Auito! Auito! (La Festa al Fresco)

This was the cry from the wonderful Lisa and Ivonne, and so how could I not hearken to their call? They had planned a wonderful outdoor feast and forgotten the food! With the call for help put out to the blogging world, I began to eagerly flip through my cookbooks, looking for a nice, simple recipe that would incorporate some fresh flavours as well as being easy to make. After searching for awhile, I stumbled across a recipe I’d written in one of my notebooks (no idea where from!) that looked like a good starting point!

So here you are girls, I’ve brought my dish to the table for La Festa al Fresco – hope you enjoy it

Fresh, tangy, sweet and slightly spicy, this dish incorporates some of my favourite flavours

Red Wine Beef and Avocado Salad

Ingredients (to serve 4)
4x 150g thick lean rump steaks
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp grated ginger
1/3 cup red wine
3 thai/birds eye chillis, deseeded and finely sliced
1 small onion, either grated or pureed
1 tbsp castor sugar (superfine sugar)
1 large hass avocado, sliced
1 lebanese cucumber, sliced
1 punnet cherry tomatos, halved
1 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

1. Marinate steaks with garlic, ginger, sugar, red wine, chilli and onion in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

2. For the salad, combine avocado, cucumber and tomatoes in a bowl. Add the olive oil and red wine vinegar, then toss lightly to coat.

3. Drain each steak then cook on a hot grill or frying pan till medium-rare inside (unfortunately I slightly overcooked mine, but it still tasted great!)

4. Slice up each steak on an angle, arrange over the salad and enjoy!

A lovely blend of textures and flavours – the soft avocado, juicy tomato and beef, cool crunchiness from the cucumber with a slight tang from the red wine vinegar! This goes down a treat with a glass of red

There’s still time to get a dish together for the party as the deadline isn’t till the 5th September! Check here or here for more details, and I’ll see you at the party