Recipe: Make Scotch fillet and Pesachdikke cake

The last days of the Jewish festival of Passover are coming up. Cookbook author and Johannesburg kosher foodie Sharon Lurie shares two recipes she will be making for her family’s Seder table this year.

Fondly called the Kosher Butcher’s Wife, Lurie shares recipes for a succulent roast and a sweet treat called Pesachdikke cake, an apple cake she tops with a sticky sweet toffee.

You can make something meaty, rich and oh so fulfilling, with Lurie’s recipe for roast Scotch fillet with rosemary potatoes. Then knock it out of the park with “the godsend” on the Seder table, Pesachdikke cake, for a sweet treat.

Scotch fillet and rosemary potatoes

INGREDIENTS

For roast:

2.3kg rib eye roast (Scotch fillet)

½ cup oil

2 tbsp crushed black peppercorns

For potatoes:

1kg baby potatoes

Few sprigs of fresh rosemary

Oil for roasting potatoes

For horseradish cream:

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp potato flour

½ cup cold water

1/3 cup no-dairy creamer

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp fresh horseradish or 1½ tbsp drained horseradish

METHOD:

Prepare the roast:

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
Place the meat on a roasting rack in a roasting pan, cover in the oil and rub all over with the crushed peppercorns so that it’s evenly covered.
Roast the meat in the oven, uncovered, for one hour and 15 minutes (for every extra pound of meat, increase the cooking time by 15–20 minutes). If you don’t have a roasting rack in your roasting pan, turn the roast over halfway through cooking.

Prepare the rosemary baby potatoes:

Place the potatoes (skin on or off) in a roasting bag with the rosemary and a few glugs of oil. Place on the side of the roasting pan with the meat when there is 1 hour of cooking time remaining.
When done, remove the meat from the oven, cover in foil and leave to stand for 15 minutes while you make the horseradish cream. The horseradish cream can be made the day before and warmed up when needed.

Prepare the horseradish cream:

Combine the sugar, potato flour, water, non-dairy creamer and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk well.
Pour the mixture in a saucepan and heat through, whisking all the while, until it starts to thicken. Remove from the heat, add the horseradish and stir.
Serve with the meat and rosemary potatoes.

Also make Lurie’s Pesachdikke cake

INGREDIENTS

5 large Granny Smith apples
1 cup water
3 oz. pecan nuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar (brown is better if available for Pesach)
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup cake meal
½ tsp baking soda dissolved in ¼ cup water
½ cup raisins

Toffee Sauce:
1/2 cup cold water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup non-dairy creamer

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 170˚C.
Peel, core and cut the apples into eighths.
Place the apples into a small – medium sized saucepan, cover with the water and bring to the boil.
Once boiling, switch off the heat, stir and cover with a lid. Allow the apples to stand and soften in the hot liquid until cool. Then drain.
Mix the pecan nuts, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl until well combined and set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until light and creamy.
Add the oil and vanilla essence and continue to beat until well combined.
Stir in the matzo meal and bicarbonate of soda and blend well.
Pour half the batter into a rectangular baking tin (a 10-inch square foil container will also do) and sprinkle over half of the pecan mixture.
Combine the apples and raisins and spoon half over the pecan layer.
Pour over the other half of the batter, followed by the remaining apples and raisins. Sprinkle over the remaining pecan mixture and bake in the oven for 1 hour, then switch the oven off and leave it in for another 15-20 minutes. While the cake is baking, make the toffee sauce. Bring the water and sugar to the boil. Once it starts to turn caramel in colour, remove from the heat, add the creamer, and mix well.
Remove the cake from the oven and pour over the toffee sauce. Serve at room temperature.

Chef’s note: This cake keeps well in the fridge, covered in cling film or tightly fitted foil.