Christmas Roasts on the road

Dan Hawkins has put together a cracking Chrissy lunch or dinner to enjoy if you’re away from home these holidays.

Here are a few ideas to help you be more creative in the camper kitchen at Christmas time.

1. Leg of lamb

Set the temperature to 180’c. Roast with the lid closed for 30 mins per 500 g Lightly rub the lamb leg with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. For extra flavour, rub on chopped garlic and ground cumin and stud with rosemary sticks.

2. Pork Belly

Set the temperature to 250’c. Roast with the lid closed for 30 mins. Reduce the temperature to 180’c and cook for the remaining time. Calculate 35 min per 500 g. For example, a 1kg piece of pork belly with have a total cook time of 1h 10min. It is going to start to smell amazing! You will be tempted to open that lid and have a cheeky peek, resist that urge! Keeping the heat in will help activate that popular crackle and ensure the pork will be cooked perfectly. Preparing your pork belly is also very important to get that crunchy golden crackling. Pat the skin of the belly dry with a paper towel. Lightly cover the skin with table salt. Adding the salt does two things, one it will season your pork and two it will help remove moisture from the skin. Once the salt has dissolved around 20 mins, pat dry again and you are ready to roast.

3. Beef Sirloin

Set the temperature to 180’c. Roast with the lid closed for 20 mins per 500 g. To prepare your beef remove any excess fat from the cap and any silver skin from the underside. You can always just ask your butcher to prepare your sirloin for roasting. For extra deliciousness lightly rub your beef with a nice Dijon mustard. When roasting this will season the meat and form a nice charred outer crust to the loin.

4. Glazed Ham

Set the temperature to 200’c. Roast with the lid closed for a total cooking time of 90 mins. You will need to prepare your ham by scoring a circle around the knuckle. This will help get the skin off later during the cooking. Make a quick glaze out of apricot jam or marmalade, a splash of apple cider vinegar and a dollop of mustard. When melted it should be a thick liquid. After 45 mins cooking time opens the lid and peel off the skin. Scoring the ham earlier, the skin should pull straight off. Once the skin is removed start glazing. Spoon, brush or rub the glaze all over the ham. Close the lid and repeat the glaze every 15 mins.

5. Important tip

Always remember folks, it is very important to rest your roasts after cooking. Resting will allow the meat to relax let the juices settle back in giving you a more juicy, tender piece of meat.

6. If you’ve got a Weber? Then you’ve got a roast!

Slow roast lamb leg, crackling pork belly, roast beef sirloin even the Christmas ham can be cooked in the weber. Don’t forget about the roast vegies, these too can also be done in the weber.