We recently went to the new Scandinavian restaurant, Snaps & Rye in Notting Hill -for a weekend lunch in London with the family. After enjoying a lovely meal we were cheeky enough to ask for a recipe for our series of recipes, ideas for quick and easy family dinner ideas. And here are their contributions, Danish style of course!
Based on the traditional Danish dish of “Pariserbof”, this is a really delicious and satisfying mid-week meal that takes hardly any time to prepare. It’s also healthy, makes great use of left-overs and can be tailored to individual tastes in the family. You can use a cooked beef joint from Sunday if you have one (make sure you save some of the dripping too) but if not, it’s worth buying one just for this.
Rare beef on rye with egg and pickles
Serves 6
Ingredients
600gm joint of beef (striploin is best, but topside or similar is good too)
6 slices quality Danish rye bread
6 eggs
Watercress, rocket or lambs lettuce
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
A few radishes, thinly sliced
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
An assortment of homemade or shop-bought pickles including beetroot, red cabbage, piccalilli, cucumber and gherkins
Fresh horseradish root
Oil, sea salt and a pepper mill
Method
Take the beef joint out of the fridge for about an hour before cooking. Close to the end of the hour, pre-heat your oven to 200˚C/400˚F/Gas mark 6. Rub a little oil all over the beef and season generously with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.
Heat a large frying pan on the stove to a medium/hot temperature and then sear the beef until brown on all sides, place in roasting tray and cook in the oven for around 30 minutes for rare. You can always adjust the cooking time to suit your preference.
Rest the beef at room temperature for at least half an hour.
While the beef is cooking and resting, cook the eggs. For a soft egg: best for this dish, bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and add room temperature eggs for 5-6 minutes. Immediately run the cold water tap over them, then shell and set aside.
Mix the salad leaves with the red onion, radishes and a few capers. Assemble your choice of pickles in little bowls for the table.
Spread a little of the dripping from the roast beef on each slice of rye and plate. Thinly slice the warm beef and drape over the bread. If using previously cooked beef, do the same but before serving, pop all the beef-topped slices on a baking tray and place in a hot oven for 1-2 minutes to take the fridge-coldness off.
Slice each egg in half and add to the plate. At the last minute, squeeze a little lemon juice and oil over the salad mix and add to the plate. Season the plated food with salt and pepper, then grate a little of the fresh horseradish over the beef.
Take to the table and allow everyone to mix and match pickles of their choice.
We serve a version of this dish at Snaps & Rye which is incredibly popular. We add a roasted bone marrow which is a fantastic indulgent twist. If you can get some from your butcher, do! To cook it, season, place on a baking sheet and cook for 12-15 minutes at 200˚C, until it starts to bubble. It must be served hot, so needs to be added close to plating!
Top quality ingredients are important to really make this special. You can now buy our amazing home-baked rye bread from the restaurant;
Snaps & Rye, 93 Golborne Road, London W10 5NL, telephone number: 020 8964 3004