Thai Beef Salad

This is a salad that very much says summer, and is great for an evening meal. I'd also been dreaming about it since our friend Leona made us some when she was visiting last year. This is an easy version by Bill Granger that can be put together quite easily. As with all steaks, be sure to check in, or you might end up with really charred meat... even after 2 minutes!

2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 x 300g rump steaks
1 lemongrass stalk, crushed with the back of a knife and finely sliced
1 green chilli, finely chopped (deseeded first, if you like)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
4 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cabbage, cut into wedges
a handful of mint leaves
a handful of coriander leaves
1/2 cucumber, cut into chunks
1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Mix together the oyster sauce, fish sauce, caster sugar and sesame oil in a large bowl. Add the steaks, turn to coat them well and leave to marinate for 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the dressing by mixing together the lemongrass, chilli, garlic, brown sugar, fish sauce and lime juice. Arrange the cabbage, mint, coriander, cucumber and red onion on serving plates.

Heat a chargrill pan over high heat. When very hot, add the steaks and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a warm plate, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

Finely slice the steaks and drape over the salad. Drizzle with the dressing.

Serves 4.

Braised Shallots in Tuna Sauce

This is an unusual dish I chose on our road trip over Christmas and New Year's. We were making our way back from Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland, and our friends had offered us their place in Sydney to stay. The day before they arrived home. It only seemed apt we made them dinner the next night. It was fun working in someone else's kitchen, working with different equipment and ingredients at hand. Overall it turned out great, but I would have held back on the salt, mostly because there's quite a bit of it in the capers and anchovies.

20 small shallots, peeled
olive oil for baking
2 cloves garlic, peeled
4 tablespoons capers
10 anchovy fillets
3/4 quantity Mayonnaise
1 x 425 g tin dolphin-friendly tuna, drained and flaked
juice of 1/2 lemon
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
pale celery leaves (from centre of bunch), to garnish

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C (400 deg F). Place the shallots on a baking tray and sprinkle with olive oil, cook until brown - about 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the tuna sauce. Place the garlic, capers and anchovies in the food processor and blitz to a puree. Turn the processor off. Add the mayonnaise and tuna to the puree, and use the pulse button, cautiously, to combine the ingredients. Taste the sauce, and add lemon juice and salt and pepper as needed.

Remove the shallots from the oven and allow them to cool. Arrange them on a serving dish. Spoon the sauce over the shallots - they should be quite well covered - and scatter with celery leaves.