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Spiced Beef  & Pickled Cucumber Mint Salad with Beetroot Hummus | DonalSkehan.com, This middle eastern inspired dish can also be served as a starter.
  • main-meals

Spiced Beef & Pickled Cucumber Mint Salad with Beetroot Hummus

June 04

Use the best dry aged steaks you can afford and make sure you give them plenty of time to rest before serving them to allow all the juices to settle.

 

 

  • serves Serves 2
  • time 120 mins

Method

  1. 1. To make the za’atar, toast the sesame and cumin seeds in a dry pan over a medium high heat for about 2 minutes until the sesame seeds turn golden brown. Place the toasted seeds in a pestle and mortar along with the ground sumac, salt and oregano leaves. Grind to a rough powder. Pat the steaks dry with kitchen roll and press the za’atar on to both sides of the steaks, using your hands. If you have time, cover with foil or cling film and leave at room temperature for 2-3 hours to allow the flavours to infuse.
  2. 2. For the beetroot hummus, Blitz all the ingredients together in a food processor until smooth. Season with sea salt and black pepper and add a little more lemon juice to taste if required. Spoon into a bowl, then cover with cling film and chill until needed.
  3. 3. To make the cucumber salad, place each cucumber on a chopping board and using a swivel vegetable peeler pare into long thin ribbons. Place the vinegar in a bowl and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Add the cucumber ribbons with the onion and toss to coat. Cover with cling film and for at least 10 minutes, or up to 8 hours in the fridge is fine.
  4. 4. Heat the rapeseed oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over a high heat. Add the steaks and cook for 2 minutes on each side, then reduce the heat, add half the butter and cook the steaks for 5-10 minutes, turning once, depending on how rare you like it. Transfer the steaks to a plate, season with salt and set aside in a warm place to rest before carving into thin slices.
  5. 5. To serve, drain off any excess liquid from the cucumber salad, then tear the mint into small pieces and fold in with the toasted sesame seeds. Arrange on plates with the slices of beef and a large dollop of the beetroot hummus drizzled with a little extra pomegranate molasses.

Ingredients

2 x 225g sirloin steaks, about 4cm thick

2 tsp rapeseed oil

For the za’atar:

2 tbsp sesame seeds

4 tsp cumin seeds

4 tsp ground sumac

1 tsp sea salt

A generous handful of oregano leaves, chopped

For the beetroot hummus:

2 cooked beetroot, extra finely chopped to garnish

½ tin chickpeas drained and rinsed

1 small garlic clove, roughly chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses, plus extra to drizzle

1 ½ tsp tahini paste

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Sea salt and ground black pepper

For the pickled cucumber salad:

2 baby cucumbers or ½ a normal sized cucumber

4 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 small red onion, very finely sliced

6 fresh mint leaves

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

You'll Need

Pestel & Mortar

Food Processor

Heavy based frying-pan