New Years Eve Dinner: Beef Rost, Chayote Hash, Mashed Potatoes, Cucumber Tomato Feta Salad and Bowle

This time I start off with the plate and then break it down:

 


Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad

  • 1 shallot chopped
  • 1 cup of arugula chopped
  • 1/2 cup of flat leaf parsley
  • 2 tomatoes cubed
  • 1 medium cucumber peeled and sliced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp store bought lemon vinaigrette

 Mix all of this in a bowl and set aside, so the flavors can mingle

Chayote Hash

Peel the chayotes, 2 of them is more then enough. Remove the pit in the middle. Cut into 1/4" pieces. In a frying pan add some veggie oil. Add 1 chopped shallot and let it get translucent. Add the chopped chayotes and a sliced clove of garlic. Add

  • 1/4 tsp of cumin
  • 1/4 tsp of tumeric
  • 1/4 tsp of curry
  • pepper
Do not add any salt yet. Cover and over low heat saute for about 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Mashed Potatoes

Peel potatoes and cook them till tender. Drain the water and put them back on the heat, so the water can evaporate. Shake the pot every 15 seconds so the potatoes do not burn. When the water is gone, turn off the heat. Add buttermilk, butter, a knife tip of ground nutmeg and mash the potatoes until they have the desired consistancy. I like the tang of the buttermilk in mashed potatoes.

Beef Roast

I had some beef round. It does not have a lot of fat, so it needs cooking time.

  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
  • beef
  • water
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/4 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp mushroom umami
  • 1/4 tsp of ground smoked paprika
  • 1/4 tsp of ground sweet paprika
  • 1 tbsp of margarine

Season the beef from all sides with salt and pepper. I used an herb salt that I found in my spice drawer.

In a Dutch Oven melt the margarine over medium heat, add the onions and let them get translucent. Remove the onions. Turn up the heat to medium high and sear the meat from all side. Pay attention, the fat should not burn. If it does just a little, turn the heat down. Otherwise, remove the meat, clean the DO, add margarine again, you may want to add some veggie oil. Finish the searing process. 

Add all the remaining items and the onions. Keep about 1" of water in the pot. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and cover. Simmer until the meat is nice and tender. For me it took about 2.5h. Check every 30 min that there is still enough fluid and if not, just add some water.

When the meat is done, remove it, turn up the heat and thicken the sauce. Optional add 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 1/2 cup of Half and Half. Season to taste. Slice the beef and return the slices into the sauce.

Bowle

If you want a light version take add some fresh fruits like strawberries into a large bowl and cover them with a decent white wine. Store cool over night. It does not have to be the fridge. Starting in the morning is fine to. I have also used canned peaches for this. When it is time to drink, open a chilled bottle of Champagne (don't use anything expensive, but it's got to be one you would drink stand alone) and fill up the bowl. Stir once so it mixes. Serve in stemless wine glasses.

Now my version is hard core.

I made a Rumtopf. That process goes over months. It is a method to preserve fruits in alcohol.
In early summer I took a cup of strawberries and filled them into a Rumtopf. Equal by weight fruit to sugar I added the sugar. Then all of of that got covered by Stroh Rum. (180 proof) (Stroh Rum is expensive and I can only get this online). One needs the high percentage, so there is no chance of bacteria and worms starting to spoil the product. In July I added equal by weight raspberries and sugar. All fruits need to be pristine. No blemishes, bruises, nothing, what's so ever. I now covered it with Cruzan Hurricane proof (153 proof). I can get that local if I can find a store that carries it. Then peach came along without skin using the same process and the Bing cherries. I left the pits in. Same process again. By August the pot was full. It ended up in a back corner under the kitchen sink. Thanksgiving was the first time, when I inspected the product and tasted it. HOME RUN after the one 2 year ago I basically put down the drain.
My bowle was 2 small ladles of Rumtopf topped it with some Champagne.
Drink carefully, the fruits are containing the alcohol. These are the ones that will knock you out if you have to many of them.

-Mahlzeit-




 

 

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