Seared feather blade of Wagyu beef with shallot rings, beetroot purée, curly kale, sautéed potatoes, beef jus

Wagyu beef is the last word in luxury cuts of meat, balanced here with the earthy flavours of beetroot and kale.

Preparation time: less than 30 mins
Cooking time: 10 to 30 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients
For the beetroot purée:
250g/9oz raw beetroot, peeled and diced
pinch salt
300-400ml/10-14floz apple juice

For the kale:
250g/9oz kale, leaves picked
For the shallot rings:
Vegetable oil for deep-fat frying
1 banana shallot, peeled, sliced into ½cm/¼in rings
50g/2oz plain flour
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
75g/3oz Japanese breadcrumbs

For the sautéed potatoes:
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
50g/2oz butter
400g/14oz new potatoes
1 sprig fresh mint, 2 sprigs fresh mint, leaves finely chopped
For the wagyu beef:
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
knob butter
4 x 150g/5½oz 1cm/½in thick steaks from the Wagyu feather blade
150ml/5½fl oz beef jus, or reduced beef stock

Method
For the beetroot, place the beetroot and salt in a saucepan over a medium heat, and pour in enough apple juice to cover the beetroot. Cover with a lid and cook until the beetroot is tender.

Remove from the heat, and pour out a little of the juice and set aside. Blend the remaining pan contents in a food processor until very smooth, using the reserved juice if necessary to thin the purée a little. It should be thick and velvety . Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

For the kale, bring a pan of salted water to the boil, and half fill a large bowl with iced-water. Add the kale to the boiling water and cook for two minutes, until tender, drain, and immediately place into a bowl of iced-water.

Once cool, drain from the ice-water and squeeze out any excess water.

To serve, melt a knob of butter in a pan over a medium heat, add the kale, heat through and finish with a twist of freshly ground pepper.

For the shallot rings, heat a deep fat fryer to 190C, alternatively heat vegetable oil in a deep-sided, heavy-bottomed pan until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns golden-brown when dropped into it (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous, do not leave unattended).

Set up three bowls, one with the flour, another with the beaten egg and a third with Japanese breadcrumbs.

Dredge the shallot rings first in the flour, then the egg, then Japanese breadcrumbs.

Gently lower the shallot rings into the hot oil and deep fry until golden-brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and then drain onto kitchen paper.

For the potatoes, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water with a sprig of mint.

Once tender, drain, and cut in half.

Heat the butter and rapeseed oil a large frying pan over a medium to hot heat, add the potatoes and gently fry until golden-brown.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and add the chopped mint.

For beef, heat the rapeseed oil in a frying pan till hot.

Season the beef all over with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add a knob of butter to the hot pan and pan fry on both sides till coloured, approximately three minutes on each side.

Remove the beef from the pan and set aside to rest for a couple of minutes.

For the beef jus, heat the beef jus through in a small pan, ready to serve. If you don't have beef jus, add good quality beef stock to the pan used to cook the beef, and cook over a medium heat until the volume has reduced and it has thickened and become flavoursome.

To serve, spoon the beetroot purée onto the plate, and top with the beef. Place some kale and potatoes alongside. Spoon over the beef jus and top with shallot rings.