Warm Irish salad with sirloin steak and shamrock greens
For St Patrick's Day celebrations, Rachel shares a salad based on some of Ireland's best offerings: Irish beef, soda bread, kale and pearl barley ... and, of course, the obligatory Guinness chaser.
Ingredients
Soda bread croutons
- 150g of plain flour
- 150g of self-raising flour, wholemeal
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 284ml of buttermilk
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tsp rock salt
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
Warm salad
- 15g of butter
- 1 onion , diced
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 125g of pearl barley
- 500g of vegetable stock
- 1 courgette , diced
- 80g of kale , picked
- 100g of tenderstem broccoli , sliced at 2cm intervals
Green sauce
- 10g of tarragon , picked
- 10g of flat-leaf parsley , picked
- 25g of walnuts
- 6 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
- salt
Sirloin steak
- 2 sirloin steaks
- salt
- black pepper
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6
2
To make the soda bread croutons, tip the plain flour, self-raising wholemeal flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt, in a mixing bowl and combine. Make a well in the centre, and then pour in the buttermilk. Bring together the dough with a knife. Knead, shape, and then put in the oven for 30 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. (For speed, skip this step and buy a loaf of soda bread from a local bakery!)
3
Once the soda bread has cooled, roughly tear up the roll. Put it in a roasting tray, toss in the olive oil, add the rosemary and rock salt, and return it to the oven for ten minutes until the croutons are golden and crisp
4
To make the base of the warm salad, sweat the onion in the butter. When translucent, add the garlic and cook for a further minute, and then tip the pearl barley into the pan and stir so that it's coated in the buttery onion and garlic. Add the vegetable stock, and then allow it to simmer for 30 minutes, until the stock has been absorbed, and the pearl barley is plump and juicy
5
While the pearl barley is cooking, make the green sauce. Grind the walnuts, tarragon and parsley in a pestle and mortar, and then slowly drizzle in the oil so that the sauce develops a pesto-like consistency. Season with a dash of salt and red wine vinegar
6
Make sure that all the 'shamrock greens' are cut or torn to the same size - so that they all cook evenly. If the pearl barley has absorbed all its liquid, then add 1-2 tbsp of water, enough to create steam to cook the courgette, kale and broccoli. Add the greens to the pearl barley risotto, and stir through for 2-4 minutes, so they're still al dente. Stir 1-2 tbsp of the green sauce through the salad. Divide between two plates
7
Coat the sirloin steaks in olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook on a high heat in a griddle pan, to personal preference
8
Slice the steaks, and place on top of the pearl barley and vegetables. Top with the croutons, and the leftover green sauce
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Warm Irish salad with sirloin steak and shamrock greens
