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Crimson carpaccio salad
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 250g North Highland beef fillet (or a good marbled aged fillet)
- 3 blood oranges, very well scrubbed
- 1tsp Dijon mustard
- 1tbsp white wine vinegar
- 5tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small red onion, halved and finely sliced lengthways
- 2 fennel bulbs
- small bunch round red radishes
- 2 small red chicory
- wild garlic flowers (optional), to serve
Method
Chill the beef in the freezer for 1¼ hours first; this makes it easier to slice. When ready to make the salad, take the beef out of the freezer and slice very thinly (as close to 2-3mm as you can get). Lay the beef slices in 4 rough circles (allow about 5 slices per person) on a sheet of cling film, allowing some space between each circle for expansion. Put another sheet on top and bash the circles with a rolling pin to as thin as possible, or until the slices have merged together and the circles can fill the size of your serving plates. Remove the top layer of cling film, invert a serving plate over each circle, turn them over and remove the other layer of cling film, leaving a neat circle of beef on each plate. Sprinkle with some salt crystals.
Zest 1 of the oranges and place in a small bowl with the mustard and vinegar. Whisk in the oil,1tbsp at a time, until emulsified.Season. Remove all the skin and pith from the oranges and slice in-between the membranes to remove each segment (squeeze any juice from the discarded pieces into the dressing). Toss the onion in the dressing. Slice the fennel and radish into thin slices with a mandolin and cut the chicory widthways into 6mm-thick slices and arrange a little of each in layers over the beef. Scatter with a little of the dressed onion and arrange the orange segments over the top. Repeat the layers once more. Spoon over a little dressing, then scatter with a few garlic flowers if you have them.
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