Chef's Corner October 2008
‘‘This is a beautiful, seasonal dish and only uses the best of British produce which is at the heart of City Café food ethos. We pride ourselves on sourcing and buying as ethically and responsibly as possible from small artisanal producers’ local to our hotels.’’DISH: Aged English Beef Rump
Ingredients: Makes 4 portions
- 4 x 8oz Long-horn English beef rumps (standard aged beef rumps will be fine)
- 350g x fresh pea shoots
- 20g x coriander cress
- 200g x fresh broad beans
- 40g x baby watercress
- 400g x English plum tomatoes
- 500g maris piper potatoes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 25g x chives
- aged balsamic vinegar
- olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
Method of preparation:
1. Score and blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 10 seconds. Refresh in iced water, remove the skin and cut into quarters. Remove the seeds.
2. Lay your skinned and seeded tomato quarters out on kitchen paper to remove all the excess moisture. Then place into a medium sized plastic container
3. Chop roughly the garlic and mix with some olive oil, sea salt and milled pepper, add this oil and garlic mix to the tomatoes. (for best results make the oil 24 hours before so it has time to infuse)
4. Peel and cut the potatoes into 1 inch squares, place in cold lightly salted water and bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, no more, as you do not want to cook these through. Strain and allow to cool on kitchen paper, to remove any excess moisture. Again, these can be cut the night before and refrigerated.
5. Lightly season the beef rumps. Heat a non-stick pan on the stove, you want a medium heat, not smoking hot, as you are going to gently cook the out side then place in the oven on 180 deg c. for approx. 8 minutes. Remove and allow to rest for 3-4 minutes.
6. While the meat is resting, bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil which has been lightly salted and cook for 2 minutes the peas and broad beans. Remove when done and keep warm.
7. With a second pan, preferably a wok if you have one, pour a generous amount of olive oil (not extra virgin as this is too strong in flavour) and bring to a high heat. Add the squares of potatoes and cook on the stove, stirring carefully often, and try not to break up the potatoes. Do not forget the peas and broad beans!
8. Once perfectly golden on all sides drain on kitchen paper and lightly season with sea salt and freshly ground rosemary.
9. Place into a large bowl, the warm potato, broad beans (washed) and trimmed watercress the tomatoes and chopped chives. Check for seasoning.
10. Place a pile neatly in the centre of a plate and spoon over a small amount of aged balsamic vinegar. Carve the beef rumps twice and neatly place on top of the warm salad and garnish with coriander cress.
11. Serve immediately!