LIMOUSIN HEALTHY BEEF - Hormone free, low fat, low cholesterol and only 14 km from farm to plate!

One of the most frequently asked questions being a chef is how to cook a great steak! It has to start from the beginning - the meat! It needs to have had a good life, (a bit like us, stress free), hormone free and a good environment from start to finish.

HOW TO COOK A GREAT STEAK - When selecting your meat, have a look at the colour, you don’t want bright red, it needs to be aged. Fine marbling is an indicator of flavour, and lean meat should be tender. The cut depends on yourself - thick / thin - lean/ fatty…
Varieties - Fillet
- Rib-eye (scotch fillet)
- Sirloin
- Rump/porterhouse
- T-bone
Have steaks out of fridge for at least ½ an hour before cooking. Season well with cracked black pepper and only season with salt just before you cook it as it will draw out the moisture from the meat. A little drizzle of oil and do the same to the other side.
Heat up a good heavy base fry pan or griddle pan until almost smoking. You need it super hot as you want the meat to sear instantly.
Once your pan is HOT carefully add the steak. If you are cooking for the family try not to over crowd the pan. If necessary use two pans! Try not to prod and prick the steak, leave it so is sears and caramelises - depending on how well you like your steak. You only need to cook an average steak for 3-4 minutes on both sides. The next vital step is to let the meat rest, simply remove the meat from the pan and transfer on to a warm plate and cover with foil. Quickly return the pan back to the heat and add a glug of red wine, beef stock or even water, swirl around pan so all the delicious little caramelised pieces of flavour are removed from the bottom and get incorporated into you sauce. Once the liquid has bubbled and reduced remove from heat and add a couple of knobs of cold butter, swirl round to emulsify into your sauce, you may need salt and pepper. Simply drizzle your sauce over the steak and enjoy every mouthful….!


KAKANUI MIXED CHILLI SALSA-Chillies need not be all hot, they have intense flavour as well as different degrees of heat. Ask Vivienne and Scott for advise on them and do try them out in different ways, you will be amazed at the variety of dishes you will be making.

1 Red capsicum - blackened, peeled, seeds removed
1 Green capsicum - blackened, peeled seeds removed
1 Jalapeno chilli
1 Hungarian wax chilli
1 red onion - sliced thinly
Good handful fresh coriander and mint roughly chopped
1 lime- juice or red wine vinegar
Good glug of olive oil
Salt and cracked pepper
Sprinkle of sugar

Blacken the capsicum either over a naked flame on stove if using gas or under a hot grill, rotate the capsicum until it is all black. Put it into a bowl and cover with glad wrap and seal tightly. It helps loosen the skin to make peeling easier. Remove the seeds and as much of the black skin as possible, but do not worry about it if there is still some left on as it adds a smoky flavour. Slice into strips, add to a good size bowl and add sliced onion, and finely chopped chillies - remove seeds if concerned about it being to hot. Also if you only want a little heat don’t add all the chilli. Add the roughly chopped coriander and mint, lime juice and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and taste if you need to adjust the balance of heat or lime juice then do so to your taste. A little sprinkle of sugar also helps to add a balance.
It is great with a steak sliced thinly, some lettuce and plenty of Mixed Chilli Salsa.


QUICK THAI CHILLI SAUCE
1-3 birds eye chilli
Pinch salt
2 Tablespoons lime juice
Large pinch white sugar
2 Tablespoons, fish sauce - widely available

If you have a pestle and mortar, pound chilli with salt until paste is formed add the lime juice, sugar and fish sauce. Mix to dissolve sugar, taste and you may need to fix the balance of flavours. It is fantastic drizzled over squid, crunchy salad with peanuts or as a dipping sauce.

WAIRUNA ORAGANIC BEETROOTS - Beetroots are indeed the new black of vegetables. So many uses from preserving, relishes, roasting, juicing, raw in salads and even chips. Not bad from one vegetable. There is more…..they are antioxidants and they help turn fat into energy. What more could we want!

Beetroot, Carrot and Sesame Salad
Serves 6
4 carrots, coarsely grated
3 beetroots, peeled and coarsely grated
Juice and grated zest of 2 oranges
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan
2 teaspoons honey
1 small clove garlic, crushed to a paste with a little salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped coriander (optional)
Sea salt and black pepper

Mix the grated carrot and beetroot together in a large bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Check the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, honey or orange juice as required.

BEETROOT CHIPS-deep fry beetroot shavings (made using a vegetable peeler) in sunflower oil, then drain well and sprinkle with caraway salt for an alternative chip.
Caraway salt- grind ½ teaspoon toasted caraway seeds with 2 teaspoon sea salt. Use as required!

Raspberry Cranachan
60g of medium oatmeal
150g of raspberries
4 tablespoons of malt whisky
4 tablespoons of runny Scottish honey
600mls of double cream

Mix oatmeal with a little drizzle of honey, spread evenly over tray and place under grill. Don’t go away as it burns quickly! Once it has toasted to a light golden colour remove and cool down.
Lightly whip cream to form stiff peaks, then fold through ¾ of the remaining honey and whisky. Fold through ½ the amount of cooled toasted oats - for a bit of texture.
It looks good either in individual glasses or one large glass bowl.
Place a little cream in the bottom of each glass, an even amount of raspberries in each glass. Add another good spoonful of cream mixture and top neatly with more raspberries. Continue until all the glasses are done. Finish with another spoonful of cream and finally add a scattering of toasted oats. Chill until required.

A Quick Raspberry Sauce - Couli
Either use fresh or frozen raspberries, sprinkle with icing sugar and let the natural juices seep out for as long as possible. Once this has happened, puree with a hand wand or in processor. Pass the mixture, over a bowl through a fine sieve to remove all the seeds. Once this is all done, give a quick mix and check that it is sweet enough. If not simply add another sprinkle of icing sugar and enjoy with good quality vanilla ice cream or over some warm chocolate brownie.