Monday 1 February 2010

Beef Carpaccio


Don't be put off by the fact that this is raw steak, if you like you steak medium rare you will love this, it is very very thinly sliced and the acidic quality of the dressing helps as well! It looks very impressive for a dinner party and is really easy to make.
  • 1 very good quality fillet steak per 4 people (remember you are eating it raw, so the leaner the meat the better)
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary or oregano
  • pinch dried chilli
  • 1 tsp peppercorns
  • 1 tsp rock salt
  • 1 bag rocket leaves or spinach, watercress and rocket
  • fresh parmesan block
  • salad dressing of choice (see later in instructions)

Crush in a pestle and mortar the rosemary/oregano, chilli, salt and pepper. Sprinkle it onto a plate and roll the sides of the fillet steak in it so it is encrusted and the top and bottom.

Heat up a heavy based frying pan so it is smoking, and very carefully press the encrusted sides of the steak onto the pan for 30 seconds each until it is seared all round. You just need to quickly colour the outside, do not cook the steak for long.

Wrap the steak tightly in cling film and place in freezer for 30 mins to an hour until it is firm (makes it easier to slice thinly) but not frozen.

Spread the salad leaves onto a plate and prepare your dressing. On the pic above we made a dressing by boiling 2 parts red wine vinegar and shaking it up with 1 part oil and 1 part lemon juice. But other dressing which go well are mustard or horseradish based e.g. 2 egg yolks in a blender or with a hand whisk, slowly add 100ml olive oil, then juice of 1 lemon and 1/2 tsp english mustard.

Take the steak out of the freezer, sit it on a chopping board and starting at one end and using a long very sharp knife, cut slices as thinly as possible (like parma ham).

Mum tip :) Once sliced, lay the steak on a piece of cling film and cover with another piece and then roll over the top with a rolling pin to make the slices even thinner.

Peel back the cling film and lay them on top of the salad leaves.

Drizzle with dressing and shave parmesan over the top to serve.

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