Rump steak on parsnip and kumara mash with beetroot salsa

This is an adaption of a marvellous Peter Gordon recipe from his great book Everyday. We have cooked several meals from this book since we bought it a few months back and every one of those meals has been mouth-watering good!

Peter uses swede, but we replaced that with kumara, only because swede was not something we had in the cupboard.

Ingredients:

• rump steaks, about 140g per person
• salt and black pepper
• 350g parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
• 350g kumara, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 heaped teaspoon of rosemary leaves roughly chopped
• 80g butter
• 1 handful parsley chopped rough
• 1 or 2 medium beetroot, boiled until cooked and then grated
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (best quality you can afford)
• spinach for wilting as a side

Method:

Lightly season the steak and leave on counter top until at room temperature.

Boil the parsnips and kumara in the same pot with half of the rosemary. Be sure when you cut up the parsnip that you remove the core as this can result in long stringy pieces of inedible parsnip in your mash. Once cooked drain and return to the pot.

Cook the butter until it is a golden brown. Be very careful not to let it burn – in other words watch it closely! Once done mash this into the kumara and parsnip, along with the parsley, and keep warm for serving.

To make the beetroot relish grate the beetroot and place in a bowl. Saute the remaining rosemary in some olive oil along with the seeds. You’ll also need to keep a keen eye on this so that the rosemary doesn’t burn. Cook until it just starts to brown, and bubble. Pour over the grated beetroot along with the balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve.

Steam or saute the spinach until it’s wilted. Drain and keep warm.

Heat up a skillet. Brush the steaks with olive oil. Cook over a medium heat until they are as you like them. Perhaps 5 minutes one side and 2 minutes on the other. Rest for 4 or 5 minutes.

Divide the mash and spinach evenly between warmed plates. Slice the steak into fat fingers and sit them on top then spoon on the beetroot salsa.

Absolutely delicious!