Weeknight Dinner: Beef Salad with Blood Oranges and Gorgonzola
The Leo sun is blazing intensely in the northeast. Everything seems gilded under the lion’s all-seeing eyes and, yes, a bit showy in response to the tossing of that golden mane. The season’s best apricots simmer in the jam pot while dough for Lammas bread rises in yellow ware crocks. Fittingly for the month of the first harvest, leos from Mick Jagger to Martha Stewart teach us about both the good life and the efforts it takes to achieve it. Lions are good parents, and those apricot trees required the simple, vital acts of planting and nurturing to bear fruit. But lions have their savage side, and even as they grew strong in the sunshine, those golden heads of wheat achieved their fullness at the blade of the harvest scythe.
Any astrologer (or leo) will tell you that everything in the lion’s life must be of the best quality, and this in turn reflects their role as keeper of the sun’s golden light. This is on display on the leo’s table, where the very best ingredients will be prepared to highlight their very best qualities. (They will be served on the nicest china, too, if there’s a nice tonic capricorn placement somewhere in the stars). Even if you don’t dig astrology, the dedication to quality is fitting for this month of fruitfulness born of sunshine, for while the first harvest celebrates summer’s apex, it also quickens our pulse towards autumn, and the work that that spectacular season will bring.
August meals are as casual as soup and a sandwich or as opulent as special night on the town, but whatever we’re eating, in August we have our pick of the best of everything. That is reflected in this month’s Weeknight Dinner: beef salad. Modern cooks and diners don’t often associate beef with salad, and when they do it’s the steakhouse wedge that accompanies a T-Bone (and thain’t nothing wrong with that), but this dish has enjoyed a renaissance, due to its appearance on menus designed by chefs sensitive to connection and given to interpretation. Beef, properly treated, marries well to greens – just ask any cow at the graze -- and this is the idea that lands a well-done and pun-intended beef salad on your plate.
Beef salad is primarily associated with Asian cooking. Xa lach thit bo is Vietnamese comfort food; lively with the cavorting flavors of fish sauce and coriander and crunchy with radishes and bean sprouts. Often the plate is finished with hanh dam, the vinegared onions that are a signature of this cooking. A Thai beef salad is finished with prik kee noo, those notably hot Thai chile peppers, and a sprinkling of cilantro, basil or mint. The Chinese version incorporates a successful pairing of oranges and sesame oil.
Though beef salad is a favored item from the Asian menu, my favorite interpretation of this dish is American bistro. At a trattoria in LA, my beef salad was served in a savory bath of Worcestershire, mustard and anchovies over arugula, while our go-to New York City pub serves it with merlot and root vegetables over watercress. In researching the dish, I found that it was once a high-water mark of downtown luncheon spaces, and perhaps that accounts for its resurgence on the modern bistro menu. However we learn about it, cooks are inspired by beef salad. Once you master the basic steps of searing the beef and assembling the salad, the possibilities for invention and expression are endless -- and if that doesn’t correspond to the month of leo, I don’t know what does.
My original recipe for beef salad is below. Unlike a London Broil, in which the beef is marinated for a long time before being cooked on hot iron, the beef for this salad is prepared with the sear-and-roast method common to bistro kitchens. A good cut of meat combined with this fail-safe prep insures a tender, meaty forkful, while the pan drippings are used to create a rich dressing that builds substantial flavor. Toss a salad of peppery arugula and bitter radicchio with slices of sweet red onion and intense blood orange and finish the platter with creamy Gorgonzola. Serve your beef salad with the last of last year’s giardiniera (or the first of this year’s), a tray of olives or a basket of fresh rolls. Pair it with an assertive red wine and have a panna cotta ready for dessert.
