The summer really is when food comes alive. For me, things become almost effortless because the fantastic fresh produce on offer requires very little work to make it really beautiful. Eating outside also makes everything taste better! With that in mind, this Friday’s recipe is for one of the best meals I’ve had in a while…  I got very excited last week when I heard our local butcher Ray Collier in Howth had got a delivery of beef from Lambay island.  The island is a private one just beyond Ireland’s Eye and I remember being on it once or twice as a kid with my granddad.  The fact that it was private and that we were told they kept wallabies (yes, wallabies) added to the mystery of the place.  Today’s recipe is proudly made with local beef from Lambay island and some fresh Dublin Bay prawns, served alongside some salad leaves from my garden, lightly dressed, and some sweet potato chips (not so local but delicious all the same!). This a proper feast so head out, pick up the ingredients and treat yourself this weekend.

Continue to the recipe for Chimichurri Surf and Turf with Skinny Sweet Potato Chips and a Garden Salad…

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This is a nice fast dish that can be cooked in the time it takes to make the rice! It’s really important to taste a dish like this, if you feel it’s missing something, add more soy sauce, more honey, or more spice from the curry paste. Cooking is all about making it taste right for you!

Serves 4
2 rib eye steaks, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons of red curry paste
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 thumbsized piece of ginger, finely minced
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 large pak choy, roughly sliced
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon of honey
400ml of coconut milk240g of basmati rice
800ml of water
A handful of salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Place the rice in a pot with the full quantity of water and place over a medium heat, and simmer for about 10-12 minutes until the water has evaporated. Remove from the heat and allow to sit with the lid on until you are ready to serve.

While the rice is cooking, combine the sliced beef with 1 tablespoon of red curry paste, half the garlic and ginger and the sesame oil.

Place a wok over a high heat with 1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil and then stir fry the beef rapidly in two batches for about 3 minutes until just cooked.  Remove to a plate and set aside.

Place the wok back on the heat with a little extra oil and stir fry the onions with the remaining curry paste, for 2 mins, then add in the remaining garlic and ginger with the sliced pak choy. Stir fry until just tender.

Add in the coconut milk, soy sauce, and honey and bring to the boil. Taste it and once you’re happy with the balance of flavours, serve.

Fluff up the rice with a fork and then serve alongside the beef. Top with a little sprinkling of chopped peanuts.

The post Nutty Thai Red Beef Curry first appeared on Donal Skehan | EAT LIVE GO.

This is the recipe we were given along with the press release and Ken actually demonstrated the dish for us. I can tell you it is absolutely delicious and you should definitely give it a go. It follows through from what he mentioned about using different ingredients to build layers of flavours and many different notes.

Serves 2
200g of beef, sliced in strips
25ml of rapeseed oil
2 teaspoons of ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Zest of one orange
1 teaspoon of birds eye chillies, chopped
25g of black beans
75g of spring onions, chopped in 1 inch shanks
50g diced onion
75g diced red peppers
75g diced green peppers
45ml oyster sauce
40g of Chee Hou sauce
2 teaspoons of sugar
200ml water
20ml sesame oil
1 teaspoon of cornflour

Heat the wok over a high heat and add oil to coat.  Quickly stir fry the meat and when it is cooked through, remove from the pan and set aside.

Heat the oil in the wok and add the ginger and garlic.  Stir fry over a high heat until it becomes golden and toasted.

Add the orange zest and fry until it releases fragrant citrus notes.

Then fry the chilli, black beans and chopped onions for 20 seconds.

Add the spring onions and peppers and fry lightly until tender.

Add the the Chee Hou sauce, oyster sauce, water and sugar and stir through.  Then add the meat and toss until it is coated with all the sauce and vegetables.

Finish with the sesame oil and thicken with the cornflour.

Serve with noodles or rice.

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You can add as many other ingredients to the salad as you want, beansprouts, or snow peas all work great in this. I used fillet steak here, but as this can be quite expensive, other cuts will work just as nicely, try sirloin or a good quality shoulder steak. This recipe can also be made ahead of time, marinade the meat in the fridge, prepare the veg beforehand and only toss with the dressing when you are ready to eat.

Serves 4
4 x 120g fillet steak
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
6 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
Small handful of chopped coriander to serve

For the marinade and dressing:
1 chilli, deseeded and minced
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, finely minced
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil

Place the steaks on a plate.

Mix all the ingredients for dressing/marinade together and pour 1/4 of the mixture over the steaks.

Toss all the veg together in salad bowl and set aside.

Heat a large griddle pan and fry the steaks for 3-5 minutes on either side depending on their size.

Remove the steaks and allow to rest on a chopping board for a few minutes.

Add the dressing to the salad and toss to combine.

Slice the steak thinly, sprinkle with a little chopped coriander and serve with the zingy salad.

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Depending on the dried mushrooms you buy, you can use the water you soak them in as part of the stock added in this recipe- Simply substitute half the beef stock with the mushroom water. If you don’t have dried mushrooms, they are not essential but give a real depth to the sauce, so feel free to substitute with any fresh mushrooms available to you.

Serves 4 people
40g of dried mixed forest mushrooms
4 steaks
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil (plus a little extra for the steaks)
3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced
250g of button mushrooms, sliced thinly
125ml of white wine
250ml of beef stock
4 tablespoons of cream
A good pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Rinse the dried mushrooms with water and then submerge in a bowl with warm water and leave for 20 minutes. Prepare the steaks by drizzling them with a little olive oil, sprinkle over a generous amount of ground black pepper, cover and set aside.

When the dried mushrooms have finished soaking, heat a large pan over a medium high heat and add the butter and olive oil. Fry the garlic and onion for 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and continue to cook for 5 minutes or until they become soft.

Add the white wine, continue to cook and reduce the liquid by half. Then add the beef stock and simmer for a further 2 minutes or until the liquid begins to thicken slightly.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream until combined.  Season with sea salt and black pepper and set aside.

Heat a large griddle pan over a high heat and cook the steaks for 2-3 minutes either side for medium rare steak, depending on thickness.

Remove the steaks from the pan and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.

Serve them with the tasty mushroom sauce and some steamed veg.

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