Steak, roasted pepper & pearl barley salad

As most of you know I'm a huge fan of BBC Good Food and have recently discovered their magazine. I know it's more convenient to browse the recipes online, but nothing beats real magazines. I don't know what it is, but I really prefer flicking through pages to scrolling down. And its the same when it comes to books - I love the feeling of reading a real proper book rather than looking at a screen. I know it more convenient (and a lot cheaper) to have all the books and recipes in one place but I honestly can't see myself doing away with "real" books and magazines any time soon.

So, as it usually goes after I get my new copy of BBC Good Food - I flick through it wanting to try basically every other recipe in there and then kind of just forgetting about them. And then one day I was tidying home and came across the July copy and as I flicked through this recipe stood out once again. I have to admit that it was partly due to curiosity that I chose to try it as I have never cooked barley before and I really wanted to know how it tastes like and what I can do with it.

I was really happy with how the salad came out - healthy, filling and so tasty that my other half (who is not a salad person) told me that I can make it again. I guess it had something to do with the juicy steak on top of it ... It is a lovely mid-week meal and is perfect for lunch or dinner. I also think it would be perfect for a dinner party - double the quantity and voila! You have a lovely dish to share. And one of the best bits about is that it is so quick and easy to make.

Ingredients
(Serves 2)
- 85g pearl barley
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
- 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
- 1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 300g lean steak
- 50g watercress, chopped
- Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions
Firstly put the pearl barley in a pan of water, bring to boil and boil for around 30 minutes or until tender. When it's done transfer it to a bowl.

While the barley is boiling, heat the oven to 200C / 180C fan. Put the peppers on a baking tray with the onions and pour over the olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Then it's time to cook the steak (make sure you take it out of the fridge approximate 1 hour before cooking). Generously season the steak with salt and pepper on both sides and rub both sides with olive oil. Heat a non-stick pan and when it's hot, cook the steaks on both sides around 3-4 minutes (or depending how well you like it done). Set the steak aside to rest for around five minutes.

In the meantime, add the roasted peppers and watercress to the pearl barley. Mix it well, mix in the lemon juice and put on a plate. Slice up the steak and place on top of the barley. Enjoy!

Recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine (Asian Edition) July 2013

Steak sandwich

This is in my opinion the most manly meal I've ever wrote a post about - a proper steak sandwich. And I'm sure I'm not wrong in saying that it is probably every meat eating man's dream. I find that there's something really manly about eating steak - maybe it's the whole caveman thing in a more modern angle.

We have a couple of steaks at home that need to be eaten before we leave for Vietnam this weekend and I started it by making a lovely steak wrap for my other half for yesterday brunch. And then suddenly inspiration hit me - I should make him a steak sandwich instead. And I wanted to make him a proper steak sandwich and thus I found myself making bread a couple of hours later as I really wanted all of it to have a lovely home made feel to it. And I must say I was not disappointed with the outcome.

Apart from baking the bread and letting the steak come up to room temperature the whole thing was really easy to put together. And by all means use some nice and fresh bread or bread rolls from a bakery - had I been short of time that would have been exactly what I would have done.

I really love the rustic look and feel of those sandwiches. And you should have seen my significant other's eyes when he saw them when I was taking photos. That was pure happiness. So here you go - a juicy filling homemade lunch which is guaranteed to go down a treat.

Ingredients
(Makes 2 sandwiches)
- 4 slices of bread (I used this)
- 200g steak
- Butter
- Lettuce
- 1/2 tomato, sliced
- 4 tsp mustard
- 2 gherkins
- Salt, pepper to season
- Olive oil

Directions
Start by taking the steak out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking in order to allow the steak to come to room temperature before cooking it. When the time has passed, heat up a non-stick pan. In the meantime season both sides generously with salt and pepper and then rub the steak with some olive oil. When the pan is hot, place the stake on it and cook for a couple of minutes (this really depends on the thickness of the steak and how well do you like it cooked). Whilst the steak is cooking, spread some butter on all four slices of bread and add lettuce and tomatoes on 2 slices. Then flip the steak and cook for the same amount of time. In the meantime slice up the gherkins. When the steak is done, remove it from the pan, place on a chopping board, cover with cling film and let it rest for about 5 minutes, so the juices that concentrated in the middle of the steak could even out and result in a more flavourful and juicier steak.

So finally, slice up the steak, divide it between the sandwiches, top it off with some mustard and gherkins. Place the other slices of breads on top of it and enjoy!