Roasts with the most

It's Sunday.

What with the all day pyjama-fest, broken up only by putting a dent in the washing and snoozing over Frasier repeats, there's not a lot of structure to it. The focal point is the Sunday roast - the behemoth food mountain which is the only thing Brits can think of when the words "national dish" are uttered. And what a thing of beauty it is.

Eating out - The Tramshed, Bath

Today I was lucky enough to stumble upon an exceptional Sunday roast completely by chance. If you're ever found wandering the golden streets of Bath, head to The Tramshed and order their beef roast with all the trimmings. The meltingly tender meat is teamed with a platter of sauces, perfectly cooked and seasoned veg, crisp yorkshire puds and shiny red wine gravy. I could have easily (well, maybe) eaten two. Service was pretty special too (thanks Ed).

Eating in - meat

Chicken, surprisingly enough, is my king of roast dinners. Everyone is terrified of undercooking chicken but I'm more worried about overcooking it. Those are the kind of crazy kitchen antics that give turkey a bad name at Christmas. Come on people - LOVE YOUR BIRD!

Last year's perfect Christmas turkey

I chop any string off and open up the bird to ensure it cooks through without going overboard. I serve it with cheat's stuffing (softened onions and celery, a little bacon, all stirred in with ready made Paxo), spiced cabbage and all the trimmings.

Pork has never been a favourite but this Christmas my lovely dad managed to mistake a a huge leg of pork for a giant ham and, as a result, kindly contributed it to our freezer as an act of kindness. Oh, and it was from Riverford Farm (wow).

I recently got around to defrosting one half of the pork leg but by the time the process was complete Sunday had been and gone. So, in an uncharacteristically spontaneous move, at 10pm on a Tuesday night I decided to brave an overnight slow cook.

I put the pork leg on a roasting tray surrounded by a few cloves of garlic, then seasoned it with salt, pepper and a few fennel seeds and popped it in the oven on 100C. At 7am the house smelled amazing (Firebox take note - alternative alarm clock gift idea); the pork had formed a crackling and was soft and 'pull'-able. Wonderful for a roast; just as good for stir frys, pies or spicy mexican-style tacos loaded with sour cream, jalapeños and cheese - the latter being our Wednesday night meal of choice.

Lamb is relatively new to me. For a few years while I was growing up we kept sheep as pets and, as an animal lover, I couldn't bring myself to eat my friends. Since learning lamb is on the better end of the spectrum in terms of UK mass-farming (if that makes any sense at all), I've built up trust with eating it and am now back on the (mint) sauce. Sainsbury's do a great shoulder of lamb in their butcher's section. Higher welfare and good value - a rare combination.

Old friend (flickr.com/nic)

Tom Kerridge's simple garlic-stuffed slow cooked lamb with boulangere potatoes (layered potatoes and onions) is wonderful. He's a michelin starred chef but this is simple and relatively low cost.

Eating in - vegetarian and vegan

Nut roast is so underrated. Thanks to this foolproof recipe from my vegetarian turned vegan friend Mel, I LOVE it. No measurements here - wild times.

Sauté some onions, garlic, mushrooms, courgettes, then blitz in a food processor with breadcrumbs, hazelnuts (or a bag of your favourite mixed nuts) and herbs and put in a greased dish. Top with more breadcrumbs, lots of salt and pepper, sunflower/pumpkin seeds and (optionally) a sprinkling of cheese - cheddar or parmesan are perfect.

In Mel's words: "you could always do something crazy like add a layer of olive tapenade or caramelised onion to jazz it up"- indeed.

Although the nut roast is a great vegan option, I've also had many a lovely Sunday with a fine serving of Vegan Village's chestnut and mushroom wellington recipe.  A delicious twist on a nut roast, all wrapped up in a layer of dairy-free puff pastry. Delicious with onion gravy.

Right, that's it. I'm stuffed.

Nx