BEEF SALAD WITH BLOOD ORANGES AND GORGONZOLA
Blood oranges should be coming into season at the Farmer's Market, greengrocer or Italian grocery store. Look for small, evenly colored oranges that feel plump when you hold them and evidence no soft brown spots or mold. If you can't locate blood oranges, use Seville oranges, navel oranges or tangerines. For beef cuts, the USDA recommends an internal temperature of 145 degrees after cooking and resting; in professional kitchens, this is usually between 125 -- 130 degrees.
For the beef
1 1-1/2 pound flat boneless beef cut for broiling, such as flank or skirt
1/4 cup dry to medium-dry sherry, such as Manzanilla, Fino or Amontillado
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for the pan
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt (Greek sea salt works well)
Freshly ground black pepper
For the dressing
1/4 cup assertive dry red wine, such as Bordeaux or pinot noir
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 medium shallots
1 teaspoon dried thyme
For the salad
2 bunches fresh arugula
1 small head fresh radicchio
1 pound blood oranges
1 medium red onion
1 1/4 - 1/3 pound wedge gorgonzola
Marinate the beef
1. Rinse the beef under cool water and pat it dry. If warranted, use the diamond end of a metal meat mallet to pound the steak to uniform thickness of 1/2 inch.
2. Rub beef on both sides with salt. Sprinkle each side of the beef with freshly ground black pepper; use your hands to rub the pepper into the beef.
3. Measure sherry, olive oil and dried thyme into a shallow glass dish large enough to hold the beef. Place the beef in the marinade and turn the beef several times to coat it thoroughly.
4. Cover the dish with its lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours, turning the beef in the marinade at the one-hour mark.
Prepare the salad
1. Pull or cut the leaves of the arugula from the sandy roots; discard the roots. Rinse the leaves under cool running water until they no longer feel gritty; place on several layers of paper towels to dry.
2. Place the radicchio core side down on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to slice down vertically, halving the radicchio. Use the knife to remove the core from the bottom of the halves. Halve each half, and then to cut each quarter into spears. Separate the leaves and place in the bowl of a salad spinner. Spin dry.
3. Set aside two to three oranges for juicing. Working one at a time, place one of the remaining oranges on a clean cutting board devoted to produce. Use a citrus knife or sharp paring knife to remove and discard the stem and blossom ends of the orange. Use your hands or the knife to peel away the orange rind and the white pith beneath the rind.
4. Use the knife to cut each orange in half from top to bottom. Use the knife to cut away and discard the white pith down the center of the orange. Use the tip of the knife or your fingers to remove seeds if any; discard seeds or save for planting.
5. Lay each halved orange flat-side down on the cutting board. Halve each half from cut end to cut end to form quarters; halve each wedge to form eighths.
6. Continue peeling, pithing, seeding and cutting each blood orange until you have approximately 1 to 1-1/2 cups orange wedges.
7. Peel the onion and use the knife to remove and discard the root and stem ends. Cut the onion horizontally into thin rounds; cut each round in half to form thin crescents.
8. Distribute the cleaned and dried arugula and radicchio across a clean serving platter. Tuck the orange slices and onion crescents into the greens.
9. Use a sharp cheese knife to cut the gorgonzola into slices; it is okay if some of the cheese crumbles as you slice it. Distribute the gorgonzola across the greens, reserving some for garnish.
Prepare the dressing
1. Remove the root and stem ends of each shallot; remove the papery outer skin. Halve each shallot from root to stem; halve each half. Cut each quarter into crescents and then cut across the crescents to form tiny dice. Set aside until ready to prepare the dressing.
2. Use a juicer or citrus press to juice the blood oranges into a small bowl, working over a sieve if necessary to catch any seeds or heavy pith. You should wind up with 2 – 3 tablespoons blood orange juice, but don’t worry if the measurement isn’t exact.
3. Whisk the vinegar and dried thyme into the blood orange juice. Set aside until ready to prepare the dressing.
Assemble the dish
1. ½ hour before serving, heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place a cast iron skillet or stovetop- and oven-proof sauté pan on the stovetop. Set heat to medium-high. Drizzle the bottom of the skillet with a two-count of extra-virgin olive oil.
