Top 8 Recipes for a Brilliant Sunday Roast

It's the first Sunday of 2015 and there's no better way to spend it than with my favorite Sunday tradition - Sunday Roast. A typical Sunday roast consists of roasted meat, roast potato, vegetables, gravy and Yorkshire pudding.

Here are 8 of my favorite recipes for a brilliant Sunday Roast.

1. Roast Beef

My favorite cut to use when making roast beef is rib eye. Tender and succulent, the whole family loves it.

I usually cook my roast beef to medium rare - the cooking time is 5 mins per 100g at 180°C. Allow to rest for at least 15-20 minutes before carving.

For roast beef recipe, see here.

2. Roast lamb

Roast leg of lamb is great if you're feeding a large family. This Heston Blumenthal-inspired recipe is my favorite - simply slow roasted at 90°C for about 2 hours. 

See recipe here.

3. Roast lamb loin chops

Baby C's favorite lamb cut is the lamb loin chops. This is much more quicker to cook compared to the whole leg of lamb (20 mins vs 2 hours). 

See recipe here.

4. Roast chicken

This is a simple roast chicken recipe from Michelin-star chef Thomas Keller. You only need 4 basic ingredients for this recipe - unsalted butter, salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Moist chicken with incredibly crispy skin.

See recipe here.

5. Roast potatoes

A must-have with every Sunday Roast is roast potatoes. Crisp on the outisde, fluffy on the inside - delicious!

See recipe here.

6. Yorkshire puddings

We like having Yorkshire puddings with roast beef. They're really easy to make (less than 20 mins for prep and cooking). I love them crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, and with lots of gravy poured over.

See the recipe here. 

7. Homemade mint sauce

A good mint sauce is essential when serving roast lamb. I prefer making my own using fresh mint from the garden - so very easy to do. 

See recipe here.

8. Vegetables

We like to keep it simple and have our Sunday roast with steamed or boiled vegetables. Two of my favorites are Brussel sprouts and carrots.

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Recipe: Rich, Creamy Rice Pudding (Marcus Wareing)

One of Hubby's favorite desserts growing up was rice pudding. His mum would often make it and serve it after dinner. During our last trip back to Scotland, we bought some pudding rice so Hubby made rice pudding for us for dessert.

Hubby used Marcus Wareing's recipe for creamy rice pudding which calls for 5 egg yolks. Not only is it creamy, it tastes very rich as well. I would recommend using only half the amount of sugar in the recipe (Hubby reduced from 90g to 45g) and then serving it with either jam or a scoop of ice cream. Hubby and I had ours with our homemade roselle jam - the tangy jam is perfect for cutting some of the richness.

Thanks Hubby, we loved the creamy rice pudding very much. The kids asked for seconds. :)

Rich, creamy rice pudding
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from Marcus Wareing's "How to cook the perfect.."
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
90g short-grain pudding rice
250ml full fat milk
250ml double or whipping cream
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
5 medium egg yolks
45g caster sugar
Jam, to serve


1. Rinse and drain the rice, then tip into a heavy pan. Pour in the milk and cream and bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, turn the heat to low and simmer gently, stirring from time to time, for about 20 minutes, until the rice is soft but still with a slight bite.

2. Put the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla paste in a bowl, and whisk to combine.

3. Take the pan off the heat and mix about one-third of the rice with the egg yolks, then stir this mix into the rest of the rice in the pan. Continue cooking over a low heat for a few more minutes, stirring constantly until the pudding is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.

4. Spoon the pudding into 4 bowls and blob a spoonful of jam or vanilla ice cream in the centre of each. Serve hot.

Note: You can also use risotto (Arborio or Carnaroli) rice if you cannot get pudding rice.

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I am submitting this to the "Cook & Celebrate: Christmas 2014" event which I am co-hosting with Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe. To join, simply cook or bake any Christmas recipes for the whole month of December 2014.

Your post must be a current post i.e. posted in December 2014 - please do not link older posts.Please mention our "Cook & Celebrate: Christmas 2014" event in your post and link back to Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Baby Sumo of Eat your heart out.

Happy cooking! Do check out the other bloggers recipe below:




* I am also submitting this post to "Cook-Your-Books #19" hosted by Joyce .

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WORLDFOODS International Fusion Recipe Swap Challenge: The Beesley Buzz's Cottage Pie Recipe

Hi everyone, I am most delighted to have Rebecca Beesley of The Beesley Buzz guest posting on my blog today as part of the WORLDFOODS International Fusion Recipe Swap Challenge. Do hop over to her fantastic blog and show her some love xoxo.

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Rebecca is a mum of three and blogs about family life over at The Beesley Buzz.  The whole family enjoys getting involved in blogging. The blog was started whilst the children were being home-schooled as a way of capturing their memories and adventures. Even though J and D are back at school now, blogging has been a way to keep a record of favourite recipes, holiday memories, book reviews and other aspects of family life.

