An epic leftover sandwich and two other ways to use up that Christmas spiced beef 

It's time to embrace the best part of Christmas: leftovers 

Currabinny's spiced beef Reuben. The Reuben traditionally uses corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing, grilled between slices of Rye Bread. Pictures: Bríd O'Donovan

Growing up in Cork, spiced beef has always been a feature of the Christmas dinner table along with turkey and ham. My mother would always prepare it the day before as it is best enjoyed served cold and thinly sliced.

This makes it a great addition as something that can be done ahead rather than adding to the stress of Christmas Day cooking. Traditionally it was known to be boiled in stout, but I have yet to try it. A simple pot and some boiling water are all you really need. Leave it to cool, covered, until ready to use.

On Christmas Day itself, we eat spiced beef along with the other meats, albeit cold. It keeps well cooked or uncooked and make the most amazing sandwiches.

Spiced beef Reuben

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

Found at Jewish delicatessens dotted throughout Manhattan, the Reuben is a deliciously rich sandich with cheese, sauerkraut, spiced beef and Russian dressing

Servings

1

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 10 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 American

Ingredients

• 2 slices of good Rye Bread 

• 25g tbsp butter, softened 

• 2 slices of Coolea cheese (or use swiss or gruyere) 

• 80-100g of thinly sliced cooked spiced beef 

• 2 tbsp of good quality sauerkraut 

• For the Russian dressing:

• 100g mayonnaise 

• 2 tbsp ketchup 

• 1 tbsp creamed horseradish 

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard 

• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• pinch of paprika 

• sea salt 

Method

1. To make the Russian dressing, simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until very well combined.

2. To assemble the sandwich, liberally butter the outward-facing side of each slice of the rye bread. Spread a good amount of your Russian dressing on the inside of each slice. To mitigate getting butter all over your board I like to assemble the sandwich on the frying pan you are going to use.

3. The key to a proper New York deli-style Rueben is to absolutely stuff the two slices of bread with filling so that it is overflowing. Assemble in this order: Russian dressing, spiced beef, sauerkraut and cheese. Close over the sandwich with the remaining buttered and dressed slice of rye bread. Fry on your frying pan or skillet over medium heat, until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden brown on the outside, flipping once.

4. Slice in two with a good sharp bread knife and serve.

Fried rice with spiced beef

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

The perfect way to use spiced beef leftovers from Christmas, the key is frying the spiced beef first in some oil so that it is really crispy

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 100g cooked spiced beef, sliced thinly 

• ½ onion, thinly sliced 

• 1 thumb of ginger, peeled and grated 

• 1 tbsp of sambal oelek (chilli sauce) 

• handful of salted, roasted cashews, roughly chopped 

• 1 egg, beaten 

• 300g cooked rice, cooled

• sea salt

• black pepper 

• soy sauce, to taste 

Method

1. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a medium frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the spiced beef to the pan, tossing it often, until you get it nice and crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Add another 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and add the onion, cooking until translucent. Add the ginger and the sambal oelek, stirring everything around the pan. Season lightly with salt and pepper and transfer the onion mixture to the bowl along with the spiced beef and mix them together.

3. Cook the cashews in the same pan for a minute or two until starting to brown lightly. Transfer to the spiced beef and onion mixture.

4. In the same frying pan, heat another tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add the egg first, moving it around the pan until it starts to pick up some of the leftover sauce and begins to scramble. Add the rice next and move around the pan, so that the rice and the scrambled egg are well combined and beginning to crisp slightly. Add the onion and spiced beef mixture to the pan and combine well with the rice, cooking until everything is hot and bubbling in the pan.

5. Serve into two bowls and eat with chopsticks.

Spiced beef hash

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

This is a great way of using spiced beef, a simple, filling and incredibly easy to rustle up on a lazy after Christmas

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 150g peeled potatoes, quartered or cut into big chunks

• 50g butter 

• ½ medium onion, diced 

• 1 garlic clove, minced 

• pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional) 

• sea salt

• freshly cracked black pepper 

• 180g thinly sliced shreds of cooked spiced beef 

• 2 eggs, fried or poached (optional)

Method

1. Boil the potatoes in a medium saucepan filled with salty water. Cook them until fork tender and then drain and set aside to cool.

2. In a frying pan or skillet, heat the butter with a little oil over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chilli flakes (if using) to the pan, seasoning everything with salt and pepper.

3. Next add the potatoes and shredded corned beef, letting the potatoes stick to the bottom of the frying pan before scraping them off, cooking until everything is nicely browned and crispy and delicious.

4. Remove from the heat and serve.