Sunday Dinner

When I was a kid, we had a family tradition - one I suspect many of you also shared - and that was "Sunday Dinner."

Summer or winter, rain or shine, it didn't matter.

On Sunday evenings at 5:00 pm - an hour before the Wonderful World of Disney came on - the dining room table would be set and we'd sit down to a roast.



Pork, beef, chicken, or ham - my mom alternated week by week.

Sometimes it would just be immediate family, but more often than not, we had company.

And in our house, company was, and still is, a big deal.

A time to gather with friends and family.

To express our appreciation and love with a few laughs, a glass of wine, and a beautifully prepared meal.

Each week I was allowed to invite a friend to join us or we would be invited out.

I have so many fond memories of trying different varieties of roast and potatoes at the houses of friends.

Because roast, like love, is individual to the cook.

And though I always enjoyed dinner elsewhere, I always secretly believed my mom's was the best.

Didn't we all?

I guess that's why I've become interested in the cooking and the sharing of food as an adult.

To me it's about so much more than eating - it's about tradition.

Creating memories that your adult children will one day look back on with fondness and nostalgia...

Evenings spent around the kitchen table, the smell of bread rising, of having a warm cookie right out of the oven with a glass of milk.

There are no substitutes for good food. And a cookie from out of a bag just isn't the same.

In an uncertain world, the certainty of small things - a homemade pie, coleslaw salad, roast beef dinner - may be all we have to reconnect to each other, our sense of home and community, and, finally, to ourselves.

In recognition of that, my Monday blogs will be devoted to "Sunday dinner" for the next little while.

It's a promise I've made to myself to remember my family, our recipes, and our lives while the world hurtles forward, toward an ambiguous destination.

I know.

I'm sad tonight.

I had to turn the news off.

I can't think about New Orleans and the Gulf Coast for another minute.

***

This week for Sunday dinner I made the classic meal my mom prepared and served throughout my life:

Sirloin Tip Roast
Roasted potatoes and carrots
Green peas
Yorkshire pudding
Pan gravy
Coleslaw salad with apples and toasted almonds
Fruit Cocktail Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream

I have several younger readers to this blog who have never cooked a roast before.

So here's the step by step instructions for putting together a really great Sunday dinner of your own...

Start in the morning by making your batter for the yorkshire pudding...

Yorkshire Pudding Batter

2 c. flour
2 c. milk
6 eggs1 tsp salt

Mix with whisk. It's ok to leave a few lumps. If you're not going to use right away, keep at room temperature. I like the results better if the batter has sat for awhile.

Okay, now it's time to prepare your roast and vegetables...

Throw eight cubed unpeeled yukon gold potatoes, 4 carrots, an onion, and five whole cloves of garlic into a shallow roasting pan. Drizzle over top 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, a bay leaf, and a handful of chopped fresh herbs like parsley and chives if you have them. (it's not the end of the world if you don't)

Set aside until ready to roast



Next, the roast.

I can't stress this one enough: don't skimp.

Your meal will be made or broken based on the quality of meat you buy and there is honestly no comparison between local meat purchased from a good butcher and the run of the mill stuff found at the grocery store... (unless you have a local grocery with a good butcher)

There's a reason people open butcher shops...

They know what they're doing.

Enough said.

Rub a 5-6 pound sirloin tip roast with a paste made with 1 tbsp horseradish, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, and 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce.

Massage it all in like it's Dr. McSteamy lying on your table.



Oh.

Mama.

(sorry dad)

Then sprinkle it with one tbsp kosher salt, one tbsp garlic powder, and half tsp pepper.

Massage it some more then let it come to room temp (about an hour)



While the roast and veggies are getting romantic, it's time to make the dessert!

Fruit Cocktail Cake



Cake:

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 can fruit cocktail with juice
or crushed pineapple
2 cups flour

Sauce:

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla or 2 Tbsp. rum or kahlua are superb substitutes! (I always use the kahlua ;)

Instructions:

To make cake: Beat eggs. Add all ingredients, except flour, and mix. Add flour and mix again. Grease a 9 x 13” pan or a bundt pan and pour in mixture. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.
To make sauce: Heat sugar, milk and butter in saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour over hot cake. (Makes a lot, but use all of it! The cake will absorb it.)

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Keeps for several days refrigerated (if no one knows it’s there).

Back to the roast...

It should be about 2 pm by now - if you've timed everything right...

When the cake comes out of the oven, it's time to pop your roast and veggies in at 325.

I know there's a lot of controversy around roasting and whether to sear your roast off at a high heat first, but seriously, I've been cooking for a long time and I can guarantee you, if you buy a good quality roast, there is absolutely no need.

Not to mention the fact that my mother's horseradish rub will make just about any roast turn out fabulous.

So pre-heat to 325, and then place your roast on a rack above the veggies.



Roast for 2.5 hrs at that temperature for medium, 3 hrs for medium well.

I usually go the whole three hours because the Pool Boy likes his meat well done.

Three hours gives nice well done pieces for the PB on the outside and medium well pieces on the inside for TH and I.



While the roast is cooking, make your coleslaw...

Aurora's Coleslaw



This is my mom's recipe for coleslaw salad.

We had it with every Sunday dinner I can think of growing up and I've continued the tradition as an adult.

You will need about four cups of shredded cabbage or one bag of prechopped coleslaw mix (to be honest, I make it easy on myself and buy the pre-shredded stuff. )

Throw in two granny smith apples that have been peeled, cored, and diced and toss with the dressing.

Dressing:

One cup mayonaisse
Two tbsp sugar
Two tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
one tsp salt
pepper to taste
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 cup milk

Whisk together, pour over the coleslaw and let sit in the fridge while the roast roasts.

Right before serving add one cup of toasted sliver almonds to the salad.

Back to the roast...

When your roast comes out of the oven it should rest for a good 40 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile, check your roasted veggies, give them a stir, and put them back into the oven to roast more if needed. (I like my veggies golden brown and crispy) You can increase the oven temperature to about 425 do this.



Remove the roast to a platter and veggies once roasted to your liking to their own bowl then cover each with tinfoil.

Leave the veggies on the oven top to keep warm, set the roast aside (don't worry, it won't get cold :-)

Put your peas in a pot in preparation to boil and pre-heat the oven to 450º for your Yorkshire Puddings.

But first!

It's time to make the gravy.

Take your roasting pan and put it onto an element set to medium high.

Add two cups of beef stock to your pan and bring to a boil, getting all the good stuff and brown bits off the bottom and sides of the pan.

In the meantime, mix two tbsp flour with a half cup more cool stock. Shake it up, and mix the hell out of it so there are absolutely no lumps, and then add to the pan. Bring to a boil, whisk you heart out, and set aside.

It will be good gravy.

I promise :-)

Yorkshire Puddings



Preheat oven to 450...

Put about 1/2 tsp. oil in muffin cups (bacon fat IS the best!). Heat pans in 400 F oven until very hot. Fill muffin cups about half full of batter and bake approx. 25 mins

**Meanwhile, turn your peas on to boil. They take about eight minutes to cook and are good with a little melted butter, salt and pepper**

5) Pull the yorkshire from the oven when they look crispy. Do not open the oven door to check, this will result in flat ugly looking yorkshire. Always use the oven window.

Recipe makes 12.

And there you have it my friends,

Sunday dinner...



It's all connected- good friends, good times, the best memories...

On that note, lets think about our friends from the Gulf Coast and New Orleans...

***

Missed yesterday's?

Well look no further...

Green Tomato Chutney

***

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