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Seared fillet of beef with Salmorglio .oh... my... God!

This is from The River Café blue book it’s so simple but absolutely delicious, however it really does rely on having fabulous beef as the meat is barely cooked. I know it sounds poncey but I now think that you can really only get that level of quality if you have a really good butcher. For most things I think a good supermarket is absolutely fine, but for some things you just can’t beat Peter Dale (or your local equivalent of course)

Anyway, back to the recipe, if you can call it that. Buy a piece of fillet, not steaks, a big piece (allow about half a pound per person) later on you’re going to sear it and slice it a bit like carpaccio. It will cost a few bob, about five or six pounds per person but it really is worth it. Get some rocket too; loads of it if you’re anything like us. I can remember having dinner in Italy with the lovely Jeremy Pemberton about fifteen years ago and us saying we should become rocket farmers, or Rucola farmers, or even Arugula farmers. Based on my families consumption, I reckon we’d be loaded by now if we had done so, but I digress.

The final and magic ingredient is the Salmorglio, this can be made with fresh thyme or oregano, fresh oregano is a bit harder to get hold of and thyme works brilliantly. Just in case you’re one of those people who thinks that dried herbs can substitute for fresh, do not be tempted to try that here, disaster awaits if you do.

This bit can be done in advance, even a day in advance, which makes this a really good dinner party recipe. Firstly you have to shred three tablespoons of thyme leaves off of their stalks. This is a bit fiddly but doing it properly and not leaving loads of stalks in will result in a much better result. My tip is get a bowl that is much bigger than you need, sit down with it in your lap and slowly work your way through what is probably a couple of those Waitrose packs. The big bowl will catch all the little leaves that fly off, sitting down with it in your lap will be much easier on your back and arms. An even better idea is to make it an opportunity to have a chat, get one of the kids to help, Martha and Joe are normally up for it, or get friends to become your ‘thyme shredders’. When we were preparing for our good friends the Pricey’s 25th anniversary barbecue, we had a whole crew of people shredding by the pool, happily chatting away.

By now you will have your fantastically fragrant pile of thyme, put it into your pestle and mortar …… you have to do it in a pestle and mortar, a food mixer won’t do ….. Add some lovely Maldon salt and grind away until you have a wet dark green sauce-like mixture, now add your best extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and some black pepper and its done.

About an hour before you are due to eat; heat a griddle, griddle pan or a good heavy non-stick frying pan until its absolutely smoking hot. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSATNCES ADD ANY OIL. Roll the fillet in a little bit of Maldon salt and ground black pepper then sear for about 30 seconds on each side. The meat should end up beautifully browned and a bit crispy on the outside and absolutely raw in the middle( NB If you can’t take raw meat do not attempt this dish.) Leave the meat to one side to rest.

Then once it’s cooled, slice into half centimetre thick slices and lay out in a single layer on the biggest and nicest looking serving plate that you have. Then the trick is to press the slices a little flat with the point of a carving knife poking through parts of it to give a bit of a lacy effect.
Then drip the magic Salmorglio all over, its gloriously intense lemon, thyme, olive oil taste mixed with the crusty but raw meat is just divine. Serve with a rocket salad, some more olive oil and salt, maybe some nice bread. It’s sex on a plate

Ingredients

4 level tablespoons of fresh thyme leaves ( you'll need about two of those waitrose size packets. Do not use lemon Thyme by the way)
1 tsp sea sea salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
8 tbs extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

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