Eye Fillet with Hasselback Kumara and Orange Salad

Method:

Remove the Eye Fillet from the fridge 20 minutes before you start cooking. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. With the cut-side down, cut the kumara at 4mm intervals along the top, stopping about 10mm from the bottom so that the kumara remains intact. Arrange the kumara on the baking paper, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with sea salt, then bake for 20 minutes.

While the kumara is roasting, mix the remaining olive oil, garlic, sugar, orange zest, salt and the spices together. At the 20-minute mark, remove the kumara from the oven and spoon over the spice mix, pushing it with the back of a spoon between the cuts. Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes, then turn the tray and bake for a further 10 minutes before removing from the oven and setting aside. Put the yoghurt into a small bowl, add a pinch of sea salt, mix then set aside.

When the kumara has been in the oven for about 10 minutes, rub the eye fillet generously with olive oil, season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and sear on all sides in a hot oven-proof frying pan with a little olive oil. Once browned all over, put in the oven and cook for 15 – 20 minutes, or until done to your liking. We roasted this one for 20 minutes. Once done, remove from the oven, cover with tin foil then leave to rest for 10 minutes, before slicing thinly.

Put the salad leaves in a bowl. Cut the orange in half then slice two thirds of it thinly and scatter this over the salad leaves, followed by the sliced red onion. In a jar put the olive oil, vinegar, mustard and salt. Squeeze the remaining orange slices to yield about 2 tablespoons of juice and add this to the jar. Shake well and dress the salad.

To serve, arrange 2 pieces of kumara on each plate then dollop with the yoghurt and scatter over some coriander leaves. Arrange the slices of eye fillet next to the kumara and serve alongside the salad.