Surf and Turf

 My body had been craving Salad. Salad, red meat... nutrients. Which it generally does after a big dose of partying. So I called my housemate, let him know I was cooking, and headed to the shops.

I picked up some rump, prawns and salad items, gathered up my housemate and his brother from work, and headed home to prepare the feast.

The salad was a pre-bagged salad of leaves, to which I added celery, cucumber, sun blushed tomatos, pine nuts and a Jamie Oliver-inspired sauteed nectarine in olive oil and black pepper. The dressing came with the leaves and had an asian tang of chili and ginger.

The baby potatoes were boiled in in their skins in heavily salted water to which I added chili flakes. After boiling, I drained then returned to the hot pan and placed back in the heat for around 30 seconds to dry them out and added more coursely ground sea salt, and served with a knob of butter.

The prawns, (which were a product of Thailand- which I usually stay away from, but strangely fresh Mooloolaba prawns aren't so easy to get a hold of here in Scotland) I marinated in three cloves of finely chopped garlic, a fair amount- maybe a tsp of dried chili flakes and olive oil whilst I was preparing the salad and potatoes, then pan fried for no longer than a minute, transferred to a bowl, and kept warm in the oven.

The rump was one of the cheapest steaks available at the store, but I will always adore the full-flavour of rump, and since I've been over here, I can't help but notice how beautiful the meat is. The flavours are more delicate but more defines, and the texture seems much finer than that of Australian beef. I can't be sure, but that's my opinion. To cook, (rare for me, blue for my housemate- my first attempt at a blue steak) I covered both steaks in freshly ground pepper, and got the pan smoking hot. I friend mine first. Maybe 2 minutes on one side, and between 30 secs and a minute on the second side, then transferred it to the pre warmed oven. The housemates, was no more than a minute on each side. They rested in the cool (70deg) oven. Then I plated everything together.

I served with a Rosemount Semillon Verdelho.

It was a really lovely meal, and reminded me how much I miss Australian-type cooking. Salads are a rarity with meals here, and often fresh fruit and veg are entirely omitted. This meal has totally inspired me to get cooking again.