Well Happy President's Day and Quite Fabulous New Week, To All You Great Smoked & Fabulous Grand Cookies!!!!
I managed today to make the best damn steak tartare I've ever tasted, if I may say so myself??? Smiles.
Having eaten this delicacy in France, Canada, Switzerland, and the States; (at some very lovely places and prepared by Chefs who surely know far more than I), and having made a good deal of tartare myself - beef, venison, salmon, and so it goes - and having one of my THREE dogs even being named after that dish itself...
I am admittedly pretty "Gaga" over this particular way of eating. Smiles.
In fact, if eating cow at all, I would rather have it this raw and quite ravenous way.
(I still have not had an opportunity to eat the horse meat steak tartare - somehow never making it to Brussels, despite some of my crazy globe trotting, and hear that that's best). So that remains on my "wish list" of things to hopefully soon try!
Why I think mine today, was "the best" I've eaten, is for these reasons:
1. I do mine "chopped" and not ground and find that texture/taste far more alluring than a mere mound of tightly diced meat.
2. I do NOT use filet mignon (use NY Strip) and thus take the main slug of fat off, and sear it, and chop the "cracklings" to serve with black rice, instead of pommes frites. (My husband, who also has eaten this dish in many ports of call, yet oddly different locations than mine, agrees that it is better with black rice than pommes frites, and with the meat's fat added in - amazing)!!!
3. Today's smoked mango, REALLY added something as we did mix and mash, and push all the caper-esque tastes together...
Yes, from here forward, when making steak tartare for company, I am including some "smoked mango!"
Until then, here's what I did today...
Please enjoy!
And happy new week!!!!!!
Cheers!!!!!!!! - Leah
I had two New Zealand Grass Fed NY Strip steaks from the FROZEN section of Trader Joe's....I took them out of the freezer at 7 a.m. and we ate at 10:45 a.m., but meanwhile....
I peeled a fresh mango...
I sliced that and then placed it into a perforated "grill plate" that was greased with grapeseed oil first...
I put that on my gas smoker, with hickory chips, for 15 minutes...
I mixed some anchovy with capers...
Removed the mangos from the smoker...
Trimmed the main slug of fat off the steaks and seared that in a pan..
The local store was out of shallots this morning, and so a red onion was going to do!
I chopped that, and also chopped some flat leaf parsley...
And then mixed those together...
Meanwhile, that seared "steak fat" got cut up, as "cracklings"...
And added, with chopped fresh chives, to some steamed black rice...
Meanwhile, I cut up the steak, and tossed it with the red onion and chopped flat leaf parsley...
And tossed that all up...
And added two organic raw eggs to the capers and anchovy (they were size medium, as I could not find extra large today, or else would have used one)...
And I also added Dijon...
Whisked that...
And added a splash of Tabasco...
And then some Cognac...
Then Olive oil...
And black pepper...
And then I gave that a good whisk again...
And thoroughly tossed my meat/chopped parsley/red onion mix in that...
I assembled it all, and drizzled olive oil over the rice and mango...
And then more black pepper and also grey sea salt over absolutely everything...
Garnished with some more flat leaf parsley...
And may I just say, that this was HEAVENLY???
The proper pairing, (if I were doing this as a professional "wine tasting event" for an audience, which, now and then, I indeed do), would be a red Burgundy, (and that's made from Pinot Noir and so any Pinot Noir that you love may be great with it).
However, I don't enjoy Pinot Noir at all, and am thus not a "Red Burgundy Babe" so to speak, (but for once in a very great while with one particular wine, and only that one), and so I paired this with a Syrah blend which I do enjoy instead.
In any event, THANK YOU, for sharing in my dinner today!
Happy new and very wonderfully exciting week!
Cheers! - Leah
I managed today to make the best damn steak tartare I've ever tasted, if I may say so myself??? Smiles.
Having eaten this delicacy in France, Canada, Switzerland, and the States; (at some very lovely places and prepared by Chefs who surely know far more than I), and having made a good deal of tartare myself - beef, venison, salmon, and so it goes - and having one of my THREE dogs even being named after that dish itself...
I am admittedly pretty "Gaga" over this particular way of eating. Smiles.
In fact, if eating cow at all, I would rather have it this raw and quite ravenous way.
(I still have not had an opportunity to eat the horse meat steak tartare - somehow never making it to Brussels, despite some of my crazy globe trotting, and hear that that's best). So that remains on my "wish list" of things to hopefully soon try!
Why I think mine today, was "the best" I've eaten, is for these reasons:
1. I do mine "chopped" and not ground and find that texture/taste far more alluring than a mere mound of tightly diced meat.
2. I do NOT use filet mignon (use NY Strip) and thus take the main slug of fat off, and sear it, and chop the "cracklings" to serve with black rice, instead of pommes frites. (My husband, who also has eaten this dish in many ports of call, yet oddly different locations than mine, agrees that it is better with black rice than pommes frites, and with the meat's fat added in - amazing)!!!
3. Today's smoked mango, REALLY added something as we did mix and mash, and push all the caper-esque tastes together...
Yes, from here forward, when making steak tartare for company, I am including some "smoked mango!"
Until then, here's what I did today...
Please enjoy!
And happy new week!!!!!!
Cheers!!!!!!!! - Leah
I had two New Zealand Grass Fed NY Strip steaks from the FROZEN section of Trader Joe's....I took them out of the freezer at 7 a.m. and we ate at 10:45 a.m., but meanwhile....
I peeled a fresh mango...
I sliced that and then placed it into a perforated "grill plate" that was greased with grapeseed oil first...
I put that on my gas smoker, with hickory chips, for 15 minutes...
I mixed some anchovy with capers...
Removed the mangos from the smoker...
Trimmed the main slug of fat off the steaks and seared that in a pan..
The local store was out of shallots this morning, and so a red onion was going to do!
I chopped that, and also chopped some flat leaf parsley...
And then mixed those together...
Meanwhile, that seared "steak fat" got cut up, as "cracklings"...
And added, with chopped fresh chives, to some steamed black rice...
Meanwhile, I cut up the steak, and tossed it with the red onion and chopped flat leaf parsley...
And tossed that all up...
And added two organic raw eggs to the capers and anchovy (they were size medium, as I could not find extra large today, or else would have used one)...
And I also added Dijon...
Whisked that...
And added a splash of Tabasco...
And then some Cognac...
Then Olive oil...
And black pepper...
And then I gave that a good whisk again...
And thoroughly tossed my meat/chopped parsley/red onion mix in that...
I assembled it all, and drizzled olive oil over the rice and mango...
And then more black pepper and also grey sea salt over absolutely everything...
Garnished with some more flat leaf parsley...
And may I just say, that this was HEAVENLY???
The proper pairing, (if I were doing this as a professional "wine tasting event" for an audience, which, now and then, I indeed do), would be a red Burgundy, (and that's made from Pinot Noir and so any Pinot Noir that you love may be great with it).
However, I don't enjoy Pinot Noir at all, and am thus not a "Red Burgundy Babe" so to speak, (but for once in a very great while with one particular wine, and only that one), and so I paired this with a Syrah blend which I do enjoy instead.
In any event, THANK YOU, for sharing in my dinner today!
Happy new and very wonderfully exciting week!
Cheers! - Leah
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