When I think of “roast dinners” as part of a cultural identity, it is British cuisine that comes to mind. According to Food52, “the origins of the British Sunday roast reportedly date back as far as the 15th century, but the ritual—which is enjoyed across the United Kingdom and Ireland—became popular in the 19th century.” While I didn’t grow up with roast dinners, cooking food in the oven is my favorite method. (It also helps warm up my New England kitchen on a cold day.) I think it’s a lovely dining habit to have.
And when one thinks of British cuisine, the River Cottage brand may come to mind. My introduction to the River Cottage came by way of Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks blog, when she wrote about making homemade bouillon using a River Cottage recipe. The brand has done television series, cookery courses, events, restaurants and products such as beer and organic yogurts. The latest cookbook from the brand is “River Cottage Great Roasts” by Gelf Alderson.
The chapters you’ll find here are:
- Breakfast and brunch,
- Snacky things,
- One-tray wonders,
- All about veg,
- Sunday roast,
- Super sides,
- Fruity numbers
The recipes seem to be an interesting variety:
- Roast asparagus, lettuce, and eggs
- Roast plums with star anise, oats, and kefir
- Spiced roasted carrot and orange hummus
- Fennel pork crackling
- Smoked haddock with potatoes, spinach, cream, and thyme
- Sausages with lentils and squash
- Roast lettuce, spinach, and peas with herby breadcrumbs
- Roast beetroot, cumin, and tomato crumble
- Roast mushrooms with beer and dumplings
- Roast parsnip, leek, and fennel curry
- Spelt, kimchi, and apple pilaf with mangetout (snowpeas in the US) and green beans
- Pot-roast brisket with beer, orange, and star anise
- Roast purple sprouting broccoli with kimchi butter
- Brussels sprouts with prunes, walnuts, and clementines
- Roast swede (rutabaga in the US), Cheddar, and spring onion mash
- Roast pears with ginger and toffee
While I’m not vegetarian, I find that it is the vegetarian recipes in this book that appeal to me the most. I wanted to test a dessert recipe, but summer is already long gone so it was going to be challenging to find some of the ingredients (rhubarb, I’m looking at you). I am also not cooking for 6-8 people, so I gravitated to the breakfast chapter the most.
The first recipe I made was crispy potatoes with bacon, tomatoes, and spinach. Maybe this was cheating as I knew the flavors were all going to work together. (The only other ingredients in this recipe were oil, salt, and pepper.) But it never occurred to me to try to do it as a sheet pan recipe. You start by cooking the potatoes and bacon, later adding the tomatoes, and finally throwing on the spinach to wilt toward the end of cooking. While the recipe specified unsmoked bacon, it was just easier for me to get smoked thick cut bacon. Even though I got the thick cut, it was too thin for cooking over the whole duration of this recipe. I think next time, I’ll start with just the bacon, and then remove it before proceeding with the recipe. What I liked best is that this is also lovely for lunch, or even a side dish for dinner. This was so tasty, satisfying, and simple that this will probably go into regular rotation in my kitchen. (Hey, maybe I’ll put it on the Thanksgiving dinner table.)
The other recipe I tried was for spiced apple compote with apricots and toasted cereals. The ingredients are apples, dried apricots, whole grain flakes (I used old fashioned rolled oats but rye flakes or wheat flakes are options), pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. My market was out of pumpkin seeds the day I was shopping, so I picked up sliced almonds instead. You bake the fruit first, mash it, top with the oats and seeds, and bake a few minutes more. I had doubts about baking the apricots with the apples. I really worried that they would dry out. They even looked a touch dry when I took the baking dish out of the oven to mash. However, the mashing went on without issue, so I guess my fears were unfounded. (But I might soak the dried apricots in water or apple juice next time just out of curiosity.) The end results are like baked oatmeal without being baked oatmeal. The topping doesn’t sink and bake into the fruit. It stays pretty dry so it’s more like a crumble. I thought the color was a little anemic when it came out of the oven (there’s no oil in this recipe) so I broiled it for color. If that is something that you think you also want to do, don’t walk away! I got distracted and came pretty close to burning it. (oops?) But since the topping was still dry and loose, it was easy to spoon out the bits that were a touch too dark. No real harm done, and it was totally my fault. (Browning it was not part of the instructions.) I loved this as a warm breakfast option. I want to try other fresh fruits and dried fruits so this is also on the remake list.
If you’re on the hunt for comfy content, this book might be it. While some of the recipes have a lengthy ingredient list, most of the recipes are not fussy. For cooks who are not comfortable cooking in the metric system, beware that there is no U.S volumetric measurements listed in this book (but small measurements like teaspoons are given). Most of the recipes have a photo of the finished product, so I think the savvier cook could probably get away with visually guessing the amounts of main ingredients. If you’re looking to expand your oven cooking repertoire, then “Great Roasts” might fit the bill.
Disclaimer – I kindly received this book from Bloomsbury for this review. I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own. The book is available for purchase now from your preferred vendor.
Reference Links:
Awesomesauce Eats 