NomadMania had already filled in my home region, New York West (including Buffalo, Syracuse, Binghamton, and Ithaca), as a place visited. This seemed like a good enough reason to get nostalgic and make some dishes from my childhood. To be honest, I didn’t have a ton of Beef on Weck as a kid. It’s actually from Buffalo, and I grew up nearer to Syracuse. But I came to love it as an adult, and it seemed like a challenge. Not a lot of kummelweck buns available in Hawaii. (By that, I mean there are none.)
I also wanted to make the roast beef from scratch. So I needed to make the beef, the buns, the au jus, and put it all together. I also decided to make salt potatoes, which I do remember from festivals as a child. And I picked up some apple cider, another local festival item, to serve with it.
Making the buns from scratch took the most time, and they ended up smaller and harder than I had hoped. I think it is because I let the dough rise too long. The dough rose too long because I had to run out to the grocery store. The beef I had ordered from the grocery store arrived ground. As I did not want my roast beef to turn into a meatloaf (maybe another time), I went out and got it myself. This also meant I needed to cook it more quickly, so I put it in the sous vide as soon as I got home.
While the bread was baking, I started making the salt potatoes. It’s basically small potatoes boiled in salt water, which raises the boiling temperature. It requires a cup and a half of salt. (Only some of it stays on the potatoes.) It also gets salt all over the stove as the salty steam comes out of the pot.
Finally, I made the au jus when the beef was done and seared—and then put everything together and plated it, pouring the melted butter over the potatoes. Overall, it came out quite well. The buns could have been better, but I think it was a fitting send up to my home region.
Until next time, bon appétit!
