Today I want to continue the theme of roast meat, with a delicious recipe for marinated pot roast. The previous few posts I have been talking about how Summer is coming in the southern hemisphere, but I don’t want to forget about my northern hemisphere friends. A great roast dinner is fantastic in colder weather, and this one will definitely warm you up, so give it a go and impress your family and friends!

Recipe Serves: 8

Ingredients for Marinated Pot Roast Recipe

3-1/2 lb Top, eye or bottom round-beef

Marinade:

1 c Red wine

1/4 c Vegetable oil

2 tb Worcestershire or soy sauce

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 Clove garlic, finely chopped

2 Carrots, finely chopped

2 Stalks celery, finely chopped

3 Sprigs parsley

1/2 ts Thyme

1 Bay leaf

1 ts Peppercorns

Marinated Pot Roast Preparation

The meat will be so tender you can cut it with a fork. Soak the clay pot in cold water for 10 minutes. Tie the beef with string in four places so that it will retain its shape as it cooks.

Combine all the marinade ingredients in the clay pot. Marinate the beef for at least 24 hours, turning the beef several times.

Add sufficient water or beef broth to the marinade to cover 3/4 of the height of the beef. Place the pot in a cold oven.

Adjust the heat to 450 degrees F. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Serve with horseradish.  Enjoy!

From time to time, the professional cook is called upon to prepare a spit roast in the open air and some knowledge of this procedure is therefore necessary. The spit roast equipment may be hired or permanently installed. Hired equipment may be fired with bottled gas in a similar way to a barbecue grill, or it may require solid fuel such as wood and heat beads. Spits should be electrically operated from mains supply or a generator. The spit should turn slowly so that the fat and juices roll around the meat to give a self-basting effect.

Whole sheep and butts of beef are the most suitable for spit roasting, although pork and other cuts of beef may also be used. If the meat is frozen, it must be completely thawed before cooking.

How To Spit Roast

Prepare the spit roasting meat by skewering it on a spit strong enough not to bend. It may be necessary to make a way for the spit with a long knife or sharpened spike. It’s absolutely essential to spike or tie the meat so that it doesn’t slip on the spit. Balance the spit with weights if available, to assist with even turning of the spit roasting meat.

It is important that the spit turns smoothly, otherwise uneven cooking will result. A basting spoon and a pan of fat should be prepared and the meat must be basted at frequent intervals. For a gas barbecue, preheat for 15 minutes and set the spit to turn on its rack. The distance from the fire depends on the size of the joint. Large joints should be 60-80cm from the top of the fire bed.

Fuel For Your Spit Roasting Equipment

If the barbecue is using solid fuel, it will be necessary to light a good fire using hardwood. Pine is unsuitable. Allow this to burn for 45min to an hour to establish a bed of coals; then set the meat turning on the spit. If possible, close in at least one side of the fire. This will direct the heat and reduce the amount of fuel required.

The fire may be set on a bed of coarse dry sand that will help to ventilate the fire and act as a heat bank, as well as prolonging the life of the fire box. Don’t use damp sand, as it’s liable to pop when heated. While the spit roast is cooking, fuel should be added at the sides and allowed to heat and smoke for 15 minutes before being pushed onto the main fire bed, because it is the hot radiant coals that do the roasting.

Approximate Spit Roast Cooking Times

Note that times may vary greatly if the spit roast is outdoors. Roasting time will then depend on the prevailing wind, amount of shelter, type of wood or fuel, intensity of fire, etc.

Lamb: whole carcass, 2-2 ½ hours, saddle, 1 ½ – 2 hours

Beef: butt, 2 ½-4 hours, standing rib, 2 ½-3 ½ hours

Pork: suckling pig, 3-4 ½ hours

Carving a large roast requires some dexterity and good planning. Start by following the dissection for primal cuts and take off a joint such as a shoulder or leg. Move to a cutting board close by and cut across the grain, leaving the rest of the meat turning on the spit. Leaving the thickest joints until last, continue in this way until all guests have been served.

True roasting involves cooking meat (including poultry and game) on a roasting spit near a hot fire. Although spit roasting is popular, general-purpose or forced-air convection ovens are commonly used for roasting. Electric rotisseries are sometimes used for roasting chickens in large quantities.

Principles

1.
Only prime-quality cuts of meat and poultry should be selected for roasting.

2.
To aid even cooking, joints to be roasted should be of even size and not too large.

3.
Joints should be trimmed of excess fat and tied up or trussed to hold their shape if necessary.

4.
Boned meats (such as a leg or shoulder of lamb) need a longer cooking time because the bone acts as a conductor of heat.

5.
Lean meat may be larded and surfaces rubbed with dripping or oil.

6.
The meat should be placed in a roasting dish on bones or a bed of roots (consisting of carrots, onions and celery, cut as for a mirepoix) to keep it out of the fat. That part of the roast allowed to rest in the fat or pan juices will boil and become a dull grey colour.

7.
Roasting temperature should be constant at 150C. High starting temperatures don’t improve the finished roast but tend to increase cooking loss through shrinkage.

8.
A meat thermometer should be inserted into the centre of the smallest roast. This registers the internal temperature of the meat, giving an accurate indication of how well cooked it is.

9.
If meat thermometers aren’t available, estimate how well cooked the meat is by counting cooking time in relation to the weight of the joint. For poultry and pork, prick the meat to see if the juices run clear.

10.
The meat should be basted with fat from the pan during roasting to moisturize and add flavour.

Gravy to accompany a roast should be made from the pan juices.