Recipe:
WORLDFOODS-inspired Cottage Pie

I’m delighted to be here guest posting today. I was asked by WORLDFOODS to pick a classic British dish and give it a bit of a twist using some products from the WORLDFOODS range. And what can be more classic than a Cottage Pie. The term cottage pie is thought to have been used since the 1700s ‘when the potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor’ (Wikipedia). The term cottage being a modest dwelling for rural workers.

Nowadays it is used fairly interchangeably with the term ‘Shepherd’s Pie’ (although Shepherd’s pie technically should be made with lamb and Cottage pie with beef). You can use leftover meat, for example from a Roast Dinner (another classic British meal), or use can use minced (ground) beef for this dish.

In this recipe we’ve given the classic Cottage Pie a WORLDFOODS inspired twist by using Thai Masaman Curry Paste in the meat part of the dish and the potato topping has the beautifully warming flavour of the Thai Yellow Curry Paste running through it.


Ingredients:
1kg potatoes
400g pack of minced beef (ground beef)
1 onion
1 courgette / zucchini
2-3 carrots
100ml beef stock (you can use 1 stock cube dissolved in boiled water for this)
1 teaspoon cornflour dissolved in a little boiled water
A little groundnut or rapeseed oil for frying
25g butter
A splash of milk
3 tablespoons WORLDFOODS Thai Masaman Curry Paste
2 tablespoons WORLDFOODS Thai Yellow Curry Paste
250g green beans to serve alongside

Method:

1. Peel, chop and fry the onion in a little oil until softened and browned a little.

2. Add the ground beef / minced beef and fry until browned.

3. Peel and finely chop the carrots and courgettes/zucchini. Add this to the pan and continue to fry for a couple of minutes.

4. Add in 3 tablespoons of WORLDFOODS Thai Masaman Curry paste and stir to coat all the beef and vegetables.

5. Dissolve a beef stock cube in 100ml boiling water, along with a teaspoon of cornflour and pour this in. Stir. Turn down the heat and leave to simmer. If the mixture starts to stick to the pan, then add a splash more boiled water.

6. At this stage, preheat the oven to 200C. Then prepare the potatoes.

7. I find it easier to wash and boil the potatoes with the skin on and then peel them with my fingers once they are boiled. If you find it easier to peel with a peeler and then boil them, then do it that way. It is just a matter of preference.

8. Once the potatoes are boiled (and peeled), using a potato masher, mash them with the butter and milk. Add in 2 tablespoons of WORLDFOODS Thai Yellow Curry Paste and continue to mash. The mash will start to look a beautiful yellow colour.

9. Pour your meat mixture into a large ovenproof dish. Then top with the mashed potato. You can run a fork over the top of the mash to help it spread out evenly and give a patterned effect.

10. Place in the oven for 20 minutes at 200C until golden brown on top.

11. Boil or steam your green beans and serve alongside your WORLDFOODS Cottage Pie.

Variations:

You can double up the quantities to make two cottage pies and freeze one for another day.

If the Thai Yellow Curry paste proves too hot (it is medium heat depicted by two chillies on the jar packaging) then just use a little less. Like things hotter, add a little more.

If you prefer to use Lamb mince (ground lamb), then make a Shepherd Pie instead. It is exactly the same but uses lamb meat instead of beef.

Have some leftover meat to use up? Throw it into a Cottage Pie. The perfect way to use up leftovers.

For the potato topping, you could also try Carrot and Potato mash or Sweet Potato mash instead of regular potatoes. You can also add some grated cheese on top if you like.

About WORLDFOODS:
WORLDFOODS is a range of ready-made sauces that are 100% fresh, natural and authentic, with no unnecessary additives and no GM (genetic modified) ingredients. WORLDFOODS sauces combine quality ingredients to help you create your favourite Asian dishes at home, quickly and easily. Each bottle of sauce is designed with convenience in mind so you can enjoy the wonderful flavours of authentic Asian food without having to make everything from scratch. You can rest in the knowledge that we have done the groundwork, gathering oriental herbs and spices and authentic ingredients and preparing them for you. With WORLDFOODS sauces, you can be sure that you are getting only the very best for your health. Every bottle is made with the freshest and highest quality ingredients. All our sauces are 100% natural, which makes us the ideal choice if you are health-conscious and a gourmet at heart. Vegetarians, vegans and coeliacs will be pleased to know that our products are specially made to meet your needs too.

WORLDFOODS sauces are available worldwide, with a different selection available in each country. To find out the selection of sauces available in your country along with stockist details please visit: http://www.worldfoods.com.my/wf/where_to_buy/index.php


Thank you for this fantastic recipe, Rebecca! xoxo

I am also guest posting over at her blog today, so check out what Malaysian dish I have decided to showcase to her readers.

