Char-grilled beef T-bone with crushed tomato and bread salad

Malbec cries out for meat recipes! You can pair any of our 'World Malbec Day' wines to this delicious recipe.

Serves 4


50 ml olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
½ lemon, finely grated rind and juice only
1 tbsp finely chopped thyme
2 beef T-bone steaks (about 400gm each), at room temperature
250 gm cherry tomatoes (about 1 punnet)
400 gm oxheart tomatoes (about 3), coarsely chopped
90 ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp aged red wine vinegar
4 thick sourdough bread slices
1 garlic clove, halved
1 cup (loosely packed) basil, coarsely torn


1 Preheat a char-grill to medium-high heat. Combine olive oil, chopped garlic, rind, juice and thyme in a bowl, season to taste. Brush both sides of T-bone lightly with oil mixture, season to taste and char-grill, turning and basting frequently to prevent burning, until cooked to your liking (10-12 minutes for medium-rare), stand in a warm place to rest for 10 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, coarsely crush small tomatoes with your hands over a bowl to catch juices, adding tomatoes to bowl as you go. Add oxheart tomato, 60ml extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar. Season to taste with sea salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of sugar, set aside.

3 Meanwhile, brush both sides of bread slices with remaining extra-virgin olive oil and char-grill, turning once, until well toasted (2-3 minutes). Rub both sides of toast with cut-side of garlic, then break into coarse pieces. Add to tomato mixture with basil, toss lightly to combine and serve with char-grilled T-bone.

This recipe is from the January 2010 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.