Ingredients:

• 220 gm Beef, sirloin
• Mixed leaf salad or mesclun mixed salad
• Green asparagus, blanched in boiling salted water then “shocked” in ice water to stop the ongoing cooking process.

Marinade:

• 500 ml Water
• 250 g Large red chili – halved, seeded and sliced
• 40 g Bird’s eye chili or Thai chili, finely sliced – Optional
• 50 g Garlic, peeled and sliced
• 100 g Shallot, peeled and sliced
• 50 g Ginger, peeled and sliced
• 2 ½ tbsp Black pepper corn crushed
• 2 ½ tbsp Coriander seeds crushed
• 40 g Palm sugar, chopped
• 2 tbsp Tamarind paste, diluted with ½ cup of warm water and strained
• 150 ml Corn oil, peanut oil or any other low cholesterol oil
• 1 stalk Laksa Leaves also known as Vietnamese Coriander

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp Cooked marinade paste
• 1/2 cup Virgin coconut oil
• 1 no Lime (juiced)
• 2 nos Shallots, sliced
• 1 no Red chili, seeded and sliced
• Seasoning to taste.

Method:

Marinade:

1. Combine all ingredients except Laksa Leaf, place in a food processor, grind until into a fine paste and add a little water.
2. Heat a heavy bottomed pan with oil, then sauté the paste and laksa leaf on a slow heat for approximately 30 minutes or until all water is evaporated and the marinade changes to a golden brown color. Set aside to cool.
3. Then rub the beef with a little of the paste and let it marinade for at least 6 hours in a covered container in a fridge.
4. Just before serving, season and for best results roast in an oven until its medium or pink in colour.
5. When taken out of the oven, allow it to “rest” until its reached slightly hotter that your kitchen temperature.
6. Thinly slice the beef and place it aside.

Dressing:

In a bowl, add the rest of the processed paste, slowly adding the oil whisking vigorously until it is totally emulsified, then add the sliced shallots, chili, lime juice and finally adjust the seasoning to taste.

Presentation:

Toss the mesclun or any mixed leaf salad and blanched asparagus with the dressing, place on your choice of service plate, then arrange the sliced beef and drizzle the dressing for desired design.

Notes:

It is very important to ensure that the asparagus is blanched in boiling salted water and when almost cooked thrown into ice water to ensure that the cooking process is instantly stopped and the asparagus stays wonderfully green. The beautiful colour will jump out and give the salads presentation an incredible lift, alongside the pink and juicy roast beef. Chef Kasdi has garnished his wonderful salad topped with a selection of the coloured leaves, this to give the salad good height and the he has drizzled some dressing around the outside of his plate for effect.

2 Special tips:

• When roasting any meat, after its finished cooking and you take it out of the oven, due to the immense heat inside the oven, all of the internal juices are swirling around inside. If you carve the meat straight out of the oven, all the juices will pour out on to the cutting board, ensuring that your meat when served is dry as all the juices have left the meat. Allowing the meat to “rest” will allow the juices to settle and when carved, they will remain inside the meat and ensuring it stays very juicy.
• When blanching any vegetables, especially green ones, it is imperative that they are immersed into vigourously boiling water for blanching. When the vegetables are added, the water, for a second will stop boiling. The heat under the blanching pot must be on full blast to ensure that the water returns to a boil as soon as possible. To help this process, the vegetables should be cooked in small batches so that the water is only cooled off slightly and returns to a boil quickly. If too many vegetables are added all at once, it will take the water too long to return to a boil, discoloring the vegetables, spoiling the presentation at the end and reducing the healthy nutrients which are hidden inside the fresh veggies.

Happy Cooking!