Beef Tornado by Chef Rubia Zablon, H&S Chef Of The Month
H&S Chef Of The Month
Chef Rubia Zablon
Nationality: Kenyan
Interview With H&S Magazine
Who Is Rubia Zablon?
A professional and passionate chef with twelve years of experience, the brand ambassador for the Swiss education group (Culinary Academy) and the chef/owner of Charrd Grill Company that has a BBQ themed online restaurant and product line of sauces and seasonings.
Type Of Cuisine?
Afro-fusion, it’s a merge between the continental cuisine and our local/African food. It gives me a good platform to be creative and introduce a new experience of our food culture to the world.
What Inspired You To Become A Chef?
The passion I had for the industry.
What Is The Biggest Challenge You Have Faced In The Culinary Industry?
The biggest challenge I have experienced whilst working, was dealing with diverse cultures, beliefs and mindsets of different people. Working worldwide, language barrier was a challenge too, like whilst working with a celebrity cruise line based in Miami, Florida.
What’s Your Biggest Achievement In The Culinary Industry?
Starting my own company and nurturing upcoming chefs.
When It comes To Cooking, What Is More Important To You, The Technique, The Ingredients Or The Creativity?
All the three aspects are important and work concurrently with each other, however, if you understand the nature of your ingredients well, this will definitely come in handy in what technique you will use and
also help in the creativity as well.
Recipe Of The Week: Beef Tornado
Ingredients:
• 200 grams Beef fillet steak (trimmed off the silver skin and fat)
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• Fresh thyme
• 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
• Black pepper (crushed)
• Salt (pinch)
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 5 medium-sized potatoes
• 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (finely Chopped)
• Nutmeg (optional)
• 20ml cooking cream
• French beans (blanched)
• Carrots (blanched)
• Cherry tomatoes
• Zucchini
• Mushrooms
• Asparagus tips
Preparation
Season the fillet steak with salt, crushed black pepper and cooking oil. Set it aside for the simple marinade to infuse. In the meanwhile, peel the potatoes and boil them in a medium-size cooking pot with a pinch of salt. Once cooked, mash the potatoes to fine consistency. In a separate pan, sauté the chopped onions in butter, add the garlic and then the mashed potatoes. Mix it thoroughly as you add the cooking cream, nutmeg and seasoning. Blanch the asparagus tips and the carrots. In a medium-sized pan, put butter or cooking oil, add some chopped onions then garlic and add the vegetables, zucchini, carrots, cherry tomatoes and French beans then season to taste. In a pan, sauté some mushrooms in some butter and season with salt & pepper. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees for it to attain the required temperature as you sear the steak. In a large pan on high heat, add the cooking oil and sear the steak. Keep on turning it to brown evenly. Add the 2 whole crushed garlic gloves and the fresh thyme. Cook for a while, then add a tablespoon of butter. Use the gravy of butter and the juice from the steak for basting. Finally, put the steak in the heated oven for a few minutes, depending on your preference in terms of doneness. Once cooked to your doneness, slice the steak into equal, thick slices.
Plating
Add the mashed potatoes at the center of the plate, the 3 steak slices on top of the mashed potatoes, and the vegetables sparingly distributed around the steak. Finally, use the gravy on the pan as a sauce, add the sautéed mushrooms and garnish with fresh thyme.