Bring out the beef

Summer is around the corner and it’s time to beef things up in the food department.

Daylight saving brings longer days and as the evenings get warmer it's good to linger over a meal outdoors. Beef provides an excellent barbecue companion.

Meat and Livestock Australia have given me some tasty recipes to tempt you.

Beef and salad wraps
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4

600g beef strips (or 600g rump steak, sliced thinly before cooking)
2tbsp vegetable oil
1tsp sweet paprika
1 tomato, finely diced
1 Lebanese cucumber, halved, deseeded and finely diced
1 red onion, peeled and finely diced
½ cup finely chopped parsley

To serve: pre-purchased hummus, baba ghanoush, green salad leaves, pita breads

Coat beef strips with the oil, sprinkle with paprika and season with salt and pepper. Preheat a large frying pan or barbecue flat plate until moderately hot; cook the beef in two batches. Combine the tomato, cucumber, onion and parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper

To serve, spread warmed pita breads with purchased spreads, lettuce, tomato and onion mixture, top with warm beef strips and roll up

Tip: When cooking beef strips cook the first side until the first sign of moisture appears on the uncooked side, then turn and cook the other side to complete the cooking. This way the beef will brown well.

Beef burgers and caramelised onions
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 4

500g beef mince
2 garlic cloves, crushed (optional)
2 tbsp barbecue sauce
½ cup chopped parsley
2 tsp Dijon or mild mustard
2 tbsp vegetable oil for cooking

To serve: toasted or char-grilled buns or bread, sliced tomato and salad leaves

Caramelised onions

2 large or 3 small red onions, peeled and sliced thinly
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp brown sugar

Mix together the beef mince, garlic, sauce, parsley and mustard, and season with salt and pepper. Shape into 4 round burgers.

Brush burgers with oil before cooking. Preheat the pan or barbecue grill to moderately hot before adding the burgers; they should sizzle when you place them on the heat. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, turn them once only.

To make caramelised onions; place all ingredients in a pan and cook over a moderately high heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally, reduce heat to low and cook a further 5 minutes.

The burger is best made to around a 3cm thickness. At this size the burger will cook through to the middle without becoming dry on the outside.

Serve burgers on toasted buns, with lettuce, tomato slices and top with caramelised onions.

Note: Burgers should always be thoroughly cooked; they should not be served rare or pink. A good guide is to insert a skewer into the thickest part; if it is ready to eat the juices will be clear.

Beef salad with crunchy noodles
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4

600g beef strips (or 600g rump steak, sliced thinly before cooking) 
2tbsp vegetable oil
2 carrots, peeled and cut into fine strips (approx 5cm long)
2 Lebanese cucumbers, halved, deseeded and cut into fine strips (approx 5cm long)
125g snow peas, topped and cut into fine strips
1 pkt (225g) crispy noodles
juice of 2 limes
3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
extra 2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups loosely packed coriander leaves

Coat beef strips with the oil. Preheat a large frying pan or barbecue flat plate until moderately hot; cook the beef in two batches. Set aside whilst making the salad

Combine the strips of carrot, cucumber and snow peas with the noodles. Add the combined lime juice, sweet chilli sauce and extra oil

Add the warm beef strips to the vegetables and noodles, add the coriander leaves and toss to combine

Note: When buying the crispy noodles, make sure you use ones that say ready to eat on the pack, as some packet noodles need to be cooked first. The crispy noodles give this salad a wonderful crunchy texture.

Beef, zucchini and lemon kebabs
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 5 -10 minutes
Serves 4

700g beef, diced into 2cm pieces
3 small or 2 large zucchini, peeled into ribbons (use a vegetable peeler or thinly slice lengthways)
2 tbsp capers, chopped roughly
2 cloves garlic, crushed
finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 tbsp olive oil

To serve: a mixed salad of lettuce, avocado slices, olives, parsley leaves and bottled French dressing. And lemon wedges on the side.

Thread the beef and zucchini ribbons alternatively onto 8 skewers with 4 pieces of beef on each skewer.

Combine the capers, garlic, rind, juice, rosemary and oil. Brush this mixture over the beef kebabs. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes if possible.

Preheat a large frying pan or barbecue until moderately hot. Cook the beef skewers for 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked to your liking.

Remove the beef skewers from the heat, cover loosely with foil to rest for 3 minutes before serving. Serve with salad and lemon wedges on the side.

Best beef cuts for cooking on skewers: fillet, rib eye/scotch fillet, sirloin, rump, round, topside and blade. Cut the beef into 2cm cubes.

Steak with avocado salsa and oregano tomatoes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

4 x 200g rib eye/scotch fillet steaks (or use sirloin steaks)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 Desiree potatoes, sliced thinly
3-4 baby tomatoes on the truss per person (or use cherry tomatoes)
2 tbsp oregano leaves
2 tbsp olive oil

Avocado salsa

1 avocado, peeled and finely diced
1 red onion, peeled and finely diced
½ cup roughly chopped parsley
½ lemon, juiced
1tbsp olive oil

Preheat the barbecue, and preheat the oven to 200ºC. Brush the steaks with 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil.

Place the potato slices on a baking tray lined with baking paper, season and drizzle with the remaining 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Bake in the oven 15 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through and starting to brown and go crispy on the edges.

Ensure barbecue is hot before you cook steaks. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side for medium or cook until desired doneness. Turn steaks once only. Use tongs rather than a barbecue fork to turn. Remove from the heat and cover loosely with foil to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Place tomatoes on a baking tray, sprinkle with oregano, season and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake for the last 3 minutes in the oven with the potato.

To serve, place the steaks on a plate with the potato and oregano tomatoes and top steaks with avocado salsa.

To make avocado salsa; combine all ingredients.

For more beef - and lamb - recipe suggestions go to www.themainmeal.com.au

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