Donald Russell, an online butcher based in Aberdeenshire recently sent me some of their diced beef and pork (pork recipe to follow) for review. The meat was delivered in a polystyrene box packed with dry ice to keep it frozen in transit and it did a very good job. Donald Russell has a wide variety of meat available, delivered to your door, with plenty of recipes on their website to tempt you too.
A couple of years ago Mr OC reached a milestone birthday and our good friend Tony bought him a rotisserie barbecue for making souvla and souvlaki. We have used it as much as the weather allows us too ever since. So I was really pleased to receive this meat for review. This beef recipe is my interpretation of the espatada that we eat when we go on our holidays to Madeira. Espatada, is cubed beef rubbed with garlic, salt and bay leaf, cooked over coals on a skewer or a bay leaf twig and then hung on your table and served with cornbread which soaks up the delicious juices. I have to have espatada at least twice on holiday. Then I cook it whenever the occasion arises when we are at home and the rotisserie can be fetched out. This time though, because the weather knew I wanted to cook this beef for review it decided to rain most of the week. This beef was, therefore, cooked at the top of the roasting oven of the Aga, which is as close as I can get to grilling meat in an Aga. It does a perfectly decent job and the beef was delicious.
440g diced beef steak
1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
juice and rind of ½ lemon
1-2 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1-2 bay leaf crumbled
pepper
Soak some wooden skewers in water for at least 1 hour to prevent them burning or use metal skewers.
Method
Dry your diced steak with kitchen towel and place into a glass bowl or a freezer bag. Glug in some olive oil, the rind and juice of the lemon. Sprinkle over the chopped garlic, salt, bay leaf and a touch of pepper. Mix the marinade well into the beef using your hands or by shaking the freezer bag. Leave to marinate for at least an hour and preferably three.
Thread the meat securely onto the skewers and place on a grill rack over a roasting tin (line the tin with foil to save washing up). Place under a hot grill or in an oven at its highest setting for 10-15 minutes, turning once or twice until lightly charred. If you have the barbecue fired up then cook them over the hot coals. Leave to rest for a few minutes, squeeze a bit more lemon juice over the top before taking off the skewers and enjoying in a flatbread or with cornbread or a salad.
I received four packs of diced meat free of charge for the purposes of review from Donald Russell Online Butchers. All of the opinions in this post are my own and are honest.
