my aunt always made a large one and cut it up which I still do and it's really yummy ... practice that for next time! Do your peeling, prepping, stuffing lamb with garlic and pudding plenty in advance even the night before and write a timetable, I still do this when having a dinner party and at Christmas - it helps you focus and prompts you, give yourself plenty of time and lay the table early too. Don't forget some mint sauce or jelly, you can get in a jar and put in a pretty dish. Good luck and let us know how it went. I would say if it all goes to pot just give them more grape juice ... but I see you may have non drinkers on the guest list.
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 11:48
You've had lots of good ideas there, I'd go with the Eton Mess as you can just buy those ready-made small meringues from Spinneys and use those. I'm afraid I can't help you on timings as I always land up scrambling round the kitchen trying to get everything done at the same time. A couple of things - Yorkshire puddings are traditional with roast beef, not with lamb, so why add to your stress by cooking them as well? You could easily make a mint sauce, which [b'>is[/b'> traditional with lamb and very easy to make yourself - see recipe here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/realmintsauce_67706 I usually cut garlic cloves into slivers and pierce the lamb all over and put the garlic in to add flavour, as well as resting the lamb on a bed of fresh rosemary sprigs and strewing rosemary on top of the lamb whilst it's cooking. Good luck, enjoy :) We have to have yorkies with every type of roast dinner in our house - tradition goes out the window - if it's a roast - it's got to have yrokies or I would have a riot on my hands! Love slivers of garlic in lamb - even nicer when it's cold in a sandwich!!!!
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 26 April 2012 - 11:46
You've had lots of good ideas there, I'd go with the Eton Mess as you can just buy those ready-made small meringues from Spinneys and use those. I'm afraid I can't help you on timings as I always land up scrambling round the kitchen trying to get everything done at the same time. A couple of things - Yorkshire puddings are traditional with roast beef, not with lamb, so why add to your stress by cooking them as well? You could easily make a mint sauce, which [b'>is[/b'> traditional with lamb and very easy to make yourself - see recipe here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/realmintsauce_67706 I usually cut garlic cloves into slivers and pierce the lamb all over and put the garlic in to add flavour, as well as resting the lamb on a bed of fresh rosemary sprigs and strewing rosemary on top of the lamb whilst it's cooking. Good luck, enjoy :)
 
 

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