If you want to learn to cook, if you want dinner in a hurry, if you want succulent foods packed with flavor, if you want to impress your guests, if you want leftovers–just turn on the oven to roast.
The world will be your oyster. Yes, even oysters can be oven-roasted to perfection.
So says Barbara Kafka. Roasting is one of the easiest techniques for cooks to master and it requires little equipment other than a reliable oven and a heavy pan or two, she says.
Kafka is author of the new book “Roasting, A Simple Art” (Morrow, $25), in which she writes, “there is an almost endless list of reasons why I roast: ease, rapidity, lack of fuss, and the enjoyment of guests among them.”
Kafka’s credo is “hot ovens, short roasting times, and rare meat.”
By hot oven, she almost always means 500 degrees. By short roasting times we are talking 50 to 60 minutes for a 6-pound bird (compared with almost twice that time at 325 degrees). By rare meat she means very rare beef, lamb and venison, pork with a juicy, rosy flush and veal and chicken that retain their natural moisture.
Simple and honest
Russell Bry agrees. The chef and co-owner of Wildfire, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc.’s new venture at 159 W. Erie St. says, “Roasting produces simple, honest flavors, It does not require a lot of preparation. There’s cooking time but no vast hours of dicing, slicing and chopping. Once the food is in the oven, the cook has free time until the roast is done.”
Kafka, also author of the groundbreaking “Microwave Gourmet,” often takes an irreverent stance when it comes to cooking. In doing so she inspires us with the confidence to get in the kitchen and just cook.
For example, she writes in “Roasting” that “great roast beef is more the result of a good butcher than brilliant cooking.”
Roasting also is one of the few methods cooks can use at home to duplicate restaurant fare, Bry says.
“Most homes are not equipped with enough BTUs to pull off what we do on restaurant stove-tops, and few of us have the right ventilation to use a lot of stove-top heat,” he says.
“But roasting allows cooks to use high heat in their own homes. It is a very simple, time-honored form of cooking. It also is one of the earliest forms of cooking–it just evolved from the campfire stage to the oven stage.”
Evoking fond memories
Like many Americans, Bry has fond memories of the family dinner featuring a special roast.
“Both my parents worked when I was growing up, so during the week the food tended to be casseroles and things,” Bry says.
“But on Sundays we always sat down to the Sunday roast. Everyone has eaten a roast at some point in their lives so they are not afraid to try them. It is a comfortable way of dining and eating that is coming back in vogue, both in the home and in restaurants.”
At Wildfire, Bry uses a wood-burning oven regulated to about 650 degrees for chicken, which he says has enough natural moisture to take the extreme heat. For beef and pork roasts, he lowers the temperature to 500 degrees to get crust and character on the surface.
Bry and Kafka caution the cook about doneness and advise planning for some resting time after large roasts come out of the oven.
“You want to cook a roast to a less-done stage” than that in which you eat it, Bry says. For example, if you want to eat a beef roast medium-rare, remove it from the oven when it registers rare on a meat or instant-read thermometer (125 to 135 degrees according to Kafka). Then let it rest, loosely covered with foil, to finish the cooking (the temperature will rise as much as 10 degrees).
Larger cuts, such as prime rib, can rest up to 45 minutes before carving. Not only does this resting finish the cooking, it also allows the juices to become evenly distributed throughout the roast. If you cut it immediately after cooking, the juices just run out and you are left with a dry meat even if you cooked it properly.
The amount of bone and varied configurations from one roast to another can change the cooking time radically. Kafka advises cooks to put the roast in the oven earlier than its weight or size might indicate. (Because of its mass, a roast will not get cold if it has to wait out of the oven while you complete the meal.)
Roasting ranks as Bry’s favorite fish-cooking method because it produces a more tender product with less chance of overcooking. Kafka includes dozens of fish recipes in her book, including a stellar whole roasted striped bass with fennel done at 500 degrees in just 35 minutes. She also includes recipes for roasting fruits and vegetables in her book.
Whatever you roast, don’t throw away those luscious pan juices left in the bottom of the roasting pan. Once defatted (and deglazed, if you wish, with wine, water or broth), they can add tremendous amounts of flavor to the sliced roast. Or you can use them to enrich vegetables, mashed potatoes, soups and sauces.
ROASTED SHORT RIBS WITH GLAZED GARLIC, FENNEL AND CARROTS
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 3 3/4 hours
Yield: 6 servings
Barbara Kafka says this is a rich and savory dish which can be made ahead and reheated. It also is great accompanied by mashed potatoes rather than boiled.
5 1/2 pounds beef short ribs, trimmed of some fat, cut into 6 to 7 pieces
1/4 cup stock, water or wine for deglazing
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 large yellow onion, chopped into 1/4-inch dice, about 2 cups
40 whole cloves garlic, peeled, about 1 cup
2 large fresh fennel bulbs, trimmed, stalks removed, bulbs cut into 8 to 9 wedges
8 carrots, trimmed, peeled, cut into 2-inch lengths
2 teaspoons coarse (kosher) salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 boiled potatoes, for serving
1. Place oven rack on center level. Heat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Arrange ribs in a 14- by 12- by 2-inch roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes. Turn ribs over. Roast 25 minutes more. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Using a slotted spoon, transfer ribs to a large platter. Pour or spoon off excess fat. Put pan on top of stove. Add the stock or other liquid and bring contents to a boil while scraping the bottom vigorously with a wooden spoon. Add caraway seeds to liquid. Reserve.
3. Arrange half the onion, the garlic, fennel and carrots in a 5- to 6-quart casserole. Add half the salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the ribs in a single layer in the casserole. Layer the remaining onion, garlic, fennel and carrots over and around the ribs. Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper to taste. Pour deglazing liquid over all. Cover tightly with foil and a lid. Cook 3 hours. Serve hot with the boiled potatoes.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories…………525 Fat……………20 g Cholesterol……100 mg
Sodium………..855 mg Carbohydrates…..48 g Protein…………38 g