Recipe: Gammon steak with grilled pineapple, chips and peas

A couple of weeks before we went to Scotland, I had a craving for gammon steak. It's not something we can find easily here in KL supermarkets so Hubby promised me that he would make it for me once we get to Scotland.  True to his words, he made it on the evening we arrived (ah yes, first thing we do is visit the supermarket to buy lots and lots of yummy food!). 

Gammon steak with grilled pineapple, chips and peas

Gammon steak and chips is a classic British pub dish. Gammon is the hind leg of pork, cut from the side of bacon after curing, either by dry-salting or curing in brine. Like bacon, it needs to be cooked before it can be eaten. Since it can be quite salty, you can rinse it with cold water first and pat dry before cooking.

Gammon steak can be easily prepared at home for a quick meal - you can either pan fry it or grill it for 8-10 minutes. To prevent the gammon from curling up while it's cooking, just snip the fat at about 1 inch intervals all round. Gammon steak is usually served with grilled pineapple, or a fried egg(or both) with chips and peas.

Thanks Hubby for cooking this for me, it definitely hit the spot (cravings satisfied!).

I sat back in the garden with the kids and enjoyed looking at my FIL's garden of beautiful flowers while dinner was being prepared...

Gammon steak with grilled pineapple, chips and peas
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 x 450g pack unsmoked gammon steaks (2 in a pack)

To serve
4-8 pineapple rounds (1-2 per person)
100g frozen peas
chips

1. Using scissors, snip at 1 inch intervals along the rind and fatty edges all around - this will stop the gammon steak from curling as they cook.

2. Heat a grill pan, and add a touch of oil. Cook in the grill pan 4-5 minutes each side over medium high heat. Alternatively, you can place it under a hot grill for about 8 minutes, turning halfway around.

3. Arrange pineapples in a single layer then place under a grill for 2-3 minutes. Cook oven chips according to manufacturer's instructions. Cook frozen peas in boiling water for 2 minutes, or place in microwavable bowl, sprinkle 1 tbsp water and microwave for 1-2 minutes.

4. Top the gammon steak with grilled pineapple and serve chips and peas on the side.

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Recipe: Bangers & Mash with Onion Gravy and Peas

Bangers and mash is a traditional British dish, comprising of sausages and mashed potatoes and is usually served with an onion gravy, and peas. The term "bangers" is attributed to the fact that sausages, particularly the kind made during World War II under rationing, were made with water so they were more likely to explode with a "bang" under high heat if not cooked carefully.

This classic British dish kick-started our British-themed dinner, with sausages from Wales, onion gravy made using a recipe from an English chef, and cooked by my superstar Scotsman Hubby. This is quick and easy to make, with extremely satisfying results. The Cumberland sausages were nicely spiced and meaty, complimented by the smooth mash and thick, delicious onion gravy.  A lovely comforting dish, which went down a treat with the whole family :)

We then finished off our meal nicely with a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie and a hot cuppa English tea. :)

Bangers & Mash with Onion Gravy and Peas
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from here
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking time: 35-40 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the sausages and onion gravy

8-12 good quality sausages, preferably Cumberland

2 large onions, sliced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp English mustard
600ml beef stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp butter, softened 

2 tsp plain flour

For the mash

4 Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into thick chunks
3-4 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp milk
Salt and white pepper

To serve

Fresh thyme, for garnish

200g frozen peas


1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. 

2. Place the sausages into a roasting tin and cook in the preheated oven for 10 minutes then turn the sausages and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until they have a good colour on the outside.

3. Add the sliced onions to the tin. Mix the dried herbs, mustard and stock together and pour over the sausages and onions. Return the tin to the oven for a further 20 minutes, or until the sausages are cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. For the mash, boil the potatoes in a pan of boiling water, about 12-15 minutes until tender. Drain and mash with a potato press and mix the butter and milk in until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Cook the peas in a saucepan of boiling water for 1-2  minutes. Drain and set aside.

6. For the sausages and onion gravy, mix the softened butter and plain flour together to form a paste. Remove the sausages from the baking tray, set aside and cover to keep warm. Place the baking tray onto the hob, add the flour and butter mix and whisk until combined. Stir over a medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the gravy has thickened slightly. Add the sausages back to the tray and warm through for 1-2 minutes.

7. Place mash on plate, then top with the sausages with the onion gravy spooned over and peas on the side. Garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme.

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Recipe: Oven-Baked Fish and Chips + Easy Tartare Sauce

Fish and chips is one of many British dishes I love eating.  Fish is coated in a batter (made of flour, water, and baking soda/beer) and then deep fried to perfection. Not exactly the healthiest dish but I do love indulging in it once in a while. 

