Garlic, Lime & Chilli Marinated Steak

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Lime & Chilli Steak

Another recipe I’ve had hanging around for a couple of years and only just got around to trying. This is one of Wine Spectator’s Dining Tips: weekly recipes that are featured along with a wine.

Somewhat unimaginatively this dish is paired with Malbec (well, I guess the Argentinians do eat a lot of steak …) but I suggest you be careful what you choose – especially if you’re a fan of heavy handed chilli.

The marinade is a little bit of work but well worth it.

For the two of us, I took about ¼ cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil. Put it over a very low heat. Take some garlic (to taste – I used a couple of generously side cloves and a smattering of smaller ones – use more than you think!) and just crush it with the back of a knife. No need to chop or mince. Put the garlic in the oil and allow it to heat through very gently. Don’t allow the oil to heat up too much – you certainly don’t want any sizzle or any burnt garlic.

Cook over a very low heat for at least 5 minutes. Add chilli flakes (again, to taste) and cook for a further minute before removing from the heat. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes and then add the juice of two limes. Return to the heat, bring to a simmer and then remove from the heat.

You are now finished with the whole on/off the heat business!

When the lime and oil mix has cooled, stir in a scant tsp of ground cumin and 2 tsp of ground coriander.

Your marinade is now done! There’s no reason why this won’t keep (in the fridge) for a day or two.

Marinate your meat for at least half an hour before cooking. When you come to cook the meat (griddle pan, frying pan, BBQ – whatever suits you), make sure you leave the crushed garlic cloves in the bowl – if you try cooking them they’ll only burn and things will taste bitter. However, you can (and, indeed, should) use the leftover oil to baste the meat in the pan.

Serve with accompaniments of your choice. This tasted absolutely fantastic – a lovely balance of chilli heat and sourness from the limes. Definitely a marinade we’ll be revisiting often when BBQ weather comes around again.

Smoked Salmon Tart

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Hot Smoked Salmon Tart

This is a super easy tart recipe that can be on the table in about half an hour or so. It also makes use of hot smoked salmon – the type that you buy in a large chunk, not the fine slices. You could use any smoked fish, really. If you’re in the northern hemisphere smoked mackerel would work really well, particularly with the horseradish.

The original recipe comes from Woman and Home. It’s an English magazine (and one I confess I never read while I lived there) and the recipes usually look really good but are relatively little work.

When I made this tart I cheated and used some leftover (bought!) pastry that we had hanging around the fridge – you can probably tell from the photo that it was a combination of shortcrust and puff! Of course, you can make your own shortcrust, or perhaps even buy a ready made tart case. How much work you want to put in is your choice!

Remove the skin from the fish (if it’s still on) and flake the fish into the tart case. You want reasonably even sized pieces but don’t get too hung up about that. You definitely want an even covering of fish though!

For the filling, I used 1 egg yolk and 4 eggs, 1 generous tsp of horseradish and about 2 generous tbsp of cream. Whisk this all together and season with pepper (remember – no salt! Don’t add salt to uncooked eggs!). Gently pour over the fish and place the tart in an oven preheated to 170°C (fan, 190°C normal). Bake for about 30 minutes or until the filling is puffed, golden and firm to touch.

In summer, you could serve this tart at room temperature with a salad. However, as it’s decidedly not summer here, it was served on hot plates with steamed veggies.

Either way – perfect quick supper food!

Sam Miranda Cellar Door Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2011

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Sam Miranda 2011 SB

Disclaimer: I was sent this wine by Wine Selectors as part of the first case in their Regional Series. Wine Selectors’ price is $16 a bottle.

I am not a big Sauvignon Blanc drinker and, in particular, I am not big on New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Not that I think there is anything wrong with a NZ Savvy but there’s rather too much of it, too much of it that is average, and too many people who won’t drink anything else.

If you do like a Sauvignon Blanc, please make the tiny effort required to seek out a home grown one.

This Sam Miranda Sauvignon Blanc comes from King Valley in north eastern Victoria – which is a good change for a South Australian. The Sam Miranda range is the premium range of the winery. Unfortunately, this Sauvignon Blanc doesn’t appear on the website, which is a shame because it’s not your typical SB when it comes to winemaking.

For the wine geeks, the wine has been subject to wild barrel fermentation (Sauvignon Blanc is usually made in stainless steel tanks), and has the unusual addition of 10% Savagnin and 5% Petit Manseng.

Savagnin is increasingly seen in Australia, because what everyone thought was Albariño turned out to be Savagnin instead. For most the world, it’s a little known grape – aside from us, it’s really only seen in its homeland of the Jura in France.

Petit Manseng is an even less familiar grape. It is originally from south west France and is now being grown a little in both California and Australia. I’ve only seen one straight Petit Manseng – the 919 from the Riverland.

So there are a lot of interesting things about this wine but this doesn’t mean that diehard Sauvignon Blanc drinkers will be disappointed. On the nose there is the gooseberry, passionfruit, pineapple and even a hint of banana that people expect, or even demand, of a Sav Blanc. It’s not the aggressively herbaceous cat’s pee kind of nose that you sometimes get – it’s very approachable.

On the palate it’s all about the passionfruit and pineapple. There’s acidity there and a bit more weight than the typical Sauvignon Blanc (I suspect that’s thanks to the barrel ferment). This makes this wine incredibly approachable and it would work just as well with food as it would as an apéritif.

This is great – because I can recommend this wine to you on two fronts. Yes, it does indeed have some curiosity value but it’s also good to drink.