Smoked beef carpaccio with Mediterranean vegetables and goats cheese, photograph
© Ben Dearnely
2004
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Smoked beef carpaccio with Mediterranean vegetables and goats cheese
Curtis Stone
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Beef carpaccio is a lovely light way to start a meal. I have smoked the beef in this recipe, which is a different way of incorporating flavour into the meat.
serves 6
600 g/1 lb 5 oz centre-cut fillet of beef
Curing mixture
10 black peppercorns
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 teaspoons mixed dried herbs, such as sage, thyme, basil, oregano
10 juniper berries
1 tablespoon paprika
150 g /51/2 oz hickory shavings*
100 g/31/2 oz dried mushrooms (optional)
Mediterranean vegetables
1 each red, green, yellow capsicum (pepper)
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 zucchini (courgette), sliced
1 eggplant (aubergine) weighing about 225 g/8 oz each, cut into 1 cm/1/2 in slices
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 semi-dried tomatoes, sliced into strips
Dressing
75 g/21/2 oz soft goats cheese, crumbled
21/2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons peanut (groundnut) oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup loosely packed wild rocket
extra goats cheese, for garnish
1. Truss the fillet with kitchen twine at 2–3 cm/1 in
intervals.
2. To make the curing mixture, place all the ingredients in a pestle and mortar and crush to a powder. This step can also be done in a spice mill. Rub all over the beef, cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8–10 hours.
3. Place the hickory shavings in the bottom of a wok and heat over a moderately high heat. Once they start to smoke, add the mushrooms. Position a wire rack or steamer in the wok, place the beef on this and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Reduce the heat to low and smoke for 5 minutes. Do not open the lid. Remove from the heat and rest for 15 minutes to allow the smoke to infuse. Remove the beef and cool.
4. Grill the capsicums until charred all over. Place in a plastic bag and set aside to cool. Peel off the skin, then cut into slices and dress with half the oil. Grill the zucchini and eggplant and dress with the remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Using a sharp knife, slice the beef as thinly as possible. Fan the slices, overlapping slightly as you go, on a serving plate. Combine the capsicum, zucchini, eggplant and semi-dried tomatoes and place in the centre of the beef.
6. To make the dressing, blend the cheese with the vinegar until smooth. Whisk in the olive oil and peanut oil, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Pour enough over the wild rocket to coat lightly, and place this on top of the vegetables. Drizzle the remaining dressing and crumble a little extra goats cheese over the beef just before serving.
*Available from barbeque suppliers.
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