Beef and Balsamic

The rain that poured down yesterday was gone today, and the sun was belting down from a clear blue sky.  It was a day where the sunroof is open, along with all the windows and you still wish you had a fan - as they say in the U.K. "Belter!"

It made us hungry for our 6 week holiday which is coming up in July... we can't wait much longer for Italian skies, and the mediterranean sea lapping at our feet.  We cannot wait much longer for the flavours and colours of the gelateria, the tiny little pastry shops and the local restaurants welcoming us in "come let us feed you all" they say!

Bills favorite meal ever was in a restaurant about five minutes from our families home in Italy, where they served him over eight courses of fresh local simple food, the penultimate dish being steak.  Nothing else but a steak, in typical Italian form, not even with a garnish, just on its own with a light cheesy balsamicy dressing. 

We really try to eat only organic meat, and it means we don't eat meat every day, but it also means the meat we do eat is always tasty as hell and without conscience.  Most beef is free range, but the chemicals and additives in the cattle food plus the high level of antibiotics... well it just makes me uneasy... 

So today, with a few shillings in my pocket, I went to buy some beef.  

Spurned on by pictures of Nicole of Art and Aioli's steak and salad, I filled my basket with fresh greens and blood reds.

I tried to recapture the italian dressing tonight, but I used 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar to the same of olive oil and added a crushed clove of garlic, a good handful of fine ground parmesan cheese and a tsp of mayo.  It tasted great!

Eating beef with such a light dressing allows the meat to take centre stage, and served with a fresh salad its perfect for evenings in the sunshine.  After the last few days of miserable grey skies and dousing rain, it was a welcome sun that greeted us this morning, and a meal recommended all the way from California fit right on in..