MetaChat - Yummy summer salad.

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09 June 2008

Yummy summer salad. Sliced filet mignon with fava beans, radishes, and mustard dressing. →[More:]I had filet left over from a steakhouse dinner last night, and was trying to figure out an interesting way to have it tonight. This was really, really good.

It did need a bit more of an acid/salt punch, though. Next time I'd probably use white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar rather than apple cider vinegar, and maybe a bit more feta. And if I can ever track down fleur de sel, that would be fantastic on it. I did add fresh lemon juice on both the salad and then on top of the filet, which helped.

And I sliced the filet very thin and did it more like a salad rather than meat-on-top-of-vegetables.

So! Moral of the story! Yummy.

post by: occhiblu at: 22:48 | 9 comments

Actually, maybe just doubling or tripling the mustard would work -- my dijon vinaigrette is usually about equal parts mustard and vinegar, and I probably should have followed my instincts on that.

posted by occhiblu 09 June | 22:49

We have thin sliced steak dropped in the pan for about three minutes, combined with an olive oil and rice wine vinegar dressing over seasonal greens about twice a week during the warmer months (May through September).

White pepper gives it great taste with just a bit of Fleur de sel or pink salt.

I don't add feta with steak but sometimes (like tonight) we do it up with herb or garlic cream cheese.

We sometimes skip the salt and toss in some thin sliced pancheta with the steak.

A bit of very finely diced ginger tossed in with the steak for the last minute can really wake up dull greens.

A little balsemic mustard in the dressing can be nice too.

posted by arse_hat 09 June | 23:25

Wow, that sounds delicious. If you're not loving the feta, some room-temp chevre in smallish (1 tsp?) bits might be nice, especially a flavoured one (herbs, truffle if you're feeling flush)

posted by elizard 10 June | 00:47

I actually really liked the feta, which surprised me, because I'm not a huge feta fan. But I tasted it before adding the cheese, and thought, "Hmmm, needs more salt... or something.... What can I.... OH! Right! Feta! That's perfect."

I suspect a creamier cheese would overpower the favas a bit -- it felt like it wanted a harsher flavor, rather than a rich one -- but I could be wrong.

posted by occhiblu 10 June | 00:53

I love feta in salads but I don't like it with beef. I don't really like a lot of anything salty with beef but I suspect I am in the minority on that.

posted by arse_hat 10 June | 01:07

my new favorite salad is ruby red grapefruits, sliced fennel, avocado dressed with a little salt and pepper and honey with lime juice, I could eat buckets of this!

posted by Mrs.Pants 10 June | 01:34

Sounds great! FYI - switching between cider, white wine or champagne vinegar will change the flavor but not the acid. They're all 5%, IIRC.

If you don't like feta, try using brie but up into little chunks. I like to pop it in the freezer for a half hour before cutting it. Brie also works well in a basic cold macaroni/pasta salad:

cooked, drained, cooled pasta (macaroni, ziti, etc)
cubed, fresh tomato
fresh basil that's been cut into a chiffonade
cubed brie
vinaigrette dressing
Put in a bowl. Toss.

posted by plinth 10 June | 05:48

Absolutely delicious looking and sounding. I will have to make this tonight. I have four filets thawing in the fridge at this very moment. Having radishes before bed is why I'm not a good 1930s wife.

Plinth, brie would send that totally over the top. Yum! I like the sound of feta on this particular salad. The pungency goes.

posted by LoriFLA 10 June | 07:43

Having radishes before bed is why I'm not a good 1930s wife.

Ha!

switching between cider, white wine or champagne vinegar will change the flavor but not the acid. They're all 5%, IIRC.

Yeah, I think it's mainly that the (cheap) apple cider vinegar I had on hand was rather sweet, while the (nicer) champagne vinegar I have has more of a bite. I don't know if that's a normal differentiation between those vinegars, or just the ones I have (I don't cook all that often with apple cider vinegar); but I wanted less sweet and more sour.

posted by occhiblu 10 June | 13:16

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