How to cook the "Perfect Roast" every time.

The less you do to a roast, the better it is!

For beef, make sure you cook cheaper cuts of meat slowly, they will still be moist and tender. Cook beef for about 45 minutes per half kilo on about 160 degrees for a fan forced over, that way the meat will be cooked, but tender. Slightly less or more depending on your desire for rarish or well done-ish meat. Put the potatoes and other root vegetables in at least 1 1/2 hours prior to serving time. Roast beef is best done without garnish or added anything, just a sprinkle of salt over the fatty part.

For lamb, use the same time guide, excepting if there is no bone, you can reduce cooking time by 1/4 hour per half kilo. Garnish lamb with some rosemary and a small amount of garlic and lemon juice, mixed with about a tablespoon of good quality olive oil.

Veal really needs to be wrapped in either bacon or prosciutto. The meat itself has very little fat in it, and the addition of the pork products adds both flavour and the required fat to protect the meat from drying out.

Chicken is best done at a high heat and for only a half hour per half kilo, slightly less. If it is a big bird - 2 kg or more, you may need a little longer. Stuff the bird with an onion cut in half or quartered and a few halved garlic cloves. Salt the outside for crunchy skin and pierce in fatty places like the thighs to ensure fat runs out. This assists in crunching the skin also.

Turkey, just follow the directions on the makers cover - they really do test these out and provide the best hints. I find turkey is best left to cook itself, place it thighs up on an oven tray, don't let any of the bird sit in its' gravy or it will not cook all over. Do not turn the turkey! This is important. Just leave it and maybe baste it half way through cooking.

My cooking hints

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