3. Remove the beef from the marinade and shake dry of excess liquid. Discard the marinade.
4. Once the olive oil evidences a sheen, use tongs to gently place the beef into the pan. Sprinkle the beef with several grindings fresh black pepper.
5. Shake the pan gently to prevent the beef from sticking. Sear the beef without disturbing for one minute.
6. After one minute, use the tongs to turn the beef over in the pan, standing back to avoid flare-ups or splashes of hot oil. Sprinkle the beef with several grindings fresh black pepper. Sear for two minutes.
7. Once again, use the tongs to turn the beef over in the pan, standing back to avoid flare-ups or splashes of hot oil. The bottom of the beef where it was just seared should evidence a nice brown seal.
8. Turn off the stovetop and use potholders to place the pan, uncovered, into the oven. Pan roast the beef for approximately 10 minutes for rare.
9. After 10 minutes, use potholders to remove the pan from the oven. Use caution: the pan will be very hot. Use the potholders to turn the handle of the pan towards the back of the stovetop.
10. Use tongs to carefully transfer the beef to a clean cutting board reserved for meat. Loosely tent the beef with foil and set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
11. While the beef is resting, carefully stir the minced shallot into the collected juices in the hot roasting pan. Use a silicon spatula or wooden spoon to stir the shallots until they are translucent and browned on the edges, which should occur very quickly.
12. Carefully add the red wine vinegar to the pan. Use the spatula or spoon to stir the vinegar, pan juices, and shallots. Leave the dressing base in the pan on the stovetop until it is time to finish the dressing.
13. After the beef has rested for 10 minutes, remove the foil from the beef. It should be dark and very fragrant. Use the tongs in one hand to steady the beef while you carve the beef into thin slices against the grain with a strong, sharp knife held in the remaining hand. Discard juices if any that pool on the cutting board.
14. Once you have carved the beef, carefully transfer the slices to the salad. The beef should be just warm enough to lightly wilt some of the greens. Sprinkle the remaining gorgonzola over the salad.
15. Use potholders to carefully hold the pan containing the dressing at an angle over the bowl containing the orange juice/balsamic vinegar mixture. Carefully pour the pan juices into the bowl. Whisk until the orange juice gives off its fragrance and a light emulsion forms.
16. Pass the platter of salad with the dressing, for diners to serve themselves.
Any astrologer (or leo) will tell you that everything in the lion’s life must be of the best quality, and this in turn reflects their role as keeper of the sun’s golden light. This is on display on the leo’s table, where the very best ingredients will be prepared to highlight their very best qualities. (They will be served on the nicest china, too, if there’s a nice tonic capricorn placement somewhere in the stars). Even if you don’t dig astrology, the dedication to quality is fitting for this month of fruitfulness born of sunshine, for while the first harvest celebrates summer’s apex, it also quickens our pulse towards autumn, and the work that that spectacular season will bring.
August meals are as casual as soup and a sandwich or as opulent as special night on the town, but whatever we’re eating, in August we have our pick of the best of everything. That is reflected in this month’s Weeknight Dinner: beef salad. Modern cooks and diners don’t often associate beef with salad, and when they do it’s the steakhouse wedge that accompanies a T-Bone (and thain’t nothing wrong with that), but this dish has enjoyed a renaissance, due to its appearance on menus designed by chefs sensitive to connection and given to interpretation. Beef, properly treated, marries well to greens – just ask any cow at the graze -- and this is the idea that lands a well-done and pun-intended beef salad on your plate.
Beef salad is primarily associated with Asian cooking. Xa lach thit bo is Vietnamese comfort food; lively with the cavorting flavors of fish sauce and coriander and crunchy with radishes and bean sprouts. Often the plate is finished with hanh dam, the vinegared onions that are a signature of this cooking. A Thai beef salad is finished with prik kee noo, those notably hot Thai chile peppers, and a sprinkling of cilantro, basil or mint. The Chinese version incorporates a successful pairing of oranges and sesame oil.
