Never work with children and animals, the old show-business saying goes. Better add potatoes roasted in duck fat to the list.

The crunchy spud side dish was a sneaky show-stealer this month at Auckland restaurant The Grill, by Yorkshire chef Sean Connolly.

The occasion was a precursor to the annual Selaks NZ Roast Day on August 5.

"Thrice-cooked duck fat roasties," Connolly called them on the menu. They were par-boiled, then slow cooked in duck fat at 100C and finished off at 180C to get the crunch.

All in one glorious golden bite you got the sensation of hot, silky fat, salt, crunch, then chewy fat and, finally, a soft and floury potato centre. Beautiful.

A lineup of other roast-celebration dishes flowed from the kitchen, including slow-roasted Silere lamb, yorkshire pudding with duck liver parfait, beef rib with bearnaise, Wensleydale cheese and roasted pineapple.

The lamb entree was roasted for four hours, his "grandma's carrots" were cooked until 30 seconds before falling apart for a sweet, salty buttery hit.

It wasn't health food. Connolly was possibly only half-joking when he said there was a defibrillator on hand, but it felt like a true celebration of winter roasts.

At the lunch was Christchurch chef Jonny Schwass, who shared his own favourite roast ideas.

JONNY SCHWASS' HOGGET SHOULDER

Hogget has far more flavour and texture than lamb and is wonderful when roasted on the bone in a slow and low oven. This dish goes into the oven the night before. Most lamb sold in this country is actually hogget. If you have a good butcher, ask him to show you the difference.

1 large bone-in hogget shoulder

1 clove garlic, halved

2 tsp salt

Heat the oven to 75C on fanbake. Massage the garlic clove all over the lamb to permeate the skin.

Rub the salt into the lamb and place in the oven uncovered and cook for eight hours. This can be done overnight.

Increase the heat to 160C fanbake and cook for about 20 minutes until the meat colours. Remove from the oven and serve with pinot noir leeks.

PINOT NOIR LEEKS

4 medium leeks

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 cup pinot noir

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

Cut off and discard the dark-green part and the roots of each leek, making sure to leave enough of the fibrous white part to keep it together.

Split the leek in half lengthwise. Rinse well under cold water, separating each layer to remove any hidden soil.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saute pan over a medium-high heat. When the pan is very hot, add the leeks to the pan, cut side down.

Season the leeks with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper and then brown well. This takes about 4 to 6 minutes.

Brown on the other side for another 4 to 6 minutes.

Add equal amounts of wine and broth to the pan - just enough to come about 3/4 of the way up the sides of the leeks. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Turn once. Remove from the pan and serve with pan juices over the top.

Selaks is running a competition until August 10 to find the best roast recipe. The winner receives a case of Selaks wine each month for a year. Entry details at selaksnzroast.co.nz.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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