Asian style seared fillet of beef salad with chilli and crushed peanuts

This is the starter I made for Valentine's day this year. I had an idea of what I wanted to achieve based on various recipes....one from the Martha Stewart website, another from a Ken Hom cookery book and another from Rick Steins South East Asian Odyssey cookbook, but I didn't have all the ingredients to hand for any one recipe. So this is what I came up with...sorry, no exact measurments! You can find the Main course I served here.

INGREDIENTS for Beef

• piece of beef fillet (about the size of your palm), sliced very thinly
• good glug of sesame oil
• couple good pinches of five spice powder
• 3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• good glug of dark soy sauce
• Inch of ginger, not peeled, finely chopped
• tsp of sugar
• tsp of fresh coarsly ground pepper
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• pinch of salt

FOR THE SALAD and dressing

• Mixed salad leaves - I used a mixture of Watercress, rocket, spinach and basil
• dessert spoon of red wine vinegar
• couple tsps of sesame oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper

FOR THE TOPPING

• Handful of crushed peanuts
• a couple of spring onions, sliced into thin strips

METHOD

• mix all the ingredients in a bowl and leave to marinate for around 20 mins
• heat a wok until almost smoking, then add some vegetable oil to the wok and flash fry the beef - seriously, no more than 20 secs. If you have bought good quality beef this is the perfect amount of time
• remove beef from the pan and set aside
• mix ingredients for dressing, taste as you go and adjust amounts until you get the right balance of flavours
• put salad leaves in a bowl and drizzle in dressing, mixing to coat well
• Put salad on a plate, top with the beef, then dress with the spring onion slices and the crushed peanuts

Enjoy!

For Alex: Tomato and mozzarella tart

Well, Alex has this huge bounty of homegrown tomatoes and is stuck for ideas, so here's my recommendation. A delicious tomato, anchovy and mozzarella tart.....

Ingredients:

mozzarella ball, shredded

ready roll puff pastry

small tin of anchovies in garlic and olive oil

and of course. tomatoes - chopped into small segments

fresh basil

squeeze of lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil for drizzling

Method:

1. Line a tart tin with the puff pastry, taking care to overlap the edges.

2. Poke the bottom with a fork a few times. put in a pice of baking paper and pour in some baking beans or uncooked rice (this is to weigh the bottom down). If you don't have any of this, just poke many more times with the fork and accept that the bottom may puff a little!

3. Bake blind in the oven until just golden

4. Meanwhile, whizz some anchovies (as few or as many as you lie, with the olive oil and garlic from the tin) in a blender with the lemon juice, some freshly milled pepper and some basil leaves.

5. spread anchovy mix over the base of the pastry

6. arrange the pieces of tomato over the paste, sprinkle on a little salt and pepper and drizzle with some olive oil (drizzle!)

7. scatter over some torn mozzarella and torn basil leaves

8. Grill until the tomatoes are soft and the mozzarella has melted and is turning a little golden (only about 5-6 minutes, depending on temp - I just put it on HOT!) Don't let the pastry burn!

Serve with a salad

**If you don't like anchovies, give this a try anyway, it doesn't taste 'fishy', it just adds a real richness to the tomatoes.....if you can't get them in garlic and olive oil, then you'll have to add these yourself at the blending stage. Oh, and the tart tastes just as good without the mozzarella too.

Let me know what you think Alex! And send me a picture so I can add it to the post!

Couscous Salad

Sorry, I don't have exact measurements (again!) Just go by sight and judgement......

Method:

1. Cook the coucous as per packet instructions (pour boiling water on it and cover with cling film until all fluffy)
2. Crumble in lots of feta
3. Add some finely chopped mint and red onions
4. Add some chopped fresh tomatoes (or halved cherry toms) and small cubes of cucumber
5. Add some sliced black olives (or whole ones with the stone in for more flavor, but more hassle eating!)
6. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice to taste
7. Mix it all up and put in fridge to chill for about 10-15 mins before serving