Though beef salad is a favored item from the Asian menu, my favorite interpretation of this dish is American bistro. At a trattoria in LA, my beef salad was served in a savory bath of Worcestershire, mustard and anchovies over arugula, while our go-to New York City pub serves it with merlot and root vegetables over watercress. In researching the dish, I found that it was once a high-water mark of downtown luncheon spaces, and perhaps that accounts for its resurgence on the modern bistro menu. However we learn about it, cooks are inspired by beef salad. Once you master the basic steps of searing the beef and assembling the salad, the possibilities for invention and expression are endless -- and if that doesn’t correspond to the month of leo, I don’t know what does.
My original recipe for beef salad is below. Unlike a London Broil, in which the beef is marinated for a long time before being cooked on hot iron, the beef for this salad is prepared with the sear-and-roast method common to bistro kitchens. A good cut of meat combined with this fail-safe prep insures a tender, meaty forkful, while the pan drippings are used to create a rich dressing that builds substantial flavor. Toss a salad of peppery arugula and bitter radicchio with slices of sweet red onion and intense blood orange and finish the platter with creamy Gorgonzola. Serve your beef salad with the last of last year’s giardiniera (or the first of this year’s), a tray of olives or a basket of fresh rolls. Pair it with an assertive red wine and have a panna cotta ready for dessert.
BEEF SALAD WITH BLOOD ORANGES AND GORGONZOLA
Blood oranges should be coming into season at the Farmer's Market, greengrocer or Italian grocery store. Look for small, evenly colored oranges that feel plump when you hold them and evidence no soft brown spots or mold. If you can't locate blood oranges, use Seville oranges, navel oranges or tangerines. For beef cuts, the USDA recommends an internal temperature of 145 degrees after cooking and resting; in professional kitchens, this is usually between 125 -- 130 degrees.
For the beef
1 1-1/2 pound flat boneless beef cut for broiling, such as flank or skirt
1/4 cup dry to medium-dry sherry, such as Manzanilla, Fino or Amontillado
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for the pan
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt (Greek sea salt works well)
Freshly ground black pepper
For the dressing
1/4 cup assertive dry red wine, such as Bordeaux or pinot noir
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 medium shallots
1 teaspoon dried thyme
For the salad
2 bunches fresh arugula
1 small head fresh radicchio
1 pound blood oranges
1 medium red onion
1 1/4 - 1/3 pound wedge gorgonzola
Marinate the beef
1. Rinse the beef under cool water and pat it dry. If warranted, use the diamond end of a metal meat mallet to pound the steak to uniform thickness of 1/2 inch.
2. Rub beef on both sides with salt. Sprinkle each side of the beef with freshly ground black pepper; use your hands to rub the pepper into the beef.
3. Measure sherry, olive oil and dried thyme into a shallow glass dish large enough to hold the beef. Place the beef in the marinade and turn the beef several times to coat it thoroughly.
4. Cover the dish with its lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours, turning the beef in the marinade at the one-hour mark.
Prepare the salad
1. Pull or cut the leaves of the arugula from the sandy roots; discard the roots. Rinse the leaves under cool running water until they no longer feel gritty; place on several layers of paper towels to dry.
2. Place the radicchio core side down on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to slice down vertically, halving the radicchio. Use the knife to remove the core from the bottom of the halves. Halve each half, and then to cut each quarter into spears. Separate the leaves and place in the bowl of a salad spinner. Spin dry.
3. Set aside two to three oranges for juicing. Working one at a time, place one of the remaining oranges on a clean cutting board devoted to produce. Use a citrus knife or sharp paring knife to remove and discard the stem and blossom ends of the orange. Use your hands or the knife to peel away the orange rind and the white pith beneath the rind.
4. Use the knife to cut each orange in half from top to bottom. Use the knife to cut away and discard the white pith down the center of the orange. Use the tip of the knife or your fingers to remove seeds if any; discard seeds or save for planting.
