Darina Allen: My recipes to make the ultimate roast dinner
Which dishes would you ask your mum to cook specially for you when you’re coming home from abroad or from college at the weekend? Chances are, for many of us it’s a roast dinner and an apple tart.
Let yourself dream of your absolutely favourite dinner… What might it be?
Which dishes would you ask your mum to cook specially for you when you’re coming home from abroad or from college at the weekend?
Chances are, for many of us it’s a roast dinner and an apple tart.
Roast stuffed chicken with all the trimmings is right up there, lots of crispy roasties, maybe glazed carrots and tons of tasty gravy.
Or maybe it’s roast lamb, a deliciously burnished leg of lamb, sprinkled with flaky sea salt or maybe spiked with little tufts of rosemary and slivers of garlic.
I particularly love a shoulder that’s roasted slowly to melting tenderness so the meat can be lifted gently in tender chunks off the bone with tongs. Lots of gravy too and mint chutney, mint jelly or a simple mint sauce.
Made with freshly chopped mint, about 25g, add 1 tablespoon sugar, 110ml of boiling water and 25ml of white wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice - made in a twinkling and so good with lamb. Redcurrant jelly is another favourite accompaniment.
I’m very partial to a gratin of potatoes and mushrooms with lamb, a brilliant dish which can be made ahead and reheats beautifully, the perfect stand-alone dish for a vegetarian also.
Who doesn’t love a roast loin or succulent belly of pork with irresistible crunchy crackling.
Bramley apple sauce is my favourite with this, comforting and old-fashioned but so good.
Just peel and core the apples (450g) and chop coarsely, add 1-2 dessertspoons of water and 50g of sugar (or more depending on the tartness of the apples), cover and pop onto a medium heat.
The apples will break down into a fluff, all you’ve got to do is stir. Hey presto – apple sauce!
Bramley apples, now in season are best, with their bittersweet flavour, perfect to cut the richness of the pork.
While you are at it, cook a big potful of apples, if you have some leftover, change the name and you have old-fashioned stewed apples, enjoy it for pudding with a dollop of softly whipped cream and soft dark brown sugar, a simple feast.
And the ultimate roast rib of beef with three sauces - garlic mayo, béarnaise and horseradish sauces - a very, very special treat for a celebration.
A roast dinner tastes best when it’s shared around the kitchen table with family, maybe gran and grandad and a few grandchildren too.
Even if you’re only amicably arguing, you’re keeping the vital lines of communication open, this is what memories are made of.
If possible, carve at the kitchen table so you can give everybody their favourite piece. Mine is the outside slice of the roast or the knuckle of the leg of lamb.
A roast dinner takes quite some time and considerable love and effort to get onto the table so don’t forget to lend a hand, enjoy the process while you discover the secrets.
Organise some help with the washing up too, while you enjoy the chats.
Slow-roasted shoulder of lamb
The flavour of lamb shoulder is sweet and juicy - slow-roasted and delightfully tender, this dish is worth the wait
Servings
6Preparation Time
20 minsCooking Time
2 hours 0 minsTotal Time
2 hours 20 minsCourse
MainIngredients
1 shoulder of lamb (3.3-3.6kg) on the bone
extra virgin olive oil
salt
freshly ground pepper
For the gravy:
600ml homemade lamb or chicken stock
roux, optional
Method
Score the skin of the meat in a diamond pattern with a sharp knife. Sprinkle the meat with salt and freshly ground pepper and drizzle with olive oil, roast in a low oven 140°C in the usual way for 6-7 hours – this gives a delicious juicy succulent texture. Alternatively cook in a moderate oven 180°C for 2-2½ hours. Carve it into thick slices.
Serve with light gravy. To make the gravy, spoon the fat off the roasting tin. Add the stock into the remaining cooking juice. Boil for a few minutes, stirring and scraping the pan well, to dissolve the caramelised meat juices – I find a small whisk ideal for this. Allow to thicken with a very little roux if you like.
Taste and add salt and freshly ground pepper if necessary. Strain and serve the gravy separately in a gravy boat. Serve with new potatoes and a garden salad with edible spring flowers.
Gratin of Potato and Mushroom
If you have a few wild mushrooms e.g. chanterelles or field mushrooms, mix them with ordinary mushrooms for this gratin. If you can find flat mushrooms, all the better, one way or the other the gratin will still be delectable.
Servings
6Preparation Time
30 minsCooking Time
60 minsTotal Time
1 hours 30 minsCourse
SideIngredients
1kg ‘old’ potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks
225g flat mushrooms
butter
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
200ml cream
100ml milk
3 tbsp mixture of grated Parmesan with Irish mature Cheddar cheese
ovenproof gratin dish 25.5cm x 21.5cm
Method
Slice the mushrooms. Peel the potatoes and slice thinly into 3mm slices. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the potato slices to the boiling water. As soon as the water returns to the boil, drain the potatoes. Refresh under cold water. Drain again and arrange on kitchen paper or a clean tea towel.
Grease a shallow gratin dish generously with butter and sprinkle the garlic over it. Arrange half the potatoes in the bottom of the dish, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover with the sliced mushrooms. Season again and finish off with a final layer of overlapping potatoes.
Bring the cream and milk almost to boiling point and pour over the potatoes. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for 1 hour approx. at 180°C/Gas Mark 4, until the gratin becomes crisp and golden brown with the cream bubbling up around the edges.
Roast belly of pork with apple sauce
Streaky pork makes the sweetest and juiciest roast of pork; make sure to buy it with the skin on to get the crackling. Seek out pork from heritage breeds, e.g. Gloucestershire Old Spot, Saddleback, Tamworth, Red Duroc, Berkshire, Mangalica.
Servings
12Course
MainIngredients
1 x 2.3kg joint of streaky pork
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the gravy
600ml homemade chicken stock
roux (optional) (made with equal quantities of flour and butter, cooked for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally)
Method
Score the skin at 5mm intervals - let your butcher do this if possible because the skin is quite tough. (This will also make it easier to carve later).
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
Put the joint skin side down on the worktop sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Rub into the cuts.
Roast on a rack, allowing 28-30 minutes per 450g.
Pour off the pork fat and save in a bowl - this is delicious lard. Then just before the end of cooking turn up the temperature to very hot, 230°C/Gas Mark 8, to get crisp crackling.
To make gravy, de-grease the roasting pan and add the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. Bring to the boil. Season and thicken with a little roux if desired. Serve with Bramley Apple Sauce (see method in my column introduction).
The Georgina Campbell 2025 Irish Food & Hospitality Awards were held recently.
Congratulations to the many local winners:
- Seafood Chefs Of The Year: Dan Guerin Cush And Frédéric Desormeaux, Sea Church & Salty Dog, Co Cork
- Irish Breakfast Awards - Brunch Destination: Greenwich, Cork
- Global Cuisines Award: Izz Café, Cork
- Special Irish Hospitality Awards - Host Of The Year: Fern Allen, Ballymaloe House, Shanagarry, Co Cork
- ‘Movers & Shakers’ Award: Eunice Power of And Chips, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford
- Best Supporter Of Irish Food & Drink Producers: Grow HQ Café and Larder, Waterford
Many, particularly organic farmers are now selling pork, beef, lamb and chicken directly to the consumer.
