Steak Tartare

   I've been wanting to give this recipe a try for quite a while.  I saw it in Robin Food - a spanish cooking show -  a couple of months ago and finally my cousin Paco made it in his house and they loved it, so he encouraged me to try it.  I followed the recipe just as they did in the show (you can watch the show here).

  

  A few of you asked me what´s the best cut of meat to use.  I went to the local butcher and told him I wanted to prepare a steak tartare.  He recommended I used round steak or flank steak and that it would be best if I could give him about 30 minutes so he would put the meat in the freezer before grinding it.  I decided to go with the flank steak and picked it up about an hour later.  One thing I would ask him to do different next time is to use a wider grinder, as I think the tartar would be better with bigger chunks of meat - and not as much as a paste.  You can also take the steak home, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes, and cut it yourself in little cubes. 

Here´s what you´ll need:

MATERIALS

• Stainless steel ring (to give it the round vertical shape)

• Chef knife and cutting board

• Serving plate

•  Mixing bowl (and bigger bowl with ice to keep meat cold while preparing it)

INGREDIENTS 

• 1/2 pound of ground flank (or round) steak

• 1 teaspoon of mustard

• Olive oil, salt and pepper

• 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tablespoon of diced capers

• 1 tablespoon of diced pickles

• 3 egg yolks

• 1.5 tablespoons of mayonnaise 

• 1/2 shallot diced

• 1 teaspoon of ketchup 

• A few drops of Tabasco sauce

HOW TO PREPARE IT

1. Add the meat to a mixing bowl and set over a bowl with ice to keep meat very cool while preparing it.

2. Chop the shallot, pickles and capers.  Add all ingredients to the meat and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add a little olive oil and mix it all well together.  Keep meat over ice until ready to serve at the table.

3. Fill the stainless steel ring with the meat and decorate with pickles - or you can save an egg yolk an use it to top the tartare.

Here I served paired with Tapenade (recipe here)