Merry Christmas 2011

I am breaking from the norm with this posting on what I did this Christmas eve. Yes, I was in the mood to cook! Armed with my recipe for a pot roast, I got to work at 6am with my 2kg Tenderloin beef which I marinated the night earlier with salt, pepper and some olive oil.

2kg beef, marinated with salt, pepper and some olive oil and a dash of Worcestershire sauce

I was going to use my mother's 30 year old rice cooker for the job, at the base - chopped celery, carrots and onions. That formed the base of the rice cooker. The marinated meat went on top of the celery/carrots/onions. 

Chopped celery, onion and carrots - the base for the rice cooker.

Brown the meat heating it in a large wok

By browning the meat, the texture becomes firm and brown. Then place it in the rice cooker.

Into the rice cooker. Set to 'warm' (some call it 'keep')

For the base, I used 1 cube of beef stock and a tin of Campbell Mushroom Soup. Cooking is 8 to 10 hours. I added in at midway - 4 hours later, sliced big button mushroom, baby carrots, quartered potatoes on top. This would give it enough time to cook the vegetables without making it too soft.

Filled to the brim, a pot of goodness!

Then came the easy part - let it cook for 4 to 6 hours. I only tossed the meat around one time, during the 4 hour interval when I put in the vegetables. That was it. Once it was cooked, the liquid in the rice cooker was less then 1/3 of the pot. 
You have to rest the roast for at least about 20 minutes before slicing it. The final product:

Served with whipped potatoes, a perfect Christmas dinner

How did it turn out? Fantastic! This was the most simple Christmas dinner I have ever made and it turned out very well. Merry Christmas too all. Hope you Christmas dinner turnout at good as mine. Have a good year ahead.
We're heading out to Kuantan for a Christmas break, so expect some out of town postings on Kuantan food! Till the next post.