Everyone loves a Sunday roast and we all have nostalgic memories of Mum’s being the best – but cooking one can look very intimidating. How do you get the protein perfect? How do you time the sides? And what is the best way to cook your potatoes? How to cook the perfect roast dinner? Enter Rhiannon Baldock – the Kiwi cook is is a social-media aficionado (with nearly 50,000 followers across all her social media channels!) and she’s now a published cookbook author with her book More Than Toast, a concept that stemmed from a blog post called ‘Things you should know how to cook by 25.’
More Than Toast is for anyone who finds the idea of cooking a meal break out in a cold sweat, who realises that a steady diet of 2-minute noodles might not be fulfilling their nutritional needs, or who is on first-name terms with their Uber Eats driver.
It’s available now, and as a little taster, here’s Rihannon’s absolutely gorgeous guide to your entire roast dinner – chicken, potatoes and sides included, as well as her no-fail general guide to cooking a roast your mum will be proud of!
If I’m ever asked what my final, death row–style meal would be, a classic roast dinner always features on my list . . . well, as part of a six- course degustation of course. There is something so comforting about a roast. To a beginner cook it can seem like a big hill to climb, but I promise you as long as you consider the following steps you will be absolutely fine!
My idea of the perfect roast dinner involves:
- crispy, crunchy roast potatoes (non- negotiable)
- a rich, delicious gravy to slather over the top
- uncomplicated sides
- good timing
If you’ve read this book from the beginning, you’ll know how to make perfectly crisp potatoes and whichever main protein you’d like to cook; if you skipped straight to the recipes, don’t worry, you can find instructions on making these essentials in the basics chapter.
Honestly, having an understanding of those two elements means you’re already over halfway there! When it comes to sides, I love to use whatever is in season and/or what I’m in the mood for. Orange kūmara or sweet potato cut into chunks and popped into the roasting tray with your chicken or lamb is super- easy and also tasty, as it soaks up all the magical cooking juices. Cauliflower cheese (with cheese sauce made from scratch or using a store- bought alfredo), Brussels sprouts with brown sugar and balsamic, or even just some nostalgic buttered peas. There’s no rule book for a roast, and that’s the beauty of it.
Timing wise, all you need to think about is how long each element needs in the oven, and if you have enough room in there to get each on the table at the same time. You don’t want to overcrowd your oven, so usually I’ll stick to two trays;
one for the meat/protein and vegetables that will surround it, and one for the potatoes. I know, I know, I’m putting a lot of emphasis on these potatoes, buttreat them as they should be treated and they will pay you back tenfold.
Here’s how to cook the perfect roast dinner:
1. Preheat the oven to the best temperature for the meat or protein you’re cooking, and remove that protein from the fridge to let it come to room temperature.
2. Season your protein with your favourite herbs and spices and a good glug of olive oil, then get it into the oven to start roasting.
3. Cut your potatoes into even- sized chunks, then get them into a pot of cold water with a good sprinkling of salt and onto the stove to boil until they’re tender.
4. While the potatoes are boiling, heat another decent glug of olive oil in a roasting tray. Drain the potatoes well, give them a shake, then carefully get them into the heated oil and pop them into the oven.
5. Once the meat and potatoes are about two- thirds of the way done, start thinking about your sides. Are they boiled or steamed, or are you making a salad? What condiments do you need to grab from the fridge?
6. Once the meat has roasted, let it ‘rest’. This helps to ensure a juicier, more tender result. I set it onto a board with a lip (to avoid juices going everywhere) and wrap it in two layers of tinfoil. You can then use the roasting juices and deglaze all of the lovely caramelised bits on the bottom of the tray to make your gravy.
7. Slice the meat, plate up the roasties and sides, and you’re good to go!
Fuss-free Roast Chicken Dinner
Now we’ve gone through my game plan for pulling off a roast dinner worthy of the Sunday table, here’s my recipe for a classic but fuss- free roast chicken with crispy potatoes, roasted carrots and greens and moreish gravy. I’m putting it under the minimal- effort category (within reason for a roast) as apart from the roast potatoes, all the other veg is cooked amongst the chicken to save on having to time different sides!
Serves: 6
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: around 1½ hours
- 1 whole chicken (around 1.5kg)
- ¼ cup compound butter (see note)
- Olive oil
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1kg Agria or other floury potatoes, peeled
- Olive oil, duck fat or butter
- 2 brown onions (or whatever you have on hand), peeled and cut into wedges
- 4 large carrots cut into pieces, or a bunch of baby carrots
- Handful of woody herbs such as rosemary or thyme
- 2 bunches tender-stem broccolini
- 3 Tbsp plain flour
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 chicken stock cube (optional but I like the added concentration of flavour)
- Worcestershire sauce, to taste
- 1 tsp fruit preserve or jelly
- Preheat the oven to 200°C fan bake.
