LCBO Food & Drink Autumn 2022

MAKING THE CUT

Crowd Control Feeding a big group at a large table or more than one table? Make multiple smaller platters so diners don’t have to pass a too-heavy platter or wait too long to get their turn. Additionally, keep an extra platter made up in the kitchen, covered with foil and a towel to keep warm, to be ready to replenish.

How to Carve a Bone-in Roast

This technique applies to rib roasts, such as prime rib of beef, rack of pork or venison. We used our Mustard Herb Prime Rib Roast with Red Wine Gravy for this demonstration, recipe at lcbo.com/fdautumn22.

Good Service Set out short-handled tongs for serving carved meats instead of a fork. They’re easier for guests to use to help themselves to the exact piece they want, and no one will get confused (as they could with a fork) and put them on their plate.

STEP 1 Place the roast on the carving board with one cut end of the meaty portion (the eye) facing you and holding bones vertically with your non-cutting hand. Angle the roast slightly toward your knife hand. Hold the knife firmly and position the blade parallel to the bones where the eye meets the bones farthest away from you.

STEP 2 Using long strokes (the full length of the blade), draw the knife toward you, cutting between the meat and the bone, as close to the bone as possible. Repeat to the bottom of the meat where the bones bend.

STEP 3 Once the eye is fully cut from the vertical portion of the bones, turn the roast 180 degrees and lift the eye away from the bones with your non-knife hand and use small strokes, parallel to the cutting board to cut the rest of the meat from the curved part of the bone. Separate the entire meat portion from the bones.

TIP: THINNER SLICES ARE MORE TENDER.

Garnishes When it comes to presenting your roast, too much garnish (especially large pieces of raw ingredients) makes it tricky for diners to get at the meat (and leaves uneaten food on the platter). A few herbs, if anything, are plenty, and will keep the focus on the star of the show.

STEP 4 Set the bones to the side and position the meat with cut ends of the eyes to the left and right, resting the flat portion (where the bones were removed) on the board.

STEP 5 Insert a fork into the meat and hold with your non-knife hand. Use long, smooth strokes with the knife in a sawing motion to cut across the grain of the meat to create slices.

STEP 6 Cut between the bones for those who enjoy the ribs, or reserve them to make soup or stock.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVID SPARSHOTT

54 FOOD & DRINK AUTUMN 2022