‘Minute’ Steak Salad with Pickled Cherries, Roast Beetroot and Mushroom Pâté

Bring the steak to room temperature, brush on 1 Tbsp oil to coat both sides and season generously on both sides with salt – I don’t add pepper as it can sometimes burn a little.

Place a fry-pan over high heat and when it’s hot, place the steak in. Don’t overcrowd the pan so you might want to cook the steak in two batches. Cook for 1 ½ minutes until the meat has caramelised, don’t touch it while it’s cooking and don’t be tempted to keep looking.

Turn it over and cook until it’s the doneness you prefer – a 1cm steak will need just one more minute.

Remove the steak from the pan and rest on a clean platter 3 – 4 minutes.

Lay the salad leaves on your plates.

Once the steak has rested slice it thinly around ½ cm thick and scatter it across the salad leaves along with any juices from the steak.

Tuck in the beetroot wedges and cherries, dollop on a spoonful of pâté and scatter on the pumpkin seeds.

Squeeze the lemon juice on top and drizzle with the remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

This is more a technique than a recipe. Beetroot can be boiled or steamed, or roasted in foil with some aromatics which adds some extra flavour.

Heat oven to 180ºC on fan bake

Lay some foil out on your bench short side facing you.

Place the garlic and herbs ¼ the way up from the bottom running left to right, and sit the beetroot on top. Sprinkle on salt and pepper and drizzle with 1 Tbsp oil.

Carefully roll the bottom of the foil upwards so you wrap the beetroot into a sausage shape, make sure there are no openings – you can always wrap a second layer of foil around them.

Place on a baking tray and roast until you can insert a sharp knife or skewer through the foil and the beetroot.

A small – medium beetroot will take around 40 minutes. For larger beetroot either cook them longer, or cut in half before wrapping in foil.

Take from the oven and once cooled peel them using your hands – and gloves!

Cut the beetroot into segments or thickly slice and toss with the extra 1 Tbsp oil and a little salt and pepper.

Make these at least one week before you need them.

Pack the cherries into your sterilised jars.

Bring everything else to the boil and simmer 10 minutes.

Pour the liquid and spices over the cherries in the jars and seal while hot – ideally the liquid should come to the rim of the jar – you want it filled.

Leave to cool then store in the fridge for a week before eating.

Sauté the onion, garlic and half the salt in the butter over medium heat till transparent, stirring frequently.

Add the mushrooms, nutmeg, paprika, pepper and remaining salt and cook over high heat until the mushrooms have wilted right down, stirring frequently.

Blend the mixture as smooth as you can in 2 – 3 batches depending on the size of your food processor or blender. Be careful when blitzing a hot mixture as it can splatter if the lid isn’t on firmly. Tip into a clean bowl.

Whisk in the lemon juice and truffle oil and taste for seasoning.

Oven 180ºC Fan, line a roasting dish with baking parchment (helps with washing up).

Put the cherries in your roasting dish.

Place everything else in a saucepan and bring to the boil then pour this over the cherries.

Roast until the a few of the cherries have begun to burst, around 20 - 25 minutes.

Gently stir and roast a further 10 minutes.

Prep all your vegetables, apples, ginger, chillies and garlic – keep onions and aromatics in separate bowls.

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and add the spices and dry toast till they become aromatic.

Add the oil, ginger, garlic and chillies and fry to lightly caramelise.

Add the onions and cook to soften them down, stirring frequently.

Add the vinegar and sugar and cook until the sugar has dissolved then add everything else.

Bring to a boil, stirring as it heats up to prevent it sticking to the bottom.

Cook until the liquid has reduced considerably, 45 – 60 minutes, stirring from time to time to prevent it sticking.

Put in sterilised jars and seal while hot.