Christmas Spiced Beef... Done! Hurray!

It only seemed liked yesterday that I brought the hunk of silverside, tenderly massaging day after day throughout December. Today was a momentous day, the spiced beef got cooked! Oh yes, the house smelt divine, totally Christmassy! And it tastes 'ansome! There is also an advantage with living with a vegetarian, I don't have to share the "nubby" ends of the beef with anyone! All mine, mine I tell you! (well, unless you pop on over to try some, I might share!).

And here is the beauty!



Ready to pop into the oven for 6 hours... slowly cooked...


After it has been cooked, you have to let it rest and go cold... which is really hard to do! But once it has gone cold, you thinly slice the beef, enjoying the spices and you will be in food heaven!

Tender, juicy, spicy... heaven!

The beef will last upto three months... but in our house, it won't be around for that long!

Oh well, that's the spiced beef for this year! Roll on December 2011!

You really must give it a go!

Cheerio,

Nic xoxo

The Christmas Spiced Beef Diaries - Day 1 of marination!

As promised, here are some photos of my Christmas Spiced Beef! I thought I'd do "The Christmas Spiced Beef Diaries" to follow its journey! It will be worth it!

So, today is day one of the marinating process. Yesterday the beef was placed in a large bowl along with some dark brown sugar and left to sit in the fridge. This evening I made the spice mix.



The spice mix - juniper berries, allspice berries, seasalt, peppercorns, bay leaves, cloves

The spices are blitzed together to make a course powder. I don't over-blitz mine as I like a bit of texture.

If only we had scratch n sniff computers!

Next, pour the spice mix over the beef (which has been turned in its juices and sugar already).

Looking good!

And now comes the fun part! Rub and massage the spice mix into the beef, making sure that you keep turning it in the bowl, covering it with the sugar / spice mix. When well covered with the mixture, cover the bowl with clingfilm and pop it back into the fridge... until tomorrow when you have to turn it and give it another good rub!

Mmmm, well covered! Ready for a rest in the fridge...

Just keep turning and massaging for another 14 days! It really is that simple! The results are worth it!

Enjoy!
Nic xoxo