Beef Carpaccio

Fancy shmancy times here in Portland, Oregon...Or well I try my hardest to be fancy shmancy.  And who better than my best friend Elisa to eat fancy raw beef!  Friday night hangout after a very long week = cooking, sangria, delirium, and Bridesmaids...a hilarious movie.  In addition to the amazing raw beef Elisa made fried polenta cakes with spice and cheesy goodness.  This recipe came together because while I was willing to put in the MAJOR effort and really cook, we both finally agreed we were hungry as shit and just needed some protein, so we ate raw beef.

Serves 4

The Ingredients
2/3 pound organic top sirloin beef, thinly sliced (ask the butcher to do it and have the butcher also take out the gristle)

1 bunch watercress, rinsed

1/4 cup delicately shaved (with veggie peeler) Parmesan cheese (or any hard cheese)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

4 tablespoons olive oil (extra fancy)

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (fancy pants as well)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

5 tablespoons capers, chopped

The Process
1.  In small jar put olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and Dijon mustard; shake/mix well.

2.  Take rinsed and de-stemmed watercress and dress lightly with mustard/balsamic dressing.

3.  Next assemble beef carpaccio rolls: at the end of a piece of beef layer watercress, a few chopped capers, 2-3 slices of cheese, and then roll up the beef carpaccio.  Do this with the rest of the ingredients.

Please note that this is most safe/and best when eaten right away; but you can eat it until noon the next day...well that was that last point in time that I ate the raw beef.