Essence of Kangaroo Island beef carpaccio

One of three starters we made in Kate Sumner’s cooking class at FEASTival – an annual food and wine event held on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. A delicious way to serve good quality meat. This dish is packed full of flavour. On the day we used fresh horseradish instead of mustard and blanched some samphire, which grows wild in the estuaries on the island and added that to the crumble on top of the meat.

Beef carpaccio

1 tsp	Coriander seeds
2 tsp	Black peppercorns
¼ tsp	Smoked sea salt
1 Tbsp	Fresh dill, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
1 Tbsp	Flat leaf (Italian) parsley, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
300 g	Beef, good quality piece, we used eye fillet (Main)
¼ cup	Manchego cheese, aged variety, finely grated

Dressing

¼ cup	Olive oil
1 tsp	Dijon mustard
½ tsp	Flaky sea salt
1	Shallot, finely chopped
1 Tbsp	Lemon juice

Directions

1. Heat a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add coriander seeds and peppercorns to toast, keeping the spices moving so as not to burn (about 2 minutes). Grind in a mortar and pestle with the salt. Pour onto a flat place and mix in the fresh herbs.
2. Roll the beef in the herb mixture to coat evenly. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put into the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm as this will make it easier to slice.
3. Unwrap the beef and slice into very thin pieces using a sharp knife (Kate also used the pestle to gently pound the slices of meat out a little to make them as thin as possible). Arrange on to plates.
4. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and drizzle over the beef. Season to taste and top with manchego and extra dill and parsley.