Thursday 12 January 2012

Thai Beef Salad ~ Honey Lady Style

I had my friend Justin Lane over tonight to match his wines, Alpha Box Dice, to the food I will be cooking at Tour Down Under this year.... and then another friend dropped in and  a few red wines later I get to my blog...

SO sorry for the late post!!!

PS...If you are wine tasting in the Mclaren stop past his cellar door ~ best wine in the south!

I made tonight my Kangaroo Fillet (already posted) and this Thai Beef Salad ~ and these are the 2 dishes I will demo @ TDU...

Before I get into the recipe for this salad I must confess...



I am not a Thai cook by any stretch of the imagination!



But if you recall ~ FUSION ~ is my favourite culinary term....

SO this is my take on a Thai Beef Salad with a whole heap of fusion and a bit of me thrown in!



For this you will need...

2 one minute steaks!
juice of one small lime
juice of half a lemon
1tablespoon of finely diced lemongrass
1 thumb sized piece of peeled ginger
1 sweet Italian capsicum OR 1/4 regular capsicum
~ this gives the colour without the punch of heat that a diced chilli does...










2 tablespoons of Chili infused olive oil ~ try Passionate Foodies ~ subtle warmth
2 small carrots ~ peeled
1 small Lebanese cucumber
2 cups of shaved iceberg lettuce
 2 bundles of a 5 bundle rice noodle pack
1 cup of shaved white cabbage
1 stick of celery
1/4 cup mint
1/2 cup coriander
1 cup snow peas sliced
1 cup bean sprouts




lots of ingredients ~ I know ~ BUT


really quick and really simple to prepare...


For the noodles...

These guys are even more easy  & quick than cous cous ... can it be so?

All you do is cover them in cold water til they go clear... drain and add to your dish... yep that easy!

They will look like this...













and then like this...


While your noodles are soaking, cook your minute steaks in a little bit of olive oil...and truly a minute each side...                               

Now on to the dressing...

Really easy... squeeze the juice of your lemon and lime and place in a bowl. then add your finely chopped lemongrass....microplane in your peeled ginger and chop in your capsicum ... now add tour chili oil and combine ~ then slice your beef and stir through the dressing so your beef is thoroughly covered ~ like so...

Have a try and add some salt to balance the dressing ~ My mate Les reckons  fish sauce and tamarind in this dressing would make it even better ~ so if you are inclined give that a go...


 


Yummo!



I have a mandolin... which in my opinion is one of the best kitchen investments you will ever make... if you recall I'm not so keen on even shaped chops BUT i do acknowledge there are times when fine, even pieces and to the dish...

The answer = my Mandolin

Oh I do also have a couple of excellent scars from this bad boy... SO be careful ~ its a sharp one!

SO now mandolin in OR finely chop the vegetables and add... like so...




only with a mondolin...

Almost there... drain your noodles...

Slice up your snow peas and chop your mint and coriander and add also... Combine the lot!

And serve on a plate!



To make this even quicker I have used roast beef from the deli counter which is ok... but fresh cooked minute steak is by far the better way to go...

I hope you enjoy this meal as much as we do!



yours,

Honey Lady

3 comments:

  1. I cant get the highlights throughout this post to vanish so read it as if I've done arty graphics... really easy to make ~ give it a try HL

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  2. Yep this was yummy fresh and very healthy. I tweeked this a little with all veges cut into match sticks and I added mushrooms. Could not find the chilli oil you suggested and I used another which packed a punch I can tell you. So I did one tablespoon of chilli and one of ginger and lime oil, worked well to. So I think a mild chilli oil here would be best unless you like the ringer stiger ones :). So yum though Thanks HL. Im off to do another one of your recipes now!

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    Replies
    1. thanks for your post Lori... so happy to hear you are playing around with the recipe..all of what I cook can be tweaked to include what's available or liked... yay !!! HL
      ps I LOVE getting feedback like this... keeps me inspired and with the blog getting 100+ views a day... the rest of you please also share your thought, experiences and ideas... HL

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