Mediterranean Summer Grill Plate

• 1-1.2kg piece beef fillet, sirloin, flank steak or Cervena venison, 5-6cm thick
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
• ½ tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• black pepper

Per person allow any combination of 4-5 of the following:

• ½-1 fresh artichoke
• 1 medium potato
• 1 small zucchini or a small handful of beans
• 2-3 flat mushrooms
• ½-1 red or yellow pepper
• 2-3 black olives
• 1 medium to large tomato
• ½ sweetcorn cob
• 2-3 small carrots
• ½ head garlic
• 1 small onion

Trim the meat to an even-sized piece, folding in any thin edges and secure with string. Place in a clean plastic bag or dish. Combine the oil and garlic and pour half over the meat. Sprinkle over lemon zest and juice, rosemary and black pepper and marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 12 hours in the fridge. Reserve the rest of the garlic-flavoured oil for the vegetables (see below for vegetable preparations). When ready to cook, preheat a barbecue plate or grill. Lift the meat from its marinade and place onto the grill. Cook over high heat for about 5 minutes each side, then turn heat down to its medium-low setting (for a charcoal cooker, lift the cooking rack until you can hold your hand at the same level over the heat source for 5 seconds before it feels too hot). Cook for 15-20 minutes or until done to your liking (to find out how to tell when meat is cooked click here). Grill the vegetables, brushing well with garlic oil. They will take about 10 minutes to cook. Stand the meat for 5 minutes before carving.

Vegetable preparations (can be done well in advance if required):

Artichokes:

Drop into a big saucepan of water with the juice of 1 lemon and boil for 10 minutes. Drain, cool and split in half lengthwise. Scoop out the hairy choke, peel the tough outer skin off the stalks and brush all over with garlic oil. 

Potatoes:           

Quarter the potato and boil for 5 minutes.

Zucchini or beans:           

Cut the zucchini into long diagonal slices or leave the beans whole. Blanch the green vegetables for 1 minute in a large saucepan of boiling water, then cool under cold water and drain. 

Mushrooms:           

Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth, peeling and trimming stalks if necessary.

Peppers:           

Cut into fat strips removing the pith and seeds. 

Olives:           

Drain the olives from the brine. Cut in half. 

Sweetcorn and carrots:           

Cut the sweetcorn into 5cm rings and blanch, along with the carrots. 

Eggplant:           

Slice 1½-2cm thick, brush either side with oil.

Garlic:                       

Cut the garlic in half horizontally

Onion:                       

Peel and blanch the onion.