Cafepacifico Recipes

BEEF CARPACCIO

Steps:

• Chill 8 serving plates. Place meat in freezer about 10 minutes.
• Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, shallots, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and reserve.
• Slice cold beef across grain into 1/8-inch slices. Then place each slice, one at a time, between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and, using the smooth side of a meat pounder, flatten by gently pounding and pressing back and forth. Work from center out. Keep turning to flatten it evenly to about 1/16 inch. (You should spend about a minute on each slice.)
• Entirely cover each chilled plate with thin slices of beef. (At this stage, you can cover with plastic wrap and reserve in refrigerator for several hours.) Carefully spoon reserved dressing over meat to evenly cover. Garnish with Parmesan strips and chives, and serve immediately.

STEAK CARPACCIO

Steps:

• Tie the beef tenderloin with kitchen twine to help maintain its shape, then freeze the tenderloin until frozen (this ensures that the center stays rare when cooking a small piece of meat). Then, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy small skillet over high heat. Rub the frozen beef with salt and pepper. Add the beef to the hot skillet and sear on all sides, about 4 minutes total (the beef will be just barely seared on the outside but will remain rare). Freeze the beef until it is almost frozen, about 1 hour (this makes it easier to cut into very thin slices). Using a large sharp carving knife, slice the beef as thinly as possible. Arrange the arugula and Parmesan shavings on a serving platter and lay the beef slices on top. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.
• Alternative: Use 6 ounces of thinly-sliced bresaola instead of the tenderloin. Do not cook the bresaola. Serve it as you would the tenderloin, above.

CAFE PACIFICO

Steps:

• In a small heatproof snifter, combine the tequila, coffee liqueur and hot coffee.
• Stir in 4 teaspoons of the cinnamon sugar and top with the heavy cream.
• Garnish with a little of the remaining cinnamon sugar.

BEEF CARPACCIO

Steps:

• Trim the beef tenderloin of all fat, sinew and silver skin. Tightly wrap the beef in plastic wrap, and place in freezer until firm, about 2 hours.
• Remove the beef from the freezer, and slice it crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick rounds. Divide the sliced beef into 4 equal portions among 4 sheets of parchment. Arrange the slices for each portion into a round, like a four-leaf clover or a pansy, with each petal slightly overlapping the next. Place a clean sheet of parchment on top of each neatly arranged round, and with the heel of your hand or a rolling pin, gently press the meat into cracker-thin, uniform circles without tearing the meat, working quickly to keep the meat from warming. Transfer the parchment-covered portions and 4 plates to the refrigerator to chill.
• Set up a stovetop fryer by heating the neutral oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the fryer, and heat the oil until the gauge reads 325 degrees, about 7 minutes. Thoroughly and carefully drain, then pat-dry, the matchstick potatoes. Just before cooking the potatoes, increase the temperature to high in anticipation of the plummeting in temperature. Add the potatoes to the oil and cook, agitating with a spider or slotted spoon to ensure even cooking, until the potatoes are light and golden in color, 2 or 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes to a paper-towel-lined plate. Season with kosher salt and a few drops of truffle oil.
• Dress the arugula with lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, kosher salt and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper.
• To assemble, remove the top layer of parchment from a beef portion, turn the beef onto a chilled plate and carefully peel off the remaining parchment. Repeat with the remaining beef portions. Season the beef with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pile the dressed arugula, Parmesan, then the warm matchstick potatoes on the beef in 4 even portions. Season with salt, pepper and several drops of truffle oil.

BEEF CARPACCIO

Steps:

• Wrap the tenderloin in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 2 hours.
• After 2 hours, unwrap the tenderloin and thinly slice the beef into approximately into 1/8 to 1/4-inch pieces.
• Lay out sheets of plastic wrap and place each slice onto the plastic. Top with another piece of plastic and gently pound the meat with a meat mallet until paper thin.
• Repeat until all of the meat is sliced and pounded.
• Divide the meat evenly among 4 chilled plates. Serve with greens tossed with vinaigrette, salt, pepper and/or Parmesan.