Roast Beef Sundaes

Roast Beef Sundae stand at the Ohio State Fair

My husband and I have an ongoing list of dishes we’ve tried that we thought we could improve upon at home. This is one of those. The Ohio State Fair is a beloved summer tradition, as is indulging in the greasiest, crunchiest deep-fried fair food we can find. Some of my favorites: deep fried cheese curds, deep fried buckeyes and funnel cakes piled with powdered sugar.

We’re also drawn to oddities like the Roast Beef Sundae. The sign advertising the Roast Beef Sundae makes it looks pretty delicious, but in reality it’s a few scoops of school cafeteria mashed potatoes topped with mushy roast beef and weirdly metallic-tasting gravy.

We immediately wanted to experiment.

Now, for my husband and I, the holy grail of meat sundaes was created many years back as a special by chef Marcus Meacham, then of Bodega. The Meach, as he called it, had mashed potatoes topped with four kinds of meat. Pulled braised BBQ pork shoulder, smoked brisket, smoked rib and deep-fried bacon mac-and-cheese “cherry” (plus cherry apple-braised greens, cornbread pudding and a drizzle of bourbon BBQ sauce). Remaking that one at home is an experiment for another long weekend.

For this particular long weekend version, we upgraded the Roast Beef Sundae by swapping in flavorful, tender wine-braised short ribs, making the mashed potatoes from scratch, and topping the concoction off with beef gravy sauce, a savory herb whipped cream and roasted cherry tomatoes. There are a lot of components, so this is definitely not a weeknight kinda meal, but the end result delivers in the way fair food never, sadly, does.

Roast Beef Sundaes

Servings: 6-8
Print

For the braised short ribs:

6 large beef short ribs
4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1/3 cup diced carrot
1/3 cup diced celery
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cups port
2 1/2 cups red wine
6 cups beef stock

Season short ribs with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Preheat oven to 325 F. Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat, add 3 T olive oil, then sear short ribs on all three meaty sides until nicely browned. Transfer to a plate to rest.

Turn down the heat to medium and add the onion, carrot, celery, thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook 6 to 8 minutes, until the vegetables begin to caramelize. Add the balsamic vinegar, port and red wine. Turn the heat up to high and reduce the liquid by half.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the ribs back into the pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and a tight-fitting lid. Braise at 325 F for three hours, until meat yields easily to a knife.

For the mashed potatoes:

5 lb medium Yukon Gold potatoes,
4 t kosher salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
Freshly grown black pepper
Potato ricer

Place potatoes in a large pot and pour in cold water to cover by 1 inch. Add a handful of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender but not crumbly, 30-32 minutes. Drain, briefly rinse with cool water to remove any excess starch, and return potatoes to warm pot (off heat) to dry while you heat the milk mixture. Warm milk, cream and garlic in a small saucepan over medium until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Press hot potatoes through ricer into a large bowl. Add butter, 4 t salt and a few grinds of pepper and stir until butter is completely incorporated. Pour milk mixture into potatoes about ½-cupful at a time, stirring after each addition until liquid is fully incorporated and mixture is smooth before adding more.

For the beef gravy:

4 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 1/2 cups beef broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour to the pan and whisk to form a roux. Continue to whisk until roux is dark brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add beef broth and Worcestershire, season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and continue to cook until sauce has reduced to your desired consistency (and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon).

For the savory whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon sage, chopped
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped

In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer fitted with whisk attachments, whip the cream on high speed. Bring the mixture to stiff peaks. Add the herbs, and gently fold them into the whipped cream using a spatula (don’t continue to using the mixer as you might overwhip).

For the sundaes:

1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 bunch chives, chopped

Toss tomatoes with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 350 F for about 15-20 minutes.

To assemble, scoop mashed potatoes into sundae dish or large wine glass. Top with a layer of short ribs, then drizzle on beef gravy. Add in an additional scoop of mashed potatoes, then more short ribs and gravy. Top with a dollop of savory whipped cream and garnish with a roasted “cherry” tomato and snipped chives.