Do you ever play Reversee with your meals? No, that doesn't mean having your dessert as your dinner, so don't get your hopes up! It means reversing the proportions of the ingredients to allow the vegetables to be the star for a change.
Husband and Diva are not always, it must be said, enamoured with this idea. Husband always checks under the veg, just in case the rest of the meat is hiding there, and Diva eyes it suspiciously and says 'what is it' with that vague sneer that suggests that I may be attempting to poison her to alleviate the pain in my hip from my constantly assaulted wallet.
Just a little while ago, I served rounds of baked sweet potato with diced chicken as the garnish rather than the other way around. Husband asked where the chicken was, but only after he'd eaten every mouthful and licked the plate clean. Diva picked her way through it, after first feeding some to our whippet who acts as her unofficial Food Taster. Having ascertained that the dog was still living, she then deigned to consume her meal and pronounced it "Delishimondo".
Last week I looked at the small end piece of some fillet steak I'd bought whole at one of the cheapo butchers, and wondered how I could make it into a meal for the three of us, when most times, it would barely touch the sides as Husband would wolf it down in three quick mouthfuls. But applying the Reversee principle, I came up with a plan.
Taking the still mostly frozen piece of meat and slicing it paper thin, gave me eight pieces of steak. So thin, in fact that I wondered how difficult it would be to convince the Fam that this was a meal and not a joke.
But here's the good bit. Wrapped around little bundles of whole beans and carrot sticks and marinated in teriyaki sauce, this suddenly becomes something spesh. Wait and see. You could even use your surplus of home grown beans. You may have one if you're cleverer than I. But given my experience with growing berries...I don't think that's going to be me in a hurry...see here...
http://www.simplesavings.com.au/fora/2813736/?replies=12&mark
You'll need a really sharp knife, a non-stick frypan, and a large flat dish in which to marinate your Beefy Bundles.
To serve this one, you might like to consider steamed rice and your favourite salad on the side. You'll have time to get these prepared and ready to go while marinating your Beefy Bundles. These take mere minutes once in a sizzling hot pan.
Your ingredients are:
- 2-3 smallish paper thin slices of steak per person. I prefer to buy a hunk of beef (I'm referring to the meat for dinner, not the butcher himself), partially freeze it, and slice it myself with a really sharp knife. Even my favourite hunky butcher can't seem to get this one right. He imagines schnitzel, I imagine shavings.
- Four whole green beans, topped and tailed, per piece of steak. You can also use carrot sticks, capsicum slivers or whatever else you have on hand.
- Teriyaki sauce (soy or tamari will do as well).
- Some kitchen string to tie up the bundles neatly. I cut my string into just the right number of lengths before starting.
- Your favourite oil for pan frying, I use rice bran oil. Peanut oil gives the bundles a yummy flavour, but it doesn't matter too much.
Take a slice of steak, and lay it flat on your bench. Gather your veg sticks into a neat bundle and place on the edge of the steak nearest you. Wrapping the steak firmly around the vegies, roll up firmly, and secure with string. Place each on to a flat platter as you complete them.
When they're all done and lined up like little posh hors d`oeuvres, drench them in the teriyaki sauce. Roll them around in it and really give them a good soak, then allow them to rest in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes while you prepare the rice and salad. Have your plates at the ready and the table set because the next bit is really quick.
Get your pan onto the hotplate and splash in some oil. When the oil is nice and hot, drop in the bundles of beef, three at a time. No more than three in the pan at a time though, and you risk steaming them rather than sizzling them. Quickly turn them around so they get all glossy and brown on all sides, and remove them to a serving platter. Don't stress, they won't have time to go cold as the other bundles will be ready in a tick. Continue to panfry the bundles until they're all done and at the last minute, drop them all back in to quickly warm them up.
That's it. Enjoy! The flavour of the steak wrapped around the crisp and crunchy vegetables, with the piquancy of the teriyaki sauce is to die for.
Just please don't tell the butcher that I said to go and buy a hunk. He might not get the joke!
