Recipe #289: Steak Tartare

I've been wanting to try this for a long time and finally got around to it.  I'd had steak tartare a few times before in nice restaurants.  Yes, it IS raw beef, which is why you need to pick very lean, very fresh meat for this recipe.  I didn't have the usual quail egg for this one (which, yes, I ate raw in Nashville...) but it still turned out nicely.  It makes for a good base recipe that I'd like to play with- adding other seasonings or pickles or trying entirely different approaches.... and I need a different form besides a funnel.

Still, it was a success, and I even got Nick to eat it!  Copied from allrecipes.com.... I added capers to mine.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound finely ground beef tenderloin (I hand-cut filet mignon) 1 teaspoon brown mustard 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon brandy 1 pinch salt, or to taste ground white pepper to taste 1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

1.

In a medium bowl, mix together the beef, mustard, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brandy, salt, pepper and egg until well blended. Arrange the meat in a neat pile on a glass dish, and cover with aluminum foil. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve as a spread on crackers or toast.