There are two very well known online grocers here in Shanghai catering mainly to the expat community – think gluten free products, imported meat & fish, cheeses etc, local meat & fish from ‘reliable’ & ‘trustworthy’ sources, organic fruit & veg, treats from home etc.
Having plenty of time on my hands and enjoying the limited but laughable interaction I have at the wet market when I attempt to order pork and vegetables, my online experience has been limited to ordering frozen Australian beef bones for making stock or hormone & antibiotic free chicken for……making stock.
So a couple of weeks back when I was contacted by the folks at Fields asking if I would be interested in helping to celebrate their 6th year anniversary in April, I had to admit {with a fair bit of embarrassment} to never having ordered from them before.
Not the best of starts I have to admit, but it was an honest one!
After an hour or so of going through the Fields website I was spoilt for choice with things I haven’t come across here before; minced lamb, lamb ribs, organic pork {hello bacon again}. One thing I can’t pick up easily and locally is Australian beef so when I saw Cape Grim Striploin it picked itself.
Any doubts I had about ordering online disappeared when the front desk phoned up at 6.30am to say I had a delivery – that’ll teach me to choose the 6-8am window!!!
A mighty fine looking 300g piece of Aussie beef was delivered with beautiful marbling and a nice layer of fat. I’d take a porterhouse/striploin over a fillet any day and I know it’s unfashionable but I don’t shy away from eating the fat either.
The gorgeous vine tomatoes were in perfect condition as were the baby rocket leaves – I was super impressed with the quality of the whole order and I couldn’t have picked better myself.
So. Tagliata.
It’s one of our favourite ways of eating a good steak and one of us will invariably order it if we see on a menu.
This is possibly the easiest recipe I’ll ever share with you. In fact, I’m a little embarrassed to even call it a recipe.
It’s just a stupidly simple salad that is more than the sum of it’s parts.
In true Italian style, it’s about using the best of ingredients because there’s no hiding here.
There’s next to no prep or cooking time – it’s all about the quality of the meat, the sweetness of the tomatoes and the peppery rocket. A squeeze of lemon, a glug of good olive oil, plenty of freshly ground salt & pepper and a handful of parmesan shavings thrown in for good measure.
That’s it.
Better yet, it’s a perfect meal for one or for a crowd. Serve it family style on a big board or platter with crusty bread and a glass of something red and daydream about winning the lottery and buying that olive grove in Tuscany.
Tagliata {Steak, rocket & parmesan salad}
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
A deceptively simple steak, rocket & parmesan salad that’s low on effort but big on flavour. Perfect for a quick mid week dinner, a romantic meal for two or feeding a big crowd.
Author: Nancy
Recipe type: Easy!
Cuisine: Salad
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Oven roasted tomatoes
- 8 vine tomatoes {Note 1}
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
Steak & salad
- 300g porterhouse/striploin steak, at room temperature {Note 2}
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 packet rocket leaves, washed
- parmesan shavings
- salt & pepper
- half a lemon
- glug of olive oil
Instructions
For the oven roasted tomatoes {Note 3}
- Turn the oven onto 180C.
- Place the tomatoes into a roasting pan or baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper.
- Roast for 20-30 minutes until they have collapsed slightly and split their skins.
For the steak
- Heat a frying pan over a high heat for 3-4 mins. Massage 1 tsp olive oil over both sides of the steak and place gently into hot frying pan – it should sizzle straight away.
- Turn the heat down slightly and cook for 3 minutes.
- Turn the steak over {it will be nice and caramelised by now}, season with salt & pepper and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Remove from frying pan and leave to rest for 3 or 4 minutes.
- Slice steak thinly on the diagonal and arrange on a board with rocket & roasted tomatoes.
- Squeeze lemon juice over the salad with a glug of olive oil, more salt & pepper and finish with a scatter of parmesan shavings. The more the better.
Notes
{Note 1} Don’t have tomatoes on the vine? Use cherry tomatoes instead.
{Note 2} Cooking times are for cooking a 300g steak medium rare. Reduce to 2 minutes each side over a medium-high heat for a 200g steak medium rare.
{Note 3} You can prepare the oven roasted tomatoes ahead of time
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Have you ordered groceries online before? How was it? Do you dream of winning the lottery and buying an olive grove too?
Disclaimer: Produce supplied by Fields but all opinions are my own.
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