Classic Steak Tartare Recipe
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Steak tartare is usually associated with both Parisian bistros and the Tartars who gave the dish its name, but it goes well beyond that. If you are able to get your hands on top-quality beef, this is a great way to serve it. Try it over a bed of mesclun or served with toast points or french fries as they do at the Polo Lounge.
What to buy: Because you will be serving the meat raw, be sure to buy it from a reputable source, and tell your butcher that you will be preparing it as tartare so he or she gives you the best cut.
Use pasteurized or very fresh eggs from a reputable source.
Game plan: Keep the beef covered and refrigerated until you are ready to use it.
This recipe was featured in our no-cook story.
- 3 medium oil-packed anchovy fillets (optional, adjust salt if added), rinsed and minced
- 2 teaspoons brined capers, drained and rinsed
- 3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 large egg yolks
- 10 ounces USDA prime beef tenderloin, cut into small dice, covered, and refrigerated
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley leaves
- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 3 dashes hot sauce (such as Tabasco)
- 4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon crushed chile flakes (optional)
- Combine anchovies (if using), capers, and mustard in a nonreactive bowl. Using a fork or the back of a spoon, mash ingredients until evenly combined; mix in egg yolks.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold remaining ingredients into mustard mixture until thoroughly combined. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately with toast points or french fries.
Beverage pairing: Joseph Drouhin Véro Pinot Noir, France. Steak tartare is a classic dish of Burgundy, so a Burgundian Pinot Noir is naturally a good wine choice. This one is inexpensive, simple, but pleasantly lively, with lovely flavors of cherry and raspberry. A peppery note will resonate with the tartare as well as the wine’s sprightly acidity.
I made this in 2009. I'm going to make it again tonight. I will follow the same recipe but add lime juice (just like I did last time). Great served with a baguette.
hartmansgirl-One simply askes the butcher for a cut of meat suitable for this fabulous dish.
He will normally provide meat which he has cut from his freshest stock. I let my butcher know several days in advance of my need and he will make sure I get the best beef.
I don't know anyone who makes Steak Tartare with ground hamburger out of a package.
I flipping love steak tartare it is my go to hors d'oeuvres for Super Bowl Sunday and whenever I want to enjoy great beef without the time investment of cooking.
Anyone who shies away from the experience is truly missing something. While I am definitely not on the "Raw Food Movement" I can see the benefit of letting yourself enjoy something in it's unheated and sometimes untreated state.
the problem now a days with eating raw burger, like in your mums meatloaf, is that the meat comes from many different cattle all chopped up together. you don't know what disease they have. and...the worst part is that it is handled by so many different people and machines that it gets contaminated easily...remember the jack in the box outbreak? not like the good ol days when only the butcher touched it.
meat from inside of a cut, such as rare prime rib or a rare steak is fine. the meat inside is still sterile, and the outside gets hot enough that the bacteria is cooked away. similarly with steak tar tare. the meat is sterile if you are using the inside cut, freshly cut by a butcher, but careful handling is the key to not getting sick.
bon appetite
Good for you Weewah. I agree, anyone who considers themselves a foodie shouldn't be a little skeered of *gasp* raw <fill in the blank>, with the exception of poultry. My Mum used to sneak tastes of her Mum's meatloaf before it went in the oven - raw ground beef, egg and all - and she never got sick. Neither did I. When did we become such wusses? :)
I think this is crazy. We're just not that delicate of an organism! Sure, sure, there'll always be somebody who gets the short end of the stick and gets sick from raw meat, but that's just life. Like getting hit by a bus. Not so common, but impressive enough to make everyone think twice before crossing the street.
The only protein I can think of that I won't eat raw, is poultry.
Yes I actually eat raw pork. I have never gotton sick from it (or any other raw meat), but I WAS more casual about it when I was raising my own hogs. Now I'm sneaky; I know it's definitely not the done thing! But I like it, so there you go.
Ladys and Gentelmen
If you are worried about your meet being raw this is what you can do. you will need to buy a bit mor meat. heat your oven to 300 degress f insert a temp prob in the meat cook it till interior temp hits 115 deg f then pull it out. carry over heat will bring it up to 120 which kills parisites and bactiria. Then it will be rare in the middle, cut the out side meat off then follow the recipe. I am a chef trained at Le Cordon Bleu. I worked at Kraft Steak at the MGM grand Las vegas and this is what we did to insure the safty of our Guest. I hope this will easy pepoles minds over this issue.
I've been eating steak tartare at least a dozen times a year for more than 25 years, and have never had a problem. I used to make it at home with a hand grinder, and found that top sirloin, as well as New York (or Kansas City steak), is as flavorful, and less expensive than tenderloin.
However, I have a question that someone may be able to answer. I regularly order prime filets that are delivered frozen. I recently acquired an electric Waring meat grinder that I want to try out, but I'm concerned about the safety of using thawed meat, no matter how good the quality.
Can anyone offer an insight based on experience or research?
Raw Beef is fine if you just keep everything clean and cold. I always try the tartar if it is on the menu.
I'm having Steak Tartare for Christmas Dinner (I eat Turkey when visiting all the reletives, so get fed up with it!)
There is a risk with raw meat of various worms and parasites, which cooking kills. However, modern farming, inspection and butchering practices mean that the likelyhood of farmed meat being infected is very, very small. Not everything is bad about the modern meat industry!
