ignore the recipe book asiany beefy salad - this is very nice

The recipe wanted me to make the dressing with plum sauce and balsamic vinegar. I obliged, tasted it, hated it, and consequently made up my own dressing --> success.

The trick to this dish is to have really nice beef, cooked rare. Very fresh crisp vegies, and a good sauce.

You could also add grated carrot, beansprouts... any crispy vegetable.

Serves two

1 nice piece of steak - I used a big porterhouse

Iceberg lettuce, shredded

Cucumber, cut into pieces

Generous handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped

Roasted, unsalted cashew nuts, roughly chopped

Chopped red chilli - as much/little as you desire

Wide flat rice noodles - cooked as per packet and left to cool slightly

Dressing

3 tbsp plum sauce

2 tsp sichuan pepper seasoning powder (i think it is szechuan pepper, paprika, salt, chilli)

White part of 4 spring onions, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

Juice of one lime

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp soya sauce

Cook the steak on a very hot griddle until nicely charred on the outside, and still nice and rare in the middle. Leave to rest for at least five minutes, then slice into pieces.

Assemble the bowls by layering the lettuce, cucumber and noodles. Spoon some dressing over the noodles to moisten. Top with the Steak, nuts, mint and chilli and then more dressing.

If you want to get fancy you can have extra bowls on the table with more dressing, nuts, chilli and mint so people can season to taste. It would also be nice with a squeeze of lime at serving time.

Delicious

This would also make a really nice filling for fresh rice paper rolls.

Beefy Beef Satays with Bry

Cooking with bry. Very hot day. Asian spice appealed to me. Vaguely remembering an amazing satay sauce we made a few years ago. Cannot find the recipe. Instead combine a couple of other recipes - one from Maggie Beer and another from Gourmet Traveller. The result - exceptionally good! Please make this. There was enough sauce and food for four of us. It is so delicious I would recommend increasing the ingredients proportionally if you are expecting more people. Believe me - you wont want to share your sauce with someone else. We served it with a simple carrot salad and a cucumber/pineapple salad. It would be nice with rice, but in this weather it is unnecessary.

Serves 4

800g rump steak

Marinade

2 sticks lemongrass, chopped into 3cm lengths and bashed with a knife

1 shallot, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp tamarind pulp (made by mixing tamarind paste with boiling water and straining through a plastic sieve)

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 tbsp soy suace

Juice 1 large lime

Combine all ingredients in a flat dish large enough to fit the beef. Cut the beef into cubes ~1-2cm square. Mix well with the marinade (use your hands). Leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours.

Thread the beef onto bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water.

Grill for 2-5 mins on each side. The rump steak is so delicious it can be left slightly rare.

Serve with satay sauce, rice, cucumber salad and carrot salad.

Satay Sauce

1 tbsp peanut/sunflower oil

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 long red chilli, chopped

1 tbsp ginger, grated

250g roasted, then ground unsalted peanuts (we roasted them in a dry frying pan and then ground in the food processor until quite fine)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 kaffir lime leaves, shredded

270mL cocnut milk

2 tbsp tamarind pulp

Fry the garlic until golden. Reduce the heat and add the shallots, chilli and ginger. Fry gently for 2-5 minutes or until softened. Add the peanuts and fry for 1 minute before adding remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer gently until warmed through. Season to taste with salt. At this stage it can be cooled down and refrigerated until needed. Reheat in a saucepan, it may need extra coconut milk to thin it if it gets too thick on cooling.

Cucumber Salad

1 continental Cucumber, peeled, deseeded and chopped

Red Onion, finely chopped

1 can pineapple slices in juice, chopped

Lime juice

Slice the onion finely and then soak in iced water with a dash of vinegar to take out the biteyness. Mix with chopped pineapple and cucumber. Dress with salt, pepper and lime juice.

Carrot Salad

2 Carrots, juliened (I used the mandolin to save time - and almost lost my fingers in the process)

Handful chopped mint

Olive oil

Lime juice

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients well.

Tamarind pulp - if you cannot find this, replace with lime juice and fish sauce, to taste

Chicken, lime and coconut parcel

1 long green chilli, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled

Juice of 1 lime

1 cup of chopped coriander leaves, stalks and roots

1 tbsp cumin seeds, lightly toasted

2 tbsp fish sauce

1/4 cup coconut cream

2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded

4 x skinless chicken marylands

Steamed jasmine rice and asian greens to serve

Put the chilli, garlic, lime juice, coriander, cumin seeds, fish sauce and coconut cream into a small food processor. Pulse until it is a rough paste.

Cut four sheets of baking paper and four sheets of alfoil to make rectangle about 40cm long.

Place the baking paper on top of the alfoil.

Slash the chicken a few times to allow the flavours to infuse. Put one piece of chicken onto each piece of baking paper. Spread the sauce evenly between each piece of chicken. Smear it all over the chicken. Wrap up the chicken in the paper, making sure it is well sealed.

Place the chicken into a steamer basket. Steam for 1 hour, or until the meat is completely cooked and tender. Top the water up in the pan as needed.

Remove chicken pieces and set aside to rest for 5 minutes.

Serve in the bag and let people pour their own juice over their rice and greens.

Delicious!