Top 10 Festive Holiday Roasts You Will Surely Love

Dec 24, 2020

The holiday season is here, and most households are busy preparing their menu for Noche Buena and Media Noche. People who love to cook will be unearthing their most loved recipes, many of which are passed down through generations. For Filipinos, the festive table will be filled with traditional holiday foods, or a combination of different influences – Asian, North American, European and Middle Eastern favorites.

Avoid the holiday rush and order your premium meat cuts and poultry now. E&L Food is available online, and we deliver, so you can prepare your favorite holiday roasts right away. We're also sharing some facts and tips to ensure you'll have the perfect roast beef, roast pork or grilled poultry for Christmas and the New Year.

Things to know about roasting

Since you are preparing roasts for special occasions, you might want to buy premium meat cuts and poultry because they are remarkably tender.

The recommended method for cooking tender meats is roasting, which is typically done using an oven's indirect dry heat. To ensure that the meat remains tender, with less shrinkage due to moisture's evaporation, keep your oven temperature at 325 °F (190.5 °C).

Roasting enhances the meat's flavor via the caramelization and browning on the food's surface. Roasting is suitable for slower cooking, especially for larger pieces of meat.

You should also remember that rolled and boned meats require more cooking time per pound than bone-in meat cuts. Heat takes longer to penetrate through solid meat. Thus the cooking time is longer.

Top 10 festive holiday roasts

What are you going to have on your holiday table? We suggest serving a big, succulent and tender roasted piece of meat. If you have a large family, or you want a variety, here are ten wonderful roasts.

Beef Rib Roast
Old-Fashioned Ham
Christmas Pork Tenderloin
Cured Ham
Prime Rib
Beef Tenderloin
Roasted Turkey
Roasted Chicken
Roasted Duck
Roast Pork Loin
Lechon

Roasting tips

It does not matter which cut of beef, pork, or poultry you choose. When it comes to roasting, you want the meat to be juicy, tender, succulent and full of flavors. Here are the tips to ensure that you will have the perfect roast this holiday season without much ado.

Roast Pork

Roast pork is a crowd-pleaser. It should be moist and evenly cooked, with crisp crackling skin. For roasting, the best cuts are leg, belly and pork loin. Choose premium meat cut with a good layer of fat. The fat is what keeps your roast pork moist and flavorful. You do not have to eat it, but it is good to leave it on while cooking. One kilogram of choice cut of pork is enough for four to six persons.

See to it that the pork is at room temperature before cooking. Make sure that the skin is dry so you will have crisp skin. Score the skin halfway down the fat, using a very sharp knife. Massage the salt and oil into the skin and through the cuts.

Roast the port for 25 minutes per 1 pound and an additional 25 minutes. Preheat the oven and cook the pork roast at 400 °F (200 °C). Allow the pork roast to rest after taking it out the oven.

Roast Beef

On its own, beef is already flavorful, and a good source of protein, B vitamins, and iron. When preparing roast beef, make sure that it is cooked on the bone, using choice meat cuts such as rib roast or sirloin joint. The bone adds flavor and conducts heat. Do not trim off the fat as it acts as baste for the meat. If you want the fat to turn into flavorful crust, rub or sprinkle it with flour, which will absorb the fat released during roasting. There are two ways to cook roast beef: cook it at high temperature to caramelize the exterior and turn down the heat to finish the cooking, or you can start with a lower temperature and finish the cooking using high temperature.

If you do not have a meat thermometer, you can use a skewer to pierce the meat. If the juice is red, it is rare. When it is pink, your roast is medium and well done when the juice comes out clear.

Allow the roast beef to rest for about an hour for the meat to re-absorb the juices. Use the released juices for the gravy. If you plan to cook beef on the bone, choose a three-rib roast, which is about three kilos. This is enough for seven to eight persons.

Grilled Poultry

If you want a classic dish, grilled chicken is a perfect choice. To ensure that you will have juicy, tender, moist, and flavorful grilled chicken, the best cuts to use are those with skin-on, bone-in pieces. Dry the clean pieces with a paper towel. Keep in mind that moist chicken skin will not become crispy.

Season the chicken pieces with freshly ground pepper and salt and allow the chicken to come to room temperature. It could take around 15 minutes. This will give time for the salt and pepper rub to work. It will also ensure that the pieces will grill evenly. Do not apply any barbecue sauce or glaze until you have finished grilling the chicken, to avoid burning the skin and meat.

Use a clean grill and apply oil on the grates. If you're using a charcoal grill, move the hot coals to one side and have a cool zone on the other side. The hot zone is for charring and crisping the chicken skin. Use the cooler zone to allow the chicken to cook gently without burning the meat. Ensure that the grill is about 500 °F (260 °C).

Start grilling the chicken pieces skin-side up. Drumsticks and thighs cook longer, so put them close to the flames. Breasts and wings cook faster, so place them on the cooler zone to prevent them from burning or drying out. Close the lid of the grill and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes each side.

Ensure that you get high-quality holiday meats

Here at E&L Food, we assure you that our premium meat cuts are inspected for wholesomeness by our country's inspection systems. You do not have to go out to buy meat and poultry products. As one of the favorite online meat suppliers in the Metro, we assure you that you'll get the meat or poultry you need and we'll deliver them to you once your order as soon as it is processed.