Celebration Roast by Field Roast is a welcome addition to your holiday table . . . with a few simple tweaks that can take it from good to great! This year I spread my Savory Dry Rub on the oiled surface of the Roast before putting it in the oven – which dramatically improved its flavor. Just like carnivores use dry rubs to boost the taste of the meat they are cooking, I figured the same principle should apply to a plant-based roast. Want to know how this one simple step pays off big? Read on!
First, make sure your Celebration Roast is fully defrosted, and then remove the plastic packaging that encases the roast.
Here’s how it looks once its plastic skin is shed.
I coated the Celebration Roast with extra virgin olive oil, and then put it in my glazed clay cooker (which had been presoaked in water – bottom and lid – for fifteen minutes). I liberally sprinkled my Savory Dry Rub on all sides of the oiled Roast. Here’s how it looked with the Savory Dry Rub coating!
Instead of adding water like the boxed instructions called for, I put 2 tablespoons of white wine and a tablespoon of organic vegetable stock in the bottom of the clay cooker and covered it tightly with the pre-soaked lid. Don’t worry if you don’t have a clay cooker – you can also use a Pyrex baking dish and cover it tightly with non-stick aluminum foil. Just make sure to “tent” the foil so that it doesn’t rub off your Savory Dry Rub.
Bake the roast for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, and then remove the lid (or foil) and let it bake for another 15 minutes.
Put the clay cooker or glass baking pan on a wire rack and let it cool for about ten minutes before removing the roast to a cutting board. I recommend letting it rest for at least ten more minutes so that you will get nice clean slices.
I used that cooling time to make my own mushroom gravy, which is my second suggestion to elevate Celebration Roast’s reception with your family. Here is a simplified version of the mushroom gravy I featured in my November 21, 2019 post. I just sautéed diced shallots and minced garlic in unsalted butter and then added sliced oyster mushrooms from a great purveyor at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market, along with some sage and thyme – either dried or fresh. Cook for about 5 minutes and then deglaze the pan with some white wine. Continue sautéing until most of the liquid is evaporated. Add another tablespoon of butter, let it melt, and add a tablespoon of flour to make a roux. Slowly add about a cup and a half of heated vegetable stock to the roux, along with freshly ground black pepper, and cook until your gravy has a good consistency. If your gravy gets too thick, thin it with a little stock or water.
I know that I’ve been harsh before about how bad the gravy that comes with the Roast tastes – so I tried it again, hoping for an improvement. While it may be a tiny bit better than the gravy packets I threw away in 2019, it still isn’t edible in my humble opinion. In fact, here’s a plated photo so you can see how different Field Roast’s porcini mushroom gravy looks in comparison to my humble homemade mushroom gravy.
Yes, that’s Field Roast’s gravy on the left and mine on the right. As we say in the law . . . Case Closed!
Before I forget, here’s my simple Savory Dry Rub recipe. Hope you give it a try!
Happy Holidays!
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika (or sweet paprika)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion flakes (or onion powder)
- ¾ teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl - and then use it on your Celebration Roast. If you have any left over, you can put it in an airtight container for another use.
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