Personally I'm from the UK. Due to the recent health scares with BSE and 'foot and mouth' the regulations are now so tight that no one has seen a single animal with, for example trichonosis, in ten years. I think the situation is similar in most other western countries including the US. Personally I would avoid wild meat and anything not inspected by an abattoir vet if eating it raw.
The other risk is from contamination with bacterial infection - but this applies to ANY raw food. A lot of food poisoning is caused by salad and cold cooked meats after poor handling and storage. Cooking food kills (most) bacteria on the outside of the meat (it is the outside that gets contaminated) and so some people flash fry or blanch the steak in boiling water.
Here is another way: Buy a big cube of steak and slice off the 6 sides. I've seen chefs do this with 6 seperate knives, to ensure each cut is 'clean' and you don't spread any contamination around the meat. I will just quickly wash the knife in hot water between slices, myself.
Inside you will have a smaller cube which is now contamination free, but also free of the tougher, drier oxidised layer - so it makes for a much better tartare :-)
I'll use the trimmings in a stir fry ;-)
I've found that putting the meat in the freezer for an hour makes chopping a breeze. This is also fantastic stuffed in a raw mushroom cap and topped with caviar, served with lots and lots of champagne.
I like the idea of serving the meat plain with the garnishes on the side as in the picture. Or at least some. I like the idea of picking and choosing which taste combination I want. It appears that the yoke is held by part of the shell, a nice dipping sauce? Great presentation. Reminds me of Lox served in first class on a trip to Japan, the salmon was clean and onions, capers, sour cream were given as garnish. Served with chilled vodka too!! Maybe not the same
Great simple recipe, Thanks! No digestion problems or illness that followed.
There always has to be someone who steps into a conversation and writes a lengthy post about how everyone's stupid for arguing but THEM, because they NEVER argue or disagree. Oh no, of course not. They're far too superior for that.
Anyhow: yes, if you buy plastic-wrapped t-bone from the supermarket and mince it raw, it's risky (and kinda gross). But raw beef from a butcher you trust will be no problem. Eggs? Yes, we've been told how scary raw eggs are, but the risk of salmonella is incredibly low.
HAHA the only thing funnier than people having a conversation online that some construe as arguing is hypocrite idiots who argue about arguing and ruin a converstation...but I digress.
@ StephenC...what does this quick boiling do to the steak? I have always been afraid to do steak tartare myself although I will eat it ravenously at just about any restaurant that serves it (which may explain why I had stomach problems for 4 months after a short stint in southern France a couple summers ago)
personally I won't eat raw eggs, but cooked and chopped is a fine accompaniment to tartare...also, a sure-fire method to protecting against e-coli: bring a large pot of water to a full boil; drop the steak in for 30 seconds, rinse under cold water; dry, and then chop...the bacteria can only exist on the surface of the meat...now they're dead (if there were any)
StephenC
theobsessivechef.blogspot.com
great recipe, thank you so much, chow.com!
all of you made well taken statements well except DoesNotHaveABrain
I looked at lot of recipes online to find a good one. I went with this. The only thing I changed was adding a little lime juice (about 2 teaspoons) to the meat before mixing it in with everything else. This helps to kill bacteria.
Also, I used fillet Mignon (which is pretty much the same thing just a more specific piece). It turned out great!! And I'm still alive! Double bonus.
Give it a try before you judge. I was turned on to it after trying the Kobe Steak Tartar at the Rogue Brewery.
Amen!
Eat Steak Tartare! Not War!
Wow. The world has really come to the point of insanity when people have nothing better to do than argue about a freaken recipe.
Uhm...if you don't like or trust the idea...here's an idea: DONT EAT IT, FOOL! For the flip side people: Who CARES what the anti person thinks? Either eat it or don't. Nothing else matters but what YOU do when it comes to your life.
Seriously. This is not rocket science, people. Either eat it, or don't. Problem. Solved.
Just weird, man. In a feeble attempt to thwart anyone from wasting their valuable, precious time on responding to this...don't bother. I won't see it. I got the recipe, saw this lunacy and decided that it boggled my mind so much I had to "comment."
Anything further is a waste of my time.
Suggestion...? Find a new hobby rather than fighting with complete strangers on the Internet. Trust me, they are not worth your time. You'll miss your time when it's gone. Spend what little you have on people that matter.
Later.
I love raw beef. I also love raw horse meat sashimi. It's the handling that induces problems, not the products themselves.
You stand a better chance of getting ill from the keyboards and telephones at your office than you do eating raw meat from reputable sources.
Chicken little won't dictate my diet.
I think it just depends how you were raised. As a kid we ate meat rare, licked pork meatball filling to test for salt, ate tons of raw fish, etc. So eating well-prepared raw beef isn't even an issue. Plus, I love steak tartare so much I'm willing to face the risk. In my mind, it's no more dangerous than the B grade sushi a lot of people are willing to consume nowadays.
I agree in regards to the farming, and packaging, too...lots can happen between slaughter/packaging.
Myself...I will not eat anyone's eggs but my hen's eggs...because I know EXACTLY what went into their creation, if that makes sense.
And gosh, the quality of cage-free fresh, too.
i agree with wingsabre - while it may be a risk, it doesnt really mean danger. people's immune systems are pretty hearty, so while there may be a trivial of bacteria and parasites (believe me, they're in everything, so dont freak out), our immune systems are built to handle it..... the only people that should really avoid eating raw things are people with immune deficiencies.
raw = risk, not raw = danger if it's a good dealer
people have consumed raw beef for a while, and if they are farmed properly, there will not be an issue.
even from a good dealer raw is raw .
raw = danger