How to rescue your roast: Turning holiday mishaps into triumphs

For the holidays, we traditionally prepare meat roasts. Aromatic pieces of loin, ham, or bacon served with horseradish or tartar sauce are my favourite cold appetisers. Although the roasts are often ready by 24th December, we don't eat them then because most of us observe the fast. They wait for the first day of Christmas.

Right after taking it out of the oven, we often know something is wrong with the roast. It's immediately apparent when it's dry or even slightly burnt. In the hustle and bustle of holiday preparations, this can happen. We set the timer too long, forget to take the roast out of the oven at a specific time, or don't baste it during baking. There can be many reasons. There's no point in analysing them; it's better to consider how to save the dry meat.

1. You can easily infuse dry meat with moisture by placing it in a strainer and holding it over boiling water under a cover for several minutes.
2. In such cases, butter can also be relied upon to absorb quickly. Slice the dried meat into pieces and drizzle with broth and butter. Please put it in the oven for 10 minutes; the temperature shouldn't be too high. 120°C is enough.
3. Transfer the roast to a large pot, add spices, and cover with water. Cook it for over an hour on low heat, then leave it in the water until it cools.

A good way might be to transform the dry roast into another dish. You must trim the burnt crust and cut it into small pieces. They are then ready for use in casseroles, soup, or sauce.

Ingredients:

• approx. 300-400 grams of roasted meat,
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce,
• 2 tablespoons of cream or mascarpone cheese,
• 1 can of tomatoes,
• onion, carrot, parsley, any vegetables, optionally,
• oil for frying,
• parsley for serving.

Instructions:

1. Cut the roast into small pieces.
2. Grate or chop the selected vegetables into small pieces.
3. Heat the oil and sauté the vegetables, then add the meat.
4. Next, add the can of tomatoes and stir.
5. Season the whole dish with soy sauce.
6. Finally, add the cream or mascarpone cheese.
7. Serve the sauce sprinkled with finely chopped parsley.