Wasabi beef & plums salad

Though it sounds fancy like everything else on this blog, this is a salad very simple to make. But as you might expect it's a very special one too. The big secret lays in the dressing: an explosion of sweet, salty and spicy of which you can never have enough. Or at least I can't.



Wasabi beef & plums salad for two
2 x 150g beef steaks
1 tsp wasabi paste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bag mixed salad leaves
4 plums
1 small red onion
bunch of radishes
toasted sesame seeds

Ginger & mustard dressing
1 tbsp grated ginger 1 tbsp grainy mustard
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar (or lime juice)
1 tbsp mirin (or 1 tsp brown sugar)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper

1. Season the beef steaks with salt & pepper. Spread the wasabi on the steaks and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes at least. They will change in color but wouldn't you if you were covered in burning wasabi?

2. Slice the onion and radishes. Pit the plums and cut in eights. Toss with the salad leaves.

3. Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Sear the beef on both sides. You will need to adapt the cooking time depending on the thickness of the cut, but usually 3 minutes on each side is enough.

4. Leave the meat to rest for 5 minutes. Cut in thin ribbons and arrange on the salad.

5. Put all the dressing ingredients in a jar, replace the lid and give it a good shake. Pour over the salad. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top or go for gomasio.



Combine with rice for a very satisfying & healthy lunch.

This recipe makes 0.30kilos of pure goodness.

Beef with chocolate sauce & peach purée

You're not a proper chocoholic until you put chocolate in a savory dish. Though I'm far from being utterly crazy about chocolate, I happen to have the odd craving now and then. This is the dish that came up when I craved chocolate AND a steak at the same time.

Beef with chocolate sauce for 2
2 beef steaks
2 knobs of butter
50g bacon
1 shallot
2 garlic cloves
2 cups red wine
1 cup unsalted beef broth
2 tsp whole peppercorns
a few sprigs of thyme
2 laurel leaves
2 tbsp dark chocolate broken in small bits
cocoa powder to decorate

Heat the butter in a casserole on a medium heat until it foams. Brown the bacon. Remove it from the pot and set aside.

Finely cut the shallot and garlic cloves. Put the shallot and garlic in the casserole and cook until soft.

Pour over the red wine and add the thyme, laurel leaves and whole peppercorns. Take the bacon and place back in the pot. Lower the heat and let simmer until the liquid has almost dissapeared.

Add the unsalted beef broth and reduce again. When ready, pass the sauce through a fine sieve to get rid of all the bits and pieces.

You should now have a few spoonfuls of concentrated and flagrant sauce.

With the sauce well away from heat, drop in the chocolate bits and stir well to dissolve. The sauce will become rich, dark and glossy. Give it a taste - depending on the chocolate you used, you might need to add a teaspoon of honey or brown sugar.

Now it's time to prepare the beef steaks. Pat dry and season on both sides. Heat the second knob of butter in a skillet and sear the steaks to your liking. Let rest for a few minutes while you reheat the chocolate sauce. Do it on the lowest heat and watch closely not to burn the chocolate.

Slice the steaks, arrange on plates and pour over the chocolate sauce. Sprinkle some cocoa on top and serve.


The chocolate sauce also matches wonderfully with lamb or venison, so get creative and experiment. You can also make a larger quantity of sauce and freeze it until the next special occasion (just add the chocolate afterwards).

Sweet potato & peach purée for 2
2 orange sweet potatoes
2 fresh peaches
know of butter
bit of salt

Bring some salted water to a boil. Plunge the peaches in for a few seconds and then cool in a bowl of cold water. Now the skins will easily come off. Peel, stone and cut in quarters.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut in dices. Boil for 5 minutes, then add the peach quarters. Continue boiling until you can easily pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork.

Using a food processor, blend the sweet potatoes and peaches to a smooth purée. Stir in the butter and abandon yourself to the new taste.

This recipe makes 0.4kilos/person of pure goodness.

Mediterranean beef brochettes with parmesan polenta

What would be a sunny summer day without a barbecue? Try new bold flavours with this recipe that combines juicy beef with zingy fresh lemon. You can substitute beef for lamb or even salmon.


Beef brochettes for four
500g ground beef
breadcrumbs from 1 slice of bread
1 egg
1 small onion
2 tbsp capers
1/2 cup white wine
juice & zest from 1 lemon
handful chopped black olives
oregano
parsley
1 tsp salt
ground black pepper

Finely dice the onion. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and saute the onion on medium heat until it softens. Add the capers, lemon juice & zest and the white wine. Cook for a further 10 minutes, until almost all liquid has evaporated. Let cool.

Mix the the ground beef with breadcrumbs, the egg and the onion mixture. Add the olives and chopped herbs. Season well with salt & pepper.

Form balls the size of a walnut and arrange on a plate. Put them in the fridge for at least one hour - this will harden the composition and prevent your brochettes from falling apart during cooking. The longer you leave the flavours to blend, the tastier your brochettes will become.

While the meat is in the fridge, fill a pot with water and soak some wooden skewers. This way they won't burn on the barbecue.

Slip 3 balls on each skewer and barbecue until nicely brown on all sides. If you're unlucky and it rains, you can also grill the brochettes in a bit of olive oil, in a pan.

Parmesan polenta for four
300g corn semolina
3-5 cups hot water
1 tbsp olive oil or knob of butter
100g gratted parmesan
1 tsp salt

A good polenta takes time to make, but the good news is that you can prepare it way ahead and keep in the fridge until serving time.

What you'll need is a pot filled with salted boiling water. Drizzle the corn semolina really slowly over the boiling water and stir well. And when I say drizzle, I really mean it. The trick is to pour the semolina constantly and in a fine rain, otherwise you'll get lumps.

Lower the heat (almost to a minimum, or it will splatter) and keep stiring. You're going to be there for at least half an hour, but it's very important not to stop stiring. The polenta can stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. Add more hot water when necessary.

The polenta is cooked when it peels off the sides of the pot. The consistency should be creamy but some people like it firmer - it's up to you.

Now you can take the polenta off the heat and stir in the olive oil/butter and gratted parmesan. You can also add a sprinkle of dried mediterranean herbs.

If you plan to serve the polenta later, pour it while it's hot in an oiled baking tray. Leave it to cool. Later you can cut it in squares and heat those for a couple of minutes on the barbecue. It is also very good cold.

This recipe makes 0.4kilos/person of pure goodness.