Sunday Roast

There is nothing more traditionally British than a good Sunday roast. It is that time of the week when the whole family sits down together, eats too much, fights over something tactless Aunty June said last summer, argues over who can have the last Yorkshire pudding, and then falls asleep on the sofa in a food-induced stupor.

My mum and my sister are both experts at dishing up such joys (the food, not the arguments :-)) - a beautiful joint of meat slow-roasted in the oven, so that the whole house is fragrant with it, roast potatoes, perfectly crispy on the outside, and fluffy and tender inside, and a whole host of colorful veggies on the side, all topped with lashings of gravy. Yum! Unfortunately, the gene seems to have skipped me. I find roast dinners the hardest thing to cook - everything seems to require a different cooking time, different cooking temperature, and even a different cooking method. The potatoes are a case in point: as much as I love traditional roasties, having to peel them, then boil them, then toss them in oil, then roast them (at a different temperature to the meat.... obviously...). It's all a bit much. I end up losing my temper, stuck in a hot kitchen, and shouting such pleasantries as "DON'T OFFER TO HELP, WILL YOU!", "IF SOMEONE DOESN'T LAY THE TABLE IN A MINUTE, I'M GOING BAN SCREENTIME FOR A WHOLE YEAR" and "OF COURSE I WANT A GLASS OF WINE! WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE TO ASK. YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND ME....", all whilst sweating profusely, and making the kind of mess in the kitchen that it seems can only be solved by a visit from Ty Pennington and an extreme makeover. None of which is of course conducive to the kind of socialized, convivial, chatty family lunch anyone had in mind.

But there is something very comforting about a roast, so I'm always on the look-out for a solution to my roast-related woes (one that doesn't involve hiring kitchen staff or getting the whole thing catered by Whole Foods). My good friend Beth recently passed on a great recipe (taken from Martha Stewart), which fits the bill perfectly. She even lured me into trying it by claiming it was so straightforward that her family enjoyed it on a weeknight, when time and the possibility of maternal stress-induced meltdowns are only greater in this house.  So I had to try it, didn't I? It is a beautiful dish of pork tenderloin, roasted on a bed of fennel (already sounds good then, since the meat and one of the veggies get cooked together!). I served it up with a 'more streamlined' version of roast potatoes which I came up with. Although non-traditional, these roasties are so much simpler and pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. I've put the roasted potato recipe below as well. I also added a quick saute of zucchini to add some green to the plate.

At this rate, maybe we can have our family roast on a sunday without risk of enduring a full 365 days of lost screentime, or divorce because my husband can't pour the wine fast enough ;-) Beth, we owe you... big time!

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Fennel and Garlic
Serves 6

12 cloves garlic, peeled
3 lbs fennel bulbs (about 3-4 bulbs)
3 TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper
2 pork tenderloins (about 1 lb each)
1/2 tsp dried oregano

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Remove stalks and fronds from fennel bulbs. Chop and reserve fronds for later. Remove the hard core from the bottom of each bulb, and then cut into eighths.
3. On a large rimmed baking sheet (approximately 15"x11"), toss whole garlic cloves, fennel, 2 TBSP of olive oil and salt and pepper.
4. Roast for 10 minutes.
5. In the meantime, trim pork, then rub with remaining oil, oregano and more salt and pepper.
6. Remove baking sheet from the oven and push fennel and garlic to sides of the sheet. Place tenderloins in the center, and return to the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of pork reads 145 degrees F (temp will rise further while it rests).
7. Transfer fork to a cutting board and leave it to rest for 5-10 minutes before thinly slicing. Serve on top of fennel and garlic. Sprinkle with chopped fennel fronds.

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Roast Baby Potatoes with Lemon and Feta
Serves 6

2lbs baby new potatoes, whole, halved or quartered so all same size (approx 3/4" diameter)
2 TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper
zest of 1 lemon (plus juice if you want to, see below)
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
4 oz crumbled feta cheese

1. If not cooking with roast above, then preheat oven to 400 degrees F. If cooking with roast, don't fret - they will be fine at 450 degrees, just look for instruction changes below :-)
2. Toss potatoes on a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Put in oven and roast for 30 minutes at 450 degrees, or 40 minutes at 400 degrees, or until fork tender and starting to get crisp and golden on the outside. (If you are cooking them with the roast pork above, then put them in the oven when you first put the fennel in. They should be ready to come out when the pork comes out.)
4. Remove from the oven and toss potatoes with lemon zest and rosemary. Return to the oven for 5 more minutes (while the pork rests).
5. Remove from the oven and toss with the feta, then serve. If your family are big lemon fans, then sprinkle with the juice of the lemon too before serving.

Going.... going.... gone.