INGREDIENTS

Dough Ingredients
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil or melted butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons dry yeast
5 to 6 cups flour

Apple Filling
3 cups coarsely chopped apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice (skip if apples are tart)

Egg Wash
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon sugar
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

DIRECTIONS

For Today Decided to write such recipe, which your kids can make for New Year. Just cut Apples for your children and be with them.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the first seven dough ingredients, in order listed. Stir in a cup or two of the flour, then add yeast.

Add enough additional flour to equal about 5 cups, and stir/knead into a smooth dough, adding additional flour if needed. Knead dough for 8-10 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.

Place apple filling ingredients in a medium bowl and toss to coat. Set aside. Punch down the risen dough, kneading to remove excess air bubbles. On a lightly-floured surface, roll the dough into a large round, about 1/2-inch thick. Spread apple mixture over the dough.
Fold the edges of the dough over the apples and continue to fold/roll the dough to make one big lump with the filling enclosed. Let rest 5 minutes.

Grease a 10-inch springform pan. Place springform pan on a large cookie sheet (to catch any leaks during rising/baking).

Using a sharp knife, cut off chunks of the dough and place them in the prepared pan. You should end up with 15-20 chunks of dough (though a particular number doesn’t matter). The apple pieces should be randomly dispersed throughout the dough chunks. Sprinkle with any escaped apple pieces.

Combine the egg and sugar, and then dab the egg wash over the top of the dough. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired. Cover gently with a piece of plastic wrap and place pan in a warm location to rise.

When dough has almost doubled in size, preheat oven to 350 degrees and then place baking sheet/springform in the middle of the oven (remove the piece of plastic wrap first, of course!) to bake for 45-55 minutes or until done.

When I make this, usually the edges of the top get well-browned before the middle is cooked. So, after about 25-30 minutes, I cover the darker areas loosely with foil — sometimes forming a large loose “ring” of foil (with no foil in the middle) to lay on top.
When challah is done, remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn out of pan onto a cooling rack and cover with a clean towel until completely cool.

Eating has always been one of my favorite things to do, but as anyone who knows me would share, cooking is not! So, you can imagine the hesitation I had when I was asked to join in the holiday fun, and blog about a roast. After a little elbowing from my colleagues and pure hysterics from my family, I set off on my first blogging venture to see just how “consumer friendly” our recipes truly are. The good news … I survived! And probably more importantly, so did the recipe and the roast!

I started by gathering all of the ingredients at the local grocery, refusing to use my typical direct “help-line” to our chefs. Ever wonder how many bulbs of garlic you need to get 6 cloves? I grabbed two, just in case! (So you don’t have to learn the hard way, there were about 12 cloves in the bulb).

And is it bad to use jarred minced garlic instead of fresh? I decided to go the easier route. (As I learned, jarred is also a solid choice). I wrapped up my shopping, feeling good and a little more confident that yes, I could conquer my roast!

Next came the hard part, interpreting the recipe so clearly written to deliver great taste. I started off strong, mixing my rub and carefully choosing the places to add “20” slits.

I wasn’t sure if all of the slits should go on top of the roast, so I added them on the top and bottom. Turns out, I could have just stuck to the top. I quickly mixed and added on the garlic-y rub before placing the roast in the refrigerator to rest overnight. I was a bit shocked — stage one of the recipe wasn’t bad at all!

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited when I woke up the next morning to prove my culinary skill. I pulled out my ingredients and was pretty sure I knew how to overcome the next hard part — peeling the garlic! (I wasn’t kidding about being a novice cook!)

I remembered a tip from our chefs and was ready to give it a whirl: Soak your garlic in water so the skin will more easily peel off. Well wouldn’t you know, that actually works!

Now to the rub (don’t forget to wipe the roast off first!) and into a hot, hot oven for a nice outer crisp. In 15 minutes flat, the roast looked and smelled delicious. And then came the fun part – decorating it with garlic and little rosemary studs.

(Note: this is where I decided the slits on the bottom of the roast were probably not needed.) It was beautiful … I couldn’t wait to show my family and friends! Back into the oven to cook slow and low. I adjusted my time to accommodate my larger roast — about 5.5 lbs — and finished cooking in about an hour and a half. I opened the oven with such delight, knowing a beautiful roast was about to be served. And let’s be real, a little bragging would be served up too!

Sweet victory and delicious to boot! Looks like I’ve discovered my New Year’s resolution … a few more roasts, a couple new recipes and a year of enjoying them all with my family and friends.

Warm holiday wishes, and happy roasting!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 kilos of pork belly slab – with the ribs removed (you can ask your butcher or meat vendor for a special cut of this)
• 2 tablespoons of rock salt
• 2 tablespoons of black pepper
• 2 garlic bulbs – each clove peeled and crushed
• 10 green chilis/siling haba – sliced
• 10 sprigs of spring onions/sibuyas dahon
• 5 sprigs of lemongrass/tanglad

Cooking string/butchers twine – you can also use cotton twine for this (make sure to soak it in water before using it)

PROCEDURE:
1. Pat dry the pork belly slab on both sides, then lightly slice the meat portion (not the skin part) horizontally and vertically to create a crisscross pattern (make sure not to cut through the pork skin as you do this). The reason why we are lightly slicing the meat is for the herbs and flavors to thoroughly seep in the meat as it cooks.

2. Mix the salt and pepper in a bowl, then rub the mixture to the sliced parts of the meat. Set aside and let it dry marinate for 15 to 30 minutes.

3. Prep your oven to high temperature around 240’C.

4. Now layer the sliced green chilis/siling haba and cloves of garlic as you evenly distribute it on the meat. Then place the lemongrass/tanglad and spring onions/sibuyas dahon on the bottom part of the meat.