It never crossed my mind to cook fish and chips at home (cos of the deep frying factor), however I bought some dory fish fillets the other day and my mum asked me to make fish & chips. How did I cook it? In the oven, of course! 

I made my fish & chips using dory fillets, but you can use other firm white-flesh fish such as cod, haddock or plaice. The fish is first coated in flour, followed by a yogurt mix with some cayenne pepper and lime zest added in and then rolled in Panko breadcrumbs. A drizzle of oil and the fish is then baked in the oven until golden brown and crispy. Yes, it was very crispy much to my delight!

The fish was served with oven-baked fries (store-bought this time) as well as homemade tartare sauce. By the way, this is one recipe you can get your kids involved in - Baby C helped with most of the coating of the fish, and they both took turns to help mix and make the tartare sauce.

We certainly love our healthier version of oven-baked fish and chips! :)

I was very happy when Baby C told me she enjoyed it very much :)

Oven-baked fish and chips with homemade tartare sauce
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 x 700g dory-fish fillet (or any other firm white fish)
1/3 cup plain flour
2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
3/4 cup natural yogurt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Zest of 1 lime
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4-5 tbsp canola oil

For the tartare sauce (Recipe adapted from here)
1 cup low-fat mayonnaise
3 tsp capers, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
A handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
Salt

To serve
Store bought fries, or homemade


1. Wash the fish fillet and pat dry with a kitchen towel.  Cut each fillet into half down the centre, then half again - to make 4 pieces from each fillet. Repeat with other fillet. Season with salt.

2. Place plain flour in one plate, and the panko in another plate. Season both with some salt.

3. Place the yogurt in a bowl, along with the lime zest, cayenne pepper and some salt. Mix together to combine.

4. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with foil and brush lightly with oil. Using your hands, place the fish, one piece at a time into the flour and turn it over to coat thoroughly. Then place it in the yogurt mixture and turn again to coat. The finally, roll the fish in the Panko breadcrumbs to cover each piece thoroughly with bread crumbs and place on the baking tray. Repeat with remaining fish.

5. Drizzle the oil over the fish. Place in preheated oven and cook for 20-25 mins until the skin is golden brown and crispy.

Kids taking turns to mix the ingredients in the tartare sauce :)

6. Meanwhile, make the tartare sauce. Place mayonnaise, capers, and shallot in a bowl and mix well. Slowly add the lime juice and mix well. (Note: Start with 1/2 lime juice and adjust to your taste) Finally, add the parsley and season with salt.  Store in fridge until ready to use.

7. Serve fish with oven-baked chips and tartare sauce.


Note: Your kids can help with Step 3, 4 and 6. You can replace the lime with lemon, if you prefer.

Crisp on the outside, flaky on the inside... YUM!

Homemade tartare sauce - a must-have for us when having fish & chips

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Recipe: Eton Mess

Eton Mess is a classic British dessert consisting of pieces of meringues topped with strawberries and cream. It is traditionally served at Eton College's annual cricket game against the pupils of Harrow School. A popular myth is that Eton mess was first created when a meringue dessert was accidentally crushed by a yellow labrador while travelling to picnic at Eton College but what could be salvaged was served as a crushed meringue with strawberries and cream.

While practicing to make the perfect meringues, any broken or less-than-perfect meringues can go into making this delicious dessert. First, the strawberries are hulled and macerated with some sugar to help it release its delicious juices and improves the flavour. If you find yourselves with sour strawberries in future, macerating them will sweeten them considerably.

Macerated strawberries

The cream is whipped to soft peaks and then the macerated strawberries are folded in gently to create a pretty ripple effect. I also garnished the dessert with some halved strawberries and some mint leaves. This is so easy to put together and a crowdpleaser - perfect for parties or any celebrations. This is one beautiful mess which I don't mind having ;)

A Beautiful Mess

Eton mess (Classic British Dessert)
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Serves 4


Ingredients
150g fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
1/2 tsp caster sugar
80g homemade meringues (about 6 mini meringue nests), or store bought
250ml whipping cream

To garnish
Mint leaves


1. Slice 75% of the strawberries and place in a small bowl. Using the back of your fork, roughly mash the strawberries and then add the sugar and mix well. Leave to macerate for 15 minutes. Cut the remaining strawberries into halves and set aside.

Macerated strawberries

2.  Using your hands, break the meringues into bite-size pieces.

We used homemade meringues, but you can also use store-bought for this dessert

3. Using an electric mixer, whip the cream until soft peaks.

Whipped cream

4.  Pour in the macerated strawberries to the cream and fold a few times, to get the rippled effect.

5. Place the meringues in either glass bowls or wine glasses, then spoon the cream over the meringues.Then garnish with the halved strawberries and mint leaves.

I am submitting this to the "Baby Sumo's Christmas Recipes Collection 2013" event which I am hosting. You can link your recipes here until 31 January 2013.


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