Caravan Cook: Roasts

Cooking a whole roast can sometimes be a bit tricky on the road, simply due to oven space and time constraints.
I have found the easiest and simplest way out of this dilemma is to cook mini-roast dinners. This way, you don’t have to miss out on the added bonus of a traditional roast – leftovers!

Roast Chicken
Mention roasts to most people and a certain type will spring to mind. It might be Mum’s succulent roast beef with Yorkshire puds or the traditional Sunday lunch of roast lamb. For me, it has to be roast chook.

I have found the easiest way to roast a chicken in the outdoors is to ‘spatchcock’ it. This flattens out the chicken and provides a nearly-even cooking surface.

Spatchcocking is a simple technique: cut down either side of the backbone of the chicken, turn it over and with the heel of your hand, press down and break the breastbone.

Whether it’s in a camp oven or on a roasting tray in the oven, I prefer to cook chicken on a rack and place the vegetables for roasting in the camp oven under the chicken to soak in the delicious chicken juices.

Rubbing the skin with different herbs and flavourings can enhance the flavour of the juices. Below are two variations.

Gently lift skin of chicken and place thyme leaves under it in a few places. Sprinkle skin with a little salt and pepper and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over it. Rub skin gently and place chicken in oven.

Use the juice of half a lemon, a grated clove of garlic, about half a teaspoon each of cayenne, paprika and oregano and a little olive oil. Combine and rub into skin of the chicken.

When you are ready to roast your chicken, heat oven to about 200ºC/400ºF. If using a camp oven, you will need hot coals with a good supply in reserve.

Using a high heat to roast the chicken will shorten cooking time and result in a beautifully crispy skin.

Place spatchcocked chicken, skin side up, on the rack with heaps of potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, parsnips and onions cut into quarters underneath in the roasting dish. Roast for about an hour, depending on the size of your chicken.

To test whether it is cooked, pierce the thickest part of the thigh with the point of a knife. If chicken is cooked, the juices will run clear.

Serve and enjoy.

Leftover suggestions
Nothing beats a roast chicken sandwich. Imagine roast chicken meat, fresh bread thinly spread with a good mayo and perhaps some very finely sliced celery.

Perhaps you could toast your chicken sandwich and serve with some bubble and squeak made from leftover roast vegetables.

Or you could use the chicken carcass instead of stock to flavour some homemade soup.

Roast Turkey
I fiddled with this method of cooking turkey one Christmas when we were camping in NSW.

Turkeys can be difficult enough to cook well in your home kitchen but the thought of trying to do a roast turkey with all the trimmings in a camp oven was a bit daunting in those days.

I cheated a bit by using turkey hindquarters, one per person, and a spare for some leftovers. The stuffing was spread under the skin of the turkey hindquarter before roasting.

I used to use egg in my stuffing but nowadays if I am placing the stuffing under the skin, I use a little butter.

Butter will keep the seasoning together when placed under the skin and it will also moisten the turkey as it roasts.

Fresh breadcrumbs; ½ teaspoon of mixed herbs; small, finely chopped onion and a few sprigs of fresh, chopped parsley.

An equal quantity of sausage mince and breadcrumbs; pinch of dried thyme (or sprigs of fresh); small onion, finely chopped and a few sprigs of chopped parsley.

The method is the same as for the roast chicken, but cooking time is only about half to three quarters of an hour. If you are not a huge fan of turkey, use Chicken Marylands instead.

Leftover suggestions
Roughly chop any extra turkey and add to a bechamel sauce that has a small onion and a couple of garlic cloves added.

Toss turkey mixture with some cooked pasta, pour into a baking dish, top with some breadcrumbs and grated cheese and bake in the oven until golden brown.

Kim’s all-time favourite has always been her personal mini-lamb roast.

Tear off some al foil (double the quantity needed to enfold the lamb shank), fold foil in half and place lamb shank on foil. Add the flavourings of your choice and fold foil over the shank, ensuring edges are double-folded.

Place lamb parcel into oven or camp oven and cook for about 30 minutes. 

Sprinkling of dried onion soup mix onto each shank.

Traditional sprig of rosemary on each shank. Take care that it is only a small sprig.

Rub shank with a little pesto before wrapping.

Leftover suggestion
Chop some cooked potato and roasted shank with a small sliced onion. Cook lamb and onion, etc, in vegetable stock to make a semi-Irish Stew.