As I had organised a turkey for the last time, I decided to create a more modern menu this week and serve beef with salads and roast potatoes.
H'o'M fired up the BBQ and we roasted a rib of beef - think lamb rack but much much bigger! To prepare the beef I simply seasoned the whole cut with salt and pepper and that was that! So easy, but with a 'good' cut of beef there is very little that it needs to enhance the flavours.
I made a 'roast pumpkin and spinach' salad. I've made this salad before and it's very tasty. Next time though I think a handful of toasted pine nuts would add to the dish - a little extra crunch ;-)
I also made my own balsamic dressing rather than buy it from the market. I mixed a little extra virgin olive oil with some red wine as well as the obligatory balsamic vinegar in a jar and shook it until they all emulsified! I didn't make very much of it to be honest because I'm actually not a big fan of the dressed salads. I find that dressings tend to make everything soggy!
1½kg pumpkin, peeled and cubed
2 punnets cherry tomatoes, halved
garlic cooking spray
200g green beans, trimmed and halved
150g baby spinach leaves
350g feta cheese, crumbled
4 tbs Balsamic Dressing
Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the pumpkin and tomatoes in two separate baking dishes and spray both with garlic spray (tomatoes should be cut side up). Bake the pumpkin for 15 minutes, then add the tomatoes to the oven and bake both for a further 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is golden and tender. Set aside to cool.Cook the beans in boiling water until tender, drain and cool under cold water. Drain.
To serve, arrange the spinach leaves on a platter and top with the pumpkin, tomatoes, beans and feta cheese. Drizzle with the balsamic dressing.
Mum bought over a salad too. Hers was a green salad made of lettuce, avocado, spring onions, avocado and for a dash of colour she sliced up some red capsicum and added it to the top! A very pretty dish!
Last celebration I made some Pancetta stuffing and didn't get to eat it because - well I forgot about it! So, this week I decided to make some more but this time remember to eat them!
I know you're not supposed to have stuffing with beef, but 'it's my party and I"ll have stuffing if I want to' ;-)
They were a huge success and I could have made twice as many and they would have all been eaten! Thanks to you Donna Hay!
They were a huge success and I could have made twice as many and they would have all been eaten! Thanks to you Donna Hay!
individual pancetta stuffing
2½ cups (175g) fresh breadcrumbs
1 brown onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
¼ cup (40g) toasted pine nuts
½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
100g butter
sea salt and cracked black pepper
12 slices pancetta, halved
Preheat oven to 180°C. Place the breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, pine nuts, parsley, lemon rind, butter, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine.
Line 2 x 12-hole lightly greased mini-muffin tins with pancetta and fill with the breadcrumb mixture. Press down and smooth the top.
Bake for 6−8 minutes or until the pancetta is crispy and the stuffing is cooked through.
1 brown onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
¼ cup (40g) toasted pine nuts
½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
100g butter
sea salt and cracked black pepper
12 slices pancetta, halved
Preheat oven to 180°C. Place the breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, pine nuts, parsley, lemon rind, butter, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine.
Line 2 x 12-hole lightly greased mini-muffin tins with pancetta and fill with the breadcrumb mixture. Press down and smooth the top.
Bake for 6−8 minutes or until the pancetta is crispy and the stuffing is cooked through.
Next time I made these bit sized morsels - after all I still have one more Christmas celebration this year - I would definitely mince the parsley a little smaller and as it seemed that every pine nut made it's way to the top of the stuffing and got a little burnt when cooking, I would mix it more evenly before cooking!
It was a lovely day outside for this celebration day, so we had had our nibbles and present opening on the back veranda. The boys played cricket, jumped on the trampoline and after the present opening even got to throw some water balloons at each other!
I made a non-alcoholic punch for us all to share too. There was once a recipe I followed, but now it's just a matter of tasting the mixture and blindly trusting that 'The Force' has been with me! It's always different and always disappears, so I think it usually tastes good. It's a mix of
- orange juice
- pineapple juice
- dry ginger ale
- passionfruit pulp
- apple cider
- lemon juice
- soda water and loads of ice - often in the shape of stars, hearts or snowmen!
After lunch we also had a birthday cake as there are two birthdays fast approaching which we won't be together to share. A flourless chocolate cake was the cake of preference this year. I made a raspberry coulis to pour over the top and with some double cream and/or ice cream, we were all set for the dessert!
A lovely day!
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