- Put the chicken in a roasting dish, breast side up. Use your hands to slowly separate the skin from the meat, trying to avoid tearing the skin. Place the compound butter under the skin, then press around the chicken to spread out as much as possible.
- Drizzle the chicken with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place the lemon halves in the cavity. Roast the chicken for around 90 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 72°C.
- While it cooks, cut the potatoes into large, even- sized chunks, then parboil in salted water or until just tender when tested with a knife. Drain, then return to the pot over the heat for a minute or two to evaporate any residual moisture from the potatoes. Shake the potatoes in the pot to rough up the edges.
- Put a generous amount of your fat of choice into a large roasting tray and place in the oven to melt. Once the oil is hot and moves easily around the pan, carefully transfer the roughed-up potatoes to the tray and turn to coat. Season generously with salt, then place into the oven to bake.
- After 30 minutes of the chicken roasting, scatter the onions and carrots into the roasting dish and return to the oven. Turn the potatoes, scatter over the herbs and continue to cook.
- When the potatoes and chicken are around 10 minutes from finished, scatter the broccolini amongst the chicken and vegetables.
- Once the chicken has cooked, carefully transfer it to a board, cover with foil and allow to rest. Scoop the vegetables onto a plate.
- To make the gravy, set the roasting tray over a low heat on the stove and sprinkle in the flour. Cook while stirring for a minute, before adding in the chicken stock and stirring until completely combined. Break up and sprinkle in the stock cube, and cook until the gravy has thickened. Season to taste with salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and preseve or jelly.
The Perfect Roast Potatoes:
Preheat the oven to 210°C fan bake. Wash your potatoes, peeling if desired, before cutting them into large quarters or halves depending on the size. Transfer to a pot and cover with cold water, then season with a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, and cook until the potatoes are just tender, or al dente, when tested with a knife.
While the potatoes are cooking, drizzle a generous amount of your choice of fat into the base of a roasting tray large enough to spread the potatoes out in an even layer. Place into the oven and heat for 5 minutes.
Drain the potatoes into a colander, shake to remove excess water, then return to the pot and allow the residual heat to dry out the potatoes. Shake the pot gently to roughen up the exterior of the potatoes, then carefully transfer to the heated oil. Turn to coat in the oil, season with salt and any additional dried or fresh woody herbs, then roast for around 45 minutes or until all sides are golden brown and crunchy. During the cooking time, you will want to turn the potatoes 2–3 times to help the cooking process.
There are many different types of fat you can roast potatoes in, all equally delicious and each bringing a change of flavour. Try roasting potatoes with olive oil, duck or goose fat, pork lard, beef dripping or vegetable oil to see which you enjoy the most!
NOTES: COMPOUND BUTTER IS A FLAVOUR BOOST. SOFTENED BUTTER IS MIXED WITH HERBS AND A RANGE OF ‘EXTRAS’ LIKE CITRUS ZEST, ANCHOVIES OR GARLIC AND CAN BE USED STRAIGHT AWAY AS IN THIS ROAST RECIPE, OR FORMED INTO A LOG AND CHILLED TO THEN SLICE AND SERVE ON TOP OF STEAK OR FISH FOR A POP OF FLAVOUR. FOR THIS RECIPE, MIX TOGETHER 50G OF SOFTENED SALTED BUTTER WITH 3 CLOVES OF MINCED GARLIC, THE FINELY CHOPPED LEAVES OF ONE ROSEMARY STALK, A HANDFUL OF ROUGHLY CHOPPED PARSLEY OR TARRAGON AND THE ZEST OF A LEMON.
FOR AN OPTIONAL EXTRA, MAKE CAULIFLOWER CHEESE. CUT /1 2–1 CAULIFLOWER INTO CHUNKS AND SCATTER INTO A BAKING DISH. DRIZZLE WITH OIL AND SEASON WITH SALT AND PEPPER, THEN ROAST AT 220°C FOR 15 MINUTES. WHILE THE CAULIFLOWER ROASTS, MAKE HALF A BATCH OF BÉCHAMEL SAUCE (PAGE 172). POUR THE BÉCHAMEL OVER THE TOP OF THE CAULIFLOWER, SPRINKLE WITH SOME GRATED CHEESE AND FAN BAKE AT 200°C FOR A FURTHER 15 MINUTES, OR UNTIL THE CHEESE IS GOLDEN, THE SAUCE IS BUBBLING AND THE CAULIFLOWER IS TENDER.
More Than Toast: How to Cook and Have Fun Doing It by Rhiannon Baldock is for anyone stuck cooking the same three meals on repeat or too overwhelmed to get in the kitchen. Auckland-based food photographer, stylist and cookbook author Rhi shares the basics – from picking the best cuts of meat to mastering a roast dinner – along with quick weeknight wins, crowd-pleasing feasts and irresistible bakes. With recipes like 30-minute Creamy Dahl, Chilli Prawn Tostadas and Cheat’s Lemon Cheesecake Jars, this book will transform your cooking confidence from the ground up. RRP $45.00