5. Then carefully and tightly role the pork slab. Now tightly tie the meat in each section using the string. You can ask someone to help you do the tying as you hold the pork meat together. Make sure it forms an even roll.

6. Once done, place it on the oven and let it cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Or until you have reached a golden brown color on the skin. Another way to test it is to tap the skin, once you get a crisp texture, then that means it’s already cooked.

7. Remove from the oven and serve it as a whole or in slices.

Ingredients

• A whole duckling – we used a 6 lb one
• For duck stock:
• neck, gizzards, other bits from the whole duck
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• 1 sprig of thyme, 2 TBSP parsley, 1 small onion, 1 small carrot
• 4 sweet navel oranges
• Salt and pepper
• 2 small onions, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced sprig of thyme
• 1/4 cup red wine vinger
• 3 TBSP raw honey
• 2 TBSP tapioca flour + 3 TBSP port
• 1/2 cup port
• 2 TBSP orange liquor
• lemon juice
• OPTIONAL if you are Primal, 2 TBSP butter

Prepare the duck stock at least 2 hours in advance. Brown the duck bits, onion and carrot in a stock pot and then pour in stock, herbs and enough water to cover the duck. Simmer for 2 hours.

Peel the oranges and cut peel into 1/16 inch wide, 1.5 inch long

Simmer the orange peel in water for 15 minutes and drain and pat dry
Preheat oven to 425.
Prepare your duck by rubbing salt and pepper in the cavity and stuffing it with one small onion, a sprig of thyme and 1/3 of the orange peel.
Tie your duck up securely with string and lay breast-up in a shallow roasting dish with the remaining onion and carrot scattered around it
Roast for 15 minutes

Reduce heat to 350 and put the duck on one side and roast for a further 30 minutes.
Turn the duck to the other side and roast for another 20-30 minutes.
Turn it back to breast-up, sprinkle with salt and roast for at least another 15 minutes until a meat thermometer reads about 140 for medium rare.
When the duck is ready, remove the string and place in a platter in the turned off oven with the door ajar while you finish your sauce.
While your duck is roasting, start preparing your orange sauce. Cook vinegar and honey until it is dark and syrupy.

Add 1/2 cup duck stock to the pan and combine.Then add 1 1/2 cups duck stock, tapioca flour and port mixture and orange peel and simmer until the sauce is thick. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper. This can now be set aside.
When your duck has been removed from the roasting pan, drain as much fat out of the pan as you can. Set the pan on the stove top and add 1/2 cup of port.
Scrape off drippings and reduce till there is about 3 TBSP of port.
Add this to the orange sauce and simmer. Then add the 2 TBSP of orange liquor and drops of lemon juice to taste. If you are Primal, you can finish this with mixing in 2 TBSP of butter just before serving

Arrange orange segments on platter around the duck and spoon a bit of orange sauce on top. Serve the rest of the sauce in a gravy boat with the duck.

source: crunchymama.net

A crown roast is given its name because when properly prepared it resembles a crown. A crown roast is made from 2 sections of pork, lamb or veal loin with the ribs still attached. Even though March 7 is National Crown Roast of Pork day in the U.S.A., you can enjoy it any time of the year. Here’s how to prepare a crown roast if you want to try it on your own.

• Purchase the meat

A crown roast can be made from pork, lamb or veal. Beef loin is too large to properly form into a crown roast. You need to purchase the loin with the ribs still intact. In order to properly tie the crown you’ll need to purchase 2 strips of the bone-in loin. Each strip should have at least 4 bones for it to form the crown properly.

• Trim the meat

Lay the strip of loin horizontally on a cutting board in front of you. With a sharp knife, carefully make a cut from one end of the loin to the other, perpendicular to the bones, about 1 1/2 inches (3.5 cm) from the top of the bone.
Lay the second strip of loin on the cutting board and make a similar cut.
Remove the meat from between the cut you just made and the top of the bone. Use a small knife to carefully cut away this meat; you can save it for another use. Cut away enough meat to expose the bones. Do this for both strips of loin.

• French the bones

Frenching is the process of removing the meat from between each bone. Using a thin bladed knife or boning knife cut away the meat from between each bone. Cut away enough meat so that 1 1/2 inches (3.5 cm) of bone is exposed. Clean away any fat and meat from each bone until they’re as close to bare bone as you can manage.

• Cut the meat

Lay the strips of loin on the cutting board horizontally in front of you, bone side up and with the bones facing away from you. With a small knife, make a shallow incision through the meat halfway between each bone. Your cuts should extend from the bottom of the meat up between each bone to the top of the meat.

• Tie the roast

Stand the strips up with the bones facing upward and the meatiest portion of the meat facing inward. Shape the 2 strips into a circle. With a long length of string, tie the meat together in a circle. One string should tie the roast across midway up the outward facing bones, and another string should tie below the bones in the meaty portion of the strips.

• Liberally season the roast with salt and pepper.

• Roast the meat

Roast the crown roast in a 350 degree F (180 degree C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes per lb. or until the meat has reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) in the meatiest portion.

• Make the stuffing

Crown roasts have traditionally been stuffed prior to roasting. It is, however, easier to make the stuffing and bake it separately then spoon the stuffing into the center of the cooked crown. If the roast were stuffed and then roasted, you would have to cook the roast to a much higher internal temperature to ensure that the stuffing is cooked. This would result in overcooked meat.

• Serve the roast

Remove the string from the roast and place the cooked roast on a serving platter. Spoon the cooked stuffing into the center of the roast and serve.

Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Prepare-a-Crown-Roast