Prime-rib minute steak, spiced eggplant and lemon couscous
SERVES 6 // PREP TIME 30 MINS // COOK 1 HR
“Josh and I came up with this dish when we first got the keys to the restaurant,” says Cowcher. “We had friends around to help with some painting, cooked this up and were pretty happy with it. With a few minor changes it ended up on the menu.” Pictured p117.
3 beef rib-eye (about 350gm each), bone in, halved through the bone (see note) 1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp neutral-flavoured oil,
such as vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped 1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
800 gm canned whole tomatoes, strained through a sieve, liquid reserved separately ¼ cup (loosely packed) mint,
thinly sliced
¼ cup coarsely chopped dill 3 eggplants, sliced about 2.5cm thick and lightly salted for 20 minutes 60 ml (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
COUSCOUS
300 gm pearl couscous
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste 1 tbsp olive oil, or to taste ½ preserved lemon, flesh and pith removed, peel thinly sliced
¼ cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 Place rib-eyes between two pieces of baking paper, and pound to 0.5cm thick, or as thin as possible, with a meat mallet. Leave to come to room temperature (20 minutes). 2 Preheat oven to 180°C.
Fry onion in oil in a saucepan over medium heat until soft and starting to caramelise
(10-12 minutes). Add garlic and fry until soft (2 minutes), then add spices and stir for a further minute until fragrant and starting to catch on the pan. Add tomato and herbs and simmer, stirring occasionally, until flavours are combined (10-12 minutes).
3 Drain eggplant and pat dry with paper towels. Pour drained tomato juice onto an oven tray, spread eggplant over it and bake until softened (20-25 minutes). Spread spiced tomato mixture over eggplant, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, season to taste and bake until very soft and liquid is reduced to a thick paste (40-45 minutes). Cool, then finely chop eggplant. 4 For couscous, add couscous to 1 litre water in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and cook uncovered until the water is absorbed
(10-12 minutes). Drain, transfer to a bowl with remaining ingredients and season to taste with salt, olive oil and lemon juice. Divide among plates.
5 Preheat a barbecue (ideally wood or coal) or char-grill pan to high. Season rib-eyes to taste then grill one side only until juices release (3-4 minutes). Immediately place directly onto couscous seared-side up. Rather than resting the meat, the idea is to let the delicious juices soak into the couscous. Spread a few spoons of eggplant on top and serve.
Note Ask your butcher to prepare the steaks for you; they may need to be ordered ahead.
Wine suggestion A light red with bright fruit and a hint of funk, such as the 2017 Commune of Buttons “Field of Sparrows”, from Adelaide Hills.