Cookery advice, please

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mathepac

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In the next day or two i'll be cooking a Dunnes Stores back-bacon joint in the 20-year-old electric fan oven. Experience has taught me to increase indicated times by around 10%, thus 90 mins at 170 degC becomes 100 mins at the same temp. Meat must rest covered for 10 mins before carving. As usual I'll stab the meat and insert cloves of garlic into the holes, and I 'll also roast small halved onions in the same dish.

Along with Ms. Piggy's late cousin, I'll be doing roast spuds in duck-fat, for a time-adjusted 50 mins but temp needs to be 200 degC.

Can anyone guide me how to go about setting times/temps to bring it all together deliciously?

For anyone worried about my cholesterol-levels, pan-juices will be poured over the mutt's dried food.

TIA.
 
The meat should rest of about half of the time it took to cook it so just let it set there under foil and a couple of tea towels which the rest in finishing. If you are doing green veg blanch them first and then finish them when everything else is done. Carve the meat and place it on a serving plate, pour over a small amount of gravy (or some water in the case of a bacon or ham joint.

The spuds can also be heated back up at the end. I usually roast a head of garlic and then fry some fresh rosemary. I then toss the finished crispy potatoes in a little of the garlic and sprinkle them with the fried rosemary before serving. I find sunflower oil and butter works better than duck fat for crispy potatoes.
 
I para boil potatoes for 10 min before roasting. Irish meat packing exaggerates cooking time as they are terrified of undercooked meat, and overcooked meat is dry. I've my own written guide for meat timings and temperatures, but that's for my oven. No clue about timings for potatoes as I just do it on instinct. But they are crispy. Olive oil is what I use, but I'd never have roast potatoes with bacon !
 
I'll be roasting carrots and parsnips in the same dish as the spuds so they won't add to the cooking time but will also benefit from the duck-fat. A le Rick Stein, the veggies will get salt and ground black pepper and will get basted with pan-juice from the meat as well as the duck-fat. I'll turn the meat half-way through. The duck-fat adds wonderful flavour, like nothing else I"ve ever tasted on veggies. I may have a tin of marrow-fat peas at the back of the press. If so I'll knock the lid off and heat them in the oven for the last 30 mins, a patriotic array of veg for Easter.

But that still leaves my original question:-

mathepac said:
Can anyone guide me how to go about setting times/temps to bring it all together deliciously?
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[EDIT]An energy efficient dinner for the times that are in it
 
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Actually I don't do desserts ! I'm a flight away, but if you ever make it here bring me some bacon and I'll cook ....

My bacon (Irish) is a right treat when I get it and I boil it. Lovely boiled fluffy potatoes with proper Irish butter. Cabbage and turnips boiled in the bacon water and an onion white sauce, never gravy. I'm actually making myself hungry at the thought of it. My kids won't eat it though. The turnips are the nice small ones. You don't even need to buy expensive bacon, Dunnes is generally where I buy. They have nice ones too, back bacon I think, you can roast those, lovely for sandwiches. Instead of buying ham. Those the kids (adults) love.
 
mathepac said:
I may have a tin of marrow-fat peas
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A tin....... noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Soak them bad boys over night!!!!

My Mam used to soak them everynight and then cook them in a pair of tights - yes I know - clean unworn tights, kept them soft without falling apart.
 
mathepac said:
Thanks for all of that but I still have my original dilemma.
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Purple said:
The meat should rest of about half of the time it took to cook it so just let it set there under foil and a couple of tea towels which the rest in finishing. If you are doing green veg blanch them first and then finish them when everything else is done. Carve the meat and place it on a serving plate, pour over a small amount of gravy (or some water in the case of a bacon or ham joint.

The spuds can also be heated back up at the end.
Click to expand...

The meat and the spuds can be heated back up 5-10 minutes before serving. There should be no issue with timing. Just make sure the plates are warmed.
 
You and anyone else who uses your 20 year fan oven will know how much time to add on, If it was myself cooking in my own fan oven I would take the temp back about 30 degrees once it has passed 70% of the recommended time on the packaging increase the recommended time by one third at least possibly longer, You are better off buying your bacon joint from the same outlet than moving around between suppliers,
I use Aldi just to keep everything to my taste, taste can vary from one supplier to another I find,
 
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