Weekend Cooking: Spicy Apple Cake & Beef with Endive and Sun-dried Tomatoes

wkendcooking

 

This is a meme hosted by BethFishReads found here.

This weekend had an inauspicious start as far as cooking goes.  Friday night we had a dinner of nibbles – well all the nibbles we could pull together from the pantry and fridge, cheese, crackers, olives, nuts, carrots and hummus for dip, and fruit with creme fraiche and honey.

 

Saturday was a better planned day with a breakfast of Spiced Apple Cake made with a recipe from Mari’s World and dinner from a Williams-Sonoma recipe: Beef with Endive and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Ingredients:

For the beef:

3 lb. beef rump roast

Salt & pepper

Olive oil

6 cloves of garlic – minced

1 1/3 cups beef stock

¼ cup white wine

Thyme sprigs

3 bay leaves

 

For the salad:

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar (I didn’t have this; I used white wine vinegar instead)

2 Tbsp. walnut oil (I didn’t have walnut oil; I used grapeseed oil)

2 large heads of Belgian endive

½ cup pitted and chopped green olives

½ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

Zest of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

  • Season the beef generously with salt and pepper
  • Heat 2 Tbsp. of olive oil.  Once it is hot, sear the beef turning as needed until browned on all sides.  Transfer to your slow cooker.
  • Pour off most of the oil.  Return to medium high heat and add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
  • Pour in the stock and wine and dislodge any bits stuck to the pan.  Add the thyme sprigs and bay leaves and transfer all to the slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.
  • Once the beef is done; remove from the slow cooker and shred with two forks.
  • To make the salad, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, oil, & lemon zest.
  • Chop the olives and sundried tomatoes
  • Core and chop the endive and parsley.
  • Combine all salad ingredients and toss to coat.

 

To serve, spread all the shredded beef on a serving platter.  Pile the salad on top of the beef.  Use tongs or two spoons to serve, giving a generous portion of both meat and salad.

 

The apple cake was awesome both for breakfast and later in the afternoon with a pot of Williamson tea.

The dinner was very tasty with a wonderful blend of flavors and textures.  (It’s optional but we drank a nice bottle of red wine with ours)

Both of these are recipes I will keep and make again.

Hope everyone else is having “foodie” fun this weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

6 thoughts on “Weekend Cooking: Spicy Apple Cake & Beef with Endive and Sun-dried Tomatoes

  1. Beth F says:

    That beef dish sounds like a super Saturday dinner, and who wouldn’t love spicy apple cake? I find searing the meat before putting it in the slow cooker makes a big difference in flavor.

    • The searing does help or sometimes if I make a whole chicken in the slow cooker, I will put the oven on really hot and when I take it out of the slow cooker I put it in the oven for a little while to crisp the skin.

  2. Both recipes look delicious! We have a bountiful crop of apples here this year (for a change), so I may soon give this recipe a try. Thanks!

  3. This sounds like a perfect fall me.

  4. joyweesemoll says:

    I like a sweet baked good that works both for breakfast and tea. A glass of red wine with that beef dish sounds like a winner!

  5. jama says:

    I love slow cooker beef recipes! What a perfect Saturday night meal. And I’d probably enjoy the Spicy Apple Cake for breakfast, elevenses, afternoon tea and dinner dessert :).

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