Leeks and Beef

1.772 kg of leeks scored and roasted in their own steam, three blocks of beef bloomed into cracked cumin, coriander and cayenne, and a cucumber salad carrying as much basil and mint as it could hold

· 1h 26m start to finish · experimental beef supper lunch meal-prep

The leeks

Oven on first

start The oven thermostat knob turned between 220 and 250

2.49 € a kilo. At that price the leeks stopped being a side and became the reason for the cook, 4.41 € for the whole tray

The green end split down to where the shaft turns white, then held open under the tap. Grit sits between the layers and nowhere else

start Five leeks on the counter with the Kaufland scale label reading 1.772 kg at 2.49 per kilo +7 min A leek held open under the running tap, the split green end fanned apart

Cut across the white at intervals, each stroke stopped short of the underside so the leek stays one piece

+9 min Leeks on the board, one being scored crosswise, the cuts stopping short of the base +11 min The scored leeks oiled on the board, oil pooling in the cut lines

Olive oil, salt, pepper, and nothing after that. The cuts let heat into the middle while the outer layer stays shut around it, so each one poaches in the water it gives off before it browns

+13 min The scored leeks laid out on parchment in the oven, salt and cracked pepper visible on the surface

Peppers, twelve minutes longer

Same tray, same oil and salt, plus rosemary and oregano. They came out twelve minutes after the leeks did, which is the window the convection fan ran in

+19 min Red pepper strips spread on a parchment-lined tray, oregano and rosemary jars and the olive oil bottle beside it +79 min The same strips roasted, edges blackened, rosemary needles across them

Rice

Basmati with wild rice run through it, water over, lid on. It smells like the best part of the meal well before it is, and it is there to go under the spiced beef

+23 min White basmati and dark wild rice grains under water in a steel pot

Shallots first

Peeled, then cut lengthwise into chunks rather than fine slices. Thin ones go slack and vanish into the beef; a chunk keeps enough body to crisp

+30 min Peeled shallot cloves on the wooden board, skins swept off to the side, the rice pot on the hob behind +32 min The first shallots cut into thick lengthwise pieces beside the whole ones +34 min The board of shallot chunks beside the whole ones still to cut, the knife along the bottom

High smoke point oil rather than olive into the steel pan on 9, the shallots in as soon as it moved

+32 min A thin sheet of oil across the base of the steel pan, dial reading 9 +36 min Raw shallot chunks spread in the hot oil

Thirteen minutes, dial walked back to 7, stirred often enough that the edges caught without the middle burning

+39 min The pan full of shallots going translucent, the rice pot steaming behind +41 min The same shallots gone brown and slack, raw ones still on top from the second board

Garlic into a well

Peeled and minced, then pushed into a space cleared in the centre so it meets the pan rather than the shallots

+43 min Peeled garlic cloves on the board with the knife, a heap of skins on the counter alongside +45 min The minced garlic in a line on the board beside the pan of browned shallots +49 min The garlic tipped into a cleared well in the middle of the shallots

Five spices, cracked

Smoked paprika, Ceylon cinnamon, cumin, coriander and cayenne. The seeds went through the mortar rather than out of a jar, then onto the garlic for a minute in the hot fat before anything covered them

+48 min Five labelled spice jars and the granite mortar on the counter, pepper trimmings to the side +51 min Ground spice tipped from the mortar onto the garlic in the middle of the pan

Three blocks of beef

Straight in on top, salt over each one, and the rest of the spice on top of that. Broken up as they loosened, then the lid on

+53 min Three blocks of ground beef sitting in the pan on the shallots, salt and red spice on top +58 min The glass lid on, the pan underneath fogged with condensation

Out

Turned over at thirty-four minutes so the underside gets the same colour the tray side already had. Out at fifty-five, gold on both faces and no resistance to the fork

+46 min A fork under a leek, turning it over on the tray in the oven, the peppers browning on the shelf above +67 min The roasted leeks close up, cut lines browned, the tray dark with their liquid

Salad against the beef

Four cucumbers into chunks. A big pile of compost means you’re doing it right. Also comes with a feeling of accomplishment

+59 min Four cucumbers on the board, cut chunks already in the white bowl, a long pile of leek, pepper and shallot trimmings across the counter behind

Cherry tomatoes rinsed and quartered

+65 min Cherry tomatoes in a colander in the sink, the bowl of cucumber and cut tomato alongside

Basil and mint by the handful, not by the leaf

+76 min Whole basil and mint leaves heaped on the board under the knife

Zest off the lemons before they went into the press, then the juice, then olive oil poured onto it

+81 min Lemon zest and chopped herbs on the board, squeezed lemon halves and the press behind, olive oil pouring into a jug of lemon juice

Salt straight from the box, then the dressing over the top

+83 min Salt poured from the blue box onto the herbs and zest in the bowl +83 min The oil and lemon poured from the measuring jug over the salad
+84 min The tossed salad close up, herbs coating every piece of cucumber and tomato

Plate

The rice is ready when the surface stops sitting flat and the grains stand up out of it

+83 min The finished rice in the pot, the surface risen into standing grains, wild rice dark against the white

Rice under the beef, a leek and a pepper alongside, salad in its own bowl so it stays cold

+86 min The plate: spiced beef over rice, a roasted leek and a roasted pepper, salad in a separate bowl

Commentary, extra notes

  • Scoring beats slicing here. Cut through and the pieces dry out and colour on every face; cut most of the way and the leek holds its own water in until the sugars are already there. Nothing but salt, pepper and oil went on, and none was needed
  • The salad was built to cut the spiced beef, and against it on the plate it works. Eaten on its own the beef is dry and wants a sauce, which is the fix rather than leaning on the salad to carry it
  • Salt went on by eye at every stage. That only works with a lot of practice at the same dishes, and dumping it is not recommended
  • Rice was the constraint, not the beef. There was enough of everything else for ten portions and only six of rice