2016 Gulf Wars - Day 3

Today's evening meal takes some AM preparation so our food will be ready for the fire in the afternoon.  Last night we planned ahead and started staging wood on the outside of our cook fire to dry it out enough to use by the next day.  Today's meal is pickle stuffed beef, ember roasted turnips, and rye bread with cheese.


I started the morning by building a 5% salt water bath in which I soaked the beef skirt steaks.  The propane crockpot was used to dissolve the salt in the water so we could leave camp after setting up the soaking our prep was complete.  The intention of the meal is to use the salted beef as a "bread" to hold the pickled veggies as both are roasted over the fire.  Again, using An Early Meal as a starting point, the dish called for the salted beef to be rolled with a layer of pickled root vegetables.  After our salt was dissolved, I filled a cooking vessel with our beef and strained the water through the cheese cloth to catch any larger salt chips that had not dissolved.  Now I'm off to classes.

So let's talk about pickled root vegetables.  I cut my veggies of parsnips, a few carrots, onions, and cabbage into the size of matchsticks or its equivalent in the case of the cabbage.  All but the carrots can be traced to the British Isles before the Romans arrived.  I chose to use them for the additional color.  It is likely the cabbage gained new varieties and a more expansive use after the Germanic migration.  The veggies were pickled using lacto-fermentation (5% salt solution).  They pickled for roughly two weeks before arriving at Gulf Wars.

Back from classes, I check the steak and find our nice red meat has turned a lovely brownish color.  I leave the meat to wait for its assembly as I collect the spices we need and grind them in a fluted ceramic bowl.  Our spices include coriander, dill, sage, cumin, and mustard seed.  Long pepper is grated into the spice mixture separately due to its hardness.


I pull a piece of the steak from the pot and laid it out on a cutting board.  On top of the steak, a thick layer of the pickled vegetables is added and spices sprinkled over the vegetables.  The assembly is rolled and tied with cooking twine.  Repeat until all the steak and pickle are assembled.  For the purposes of handling over the fire, I chose to skewer the rolls prior to laying them on the coals.

Word to the wise - turnips take as long as potatoes to cook.  Start them early.  : )

Adding turnips to the coals after steak is placed does not give them enough time to cook.  They were the last things off of the fire and a great learning point for me as a cook.  I did not count the number of turnips added to the coals and we found a couple of burnt sacrifices the following morning.

I check the meat assembly several times and realize it is cooking faster than expected.  I pull it to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes or so.  A small sample of the end of the roll gives my crew and I a lovely surprise.  The pickle flavor is not present - just a mild salty vegetables wrapped around a well seasoned piece of beef.  I doubt this dish is one enjoyed by the common folks due to its preparation and cost.  If I wanted to remake this I may try lamb instead of steak.

 Eventually the turnips are ready to eat - soft on the inside, charred on the outside.  A small pat of butter and some of the remaining spices from the beef rolls finishes the dish.