Holiday Roast

I  hosted Christmas at our house this year and I didn't want to do turkey or ham.  I wanted to do something different.  Christmas Eve we had lasagna with salad and garlic bread but for Christmas day I wanted to do something just a little more special.  I decided on a Beef Roast, with scalloped potatoes, green beans and salad.  We didn't go over the top, I didn't want to have a lot of leftovers (I actually still had leftovers from Thanksgiving in my fridge.)

This roast was so easy  and it was a hit, I actually wish I would have made a larger roast so we could have more leftovers!

Holiday Roast

1/4 cupGF flour (3 tablespoons for gravy)
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
1 - 3 to 4 pound boneless roast


Combine the first 5 ingredients, reserving flour for gravy. Cover the mixture over the roast.

Place roast fat side down on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.

Bake uncovered, at 325 degrees for about 2 to 3 hours or until meat thermometer registers your desired degree of doneness.  135 degrees for medium-rare, 165 degrees for medium.

Gravy

1 cup dry red wine (I used the red that was open at the time)
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water

In  a small sauce pan, add the liquid ingredients just til simmering.

Once you remove the roast, in the roasting pan add liquid. Whisk all together, slowly add flour to thicken.

Hamantaschen

Hamantaschen is a traditional Jewish cookie that is served around the holiday's.  Now I am not Jewish so I hope I haven't butchered the recipe, but these are wonderful.  My husband called them cookie wontons, they are similar to a sugar cookie with a jelly filling.  I have always made these using jam or jelly but I do believe if you want to go traditional you would use a nut or poppy seed filling.  I hope you enjoy this recipe...

Ingredients:

For cookie:

2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Dash of salt

For filling:

Strawberry Jam

Orange Marmalade

Any favorite jam/jelly

Cream the shortening with sugar. Add egg and continue creaming until smooth.

Add the vanilla. Stir in the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt until a ball of dough is formed. Chill for 2-3 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Take 1/4 of the dough, roll out on a lightly floured board to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut circles of dough with a drinking glass or round cookie-cutter. With your finger put water around the rim of the circle. Fill with 1 teaspoon of your filling and fold into three-cornered cookies.

Bake on a well-greased cookie sheet 10-16 minutes, until the tops are golden.  (Without fail you will have some jam leakage, which is why you really want to grease your cookies sheet.)

On a side note, the jam that leaks our tastes just like a really good fruit roll-up.  A nice little treat for the chef or helpers.  But get it off the sheet as soon as possible so it doesn't harden.