A low-key, laid-back lunch
Try these dishes for a scrumptious, easygoing weekend lunch with friends or family, says NZ House & Garden’s Sally Butters.
Warm roast beef & horseradish cream sandwiches
Beef fillet is at its most tender and juiciest when cooked until rare or medium-rare. As a guide to cooking times, allow 25-30 minutes per kilogram for rare; 35-40 for medium-rare.
The alternative is to use a meat thermometer, placed in the centre of the fillet before cooking. At 60C the meat will be rare; at 65-70C medium-rare.
Roast beef
1⁄4 cup olive oil
1 tsp crushed garlic
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp soy sauce
Fresh thyme sprigs
1 piece beef eye fillet (about 1kg)
For sandwiches
Horseradish Creme fraiche Wholegrain bread Watercress
Beef: Heat oven to 200C. Combine oil, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Trim fillet of any excess fat and silver skin (sinew). Tie with string to make an even shape and tuck in thyme sprigs under string. Place meat in a baking dish and brush generously with oil mixture. (Meat can be prepared ahead to this stage. Bring to room temperature before roasting.)
Roast meat 30-40 minutes, depending on size and preference. Remove beef from oven, cover with foil and set aside to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.
To make sandwiches: Stir together horseradish and creme fraiche to taste (we used 1 part horseradish to three parts creme fraiche) and chill until required. Fill sandwiches with generous slices of beef, horseradish cream and fresh watercress and season with salt and pepper.
Chocolate chunk peanut brownies
Peanut brownies are an old cookie tin favourite, but adding chunks of chocolate to the mix makes them impossible to resist.
125g butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
11⁄2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa 1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped blanched peanuts
100g dark chocolate, cut into
small chunks Heat oven to 175C. Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Sift over flour, baking powder and cocoa and mix in together with nuts and chocolate chunks.
Roll mixture into walnut-sized balls, place on lined baking trays and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake 10-15 minutes until lightly coloured. Leave on trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Biscuits will keep in an airtight tin for up to a week. Makes 25-30
Kumara & bacon salad with honey mustard dressing
We used red kumara but other varieties will also work – and, if their skins are good, they won’t need to be peeled, just scrubbed.
Salad
4 large red kumara
2 small red onions, cut into wedges
1⁄3 cup olive oil
Good grinding of sea salt
2 oranges
6 rashers streaky bacon, cut into
bite-size pieces
2 fennel bulbs, sliced Dressing
1⁄4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp white vinegar 2 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp liquid honey
2 tsp wholegrain mustard Zest from 1 orange
Heat oven to 180C.
Peel kumara and cut into smallish chunks. Place kumara and onions in a roasting dish, add oil and sea salt and toss to coat the vegetables. Roast 20-30 minutes or until kumara is tender.
Finely grate zest from 1 orange and reserve for dressing, then peel both oranges with a knife, removing all pith, and cut into wedges. Place bacon, fennel and orange wedges in a roasting dish. Combine dressing ingredients and spoon half over the bacon mixture. Roast 15 minutes until fennel is soft and bacon crispy.
Toss roasted kumara with bacon mixture and drizzle over remaining dressing.
Serve salad warm or at room temperature. Serves 6