5. Lay each halved orange flat-side down on the cutting board. Halve each half from cut end to cut end to form quarters; halve each wedge to form eighths.
6. Continue peeling, pithing, seeding and cutting each blood orange until you have approximately 1 to 1-1/2 cups orange wedges.
7. Peel the onion and use the knife to remove and discard the root and stem ends. Cut the onion horizontally into thin rounds; cut each round in half to form thin crescents.
8. Distribute the cleaned and dried arugula and radicchio across a clean serving platter. Tuck the orange slices and onion crescents into the greens.
9. Use a sharp cheese knife to cut the gorgonzola into slices; it is okay if some of the cheese crumbles as you slice it. Distribute the gorgonzola across the greens, reserving some for garnish.
Prepare the dressing
1. Remove the root and stem ends of each shallot; remove the papery outer skin. Halve each shallot from root to stem; halve each half. Cut each quarter into crescents and then cut across the crescents to form tiny dice. Set aside until ready to prepare the dressing.
2. Use a juicer or citrus press to juice the blood oranges into a small bowl, working over a sieve if necessary to catch any seeds or heavy pith. You should wind up with 2 – 3 tablespoons blood orange juice, but don’t worry if the measurement isn’t exact.
3. Whisk the vinegar and dried thyme into the blood orange juice. Set aside until ready to prepare the dressing.
Assemble the dish
1. ½ hour before serving, heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place a cast iron skillet or stovetop- and oven-proof sauté pan on the stovetop. Set heat to medium-high. Drizzle the bottom of the skillet with a two-count of extra-virgin olive oil.
3. Remove the beef from the marinade and shake dry of excess liquid. Discard the marinade.
4. Once the olive oil evidences a sheen, use tongs to gently place the beef into the pan. Sprinkle the beef with several grindings fresh black pepper.
5. Shake the pan gently to prevent the beef from sticking. Sear the beef without disturbing for one minute.
6. After one minute, use the tongs to turn the beef over in the pan, standing back to avoid flare-ups or splashes of hot oil. Sprinkle the beef with several grindings fresh black pepper. Sear for two minutes.
7. Once again, use the tongs to turn the beef over in the pan, standing back to avoid flare-ups or splashes of hot oil. The bottom of the beef where it was just seared should evidence a nice brown seal.
8. Turn off the stovetop and use potholders to place the pan, uncovered, into the oven. Pan roast the beef for approximately 10 minutes for rare.
9. After 10 minutes, use potholders to remove the pan from the oven. Use caution: the pan will be very hot. Use the potholders to turn the handle of the pan towards the back of the stovetop.
10. Use tongs to carefully transfer the beef to a clean cutting board reserved for meat. Loosely tent the beef with foil and set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
11. While the beef is resting, carefully stir the minced shallot into the collected juices in the hot roasting pan. Use a silicon spatula or wooden spoon to stir the shallots until they are translucent and browned on the edges, which should occur very quickly.
12. Carefully add the red wine vinegar to the pan. Use the spatula or spoon to stir the vinegar, pan juices, and shallots. Leave the dressing base in the pan on the stovetop until it is time to finish the dressing.
13. After the beef has rested for 10 minutes, remove the foil from the beef. It should be dark and very fragrant. Use the tongs in one hand to steady the beef while you carve the beef into thin slices against the grain with a strong, sharp knife held in the remaining hand. Discard juices if any that pool on the cutting board.
14. Once you have carved the beef, carefully transfer the slices to the salad. The beef should be just warm enough to lightly wilt some of the greens. Sprinkle the remaining gorgonzola over the salad.
15. Use potholders to carefully hold the pan containing the dressing at an angle over the bowl containing the orange juice/balsamic vinegar mixture. Carefully pour the pan juices into the bowl. Whisk until the orange juice gives off its fragrance and a light emulsion forms.
16. Pass the platter of salad with the dressing, for diners to serve themselves.
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