As an homage to the late Anthony Bourdain (in honor of Bourdain Day on June 25th),Season to Taste‘s chef-owner Robert Harris shares his classic take on steak tartare inspired by Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook. There’s nothing quite like a cool, tender steak tartare paired with the perfect amount of brine to square off a successful summer’s day so take a page from Harris’s book (and Bourdain’s, too) and try to buy as many of your ingredients locally as possible.
Place the beef in the freezer for about 1 hour until the exterior begins to firm up. This will make it easier to finely hand-chop.
Meanwhile, prepare the chives, onion, capers, cornichons in a small bowl and set aside.
In another small bowl whisk together the Worcestershire, lemon juice and Dijon.
Remove the beef from the freezer, slice it thinly against the grain, then slice into fine strips, and then finally dice into small cubes, about 1/8-inch across. Transfer the beef to a large mixing bowl and gently combine it with the shallot and caper mixture as well as the dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed with salt, pepper, etc.
Divide into 2 equal portions, press each portion into a round cookie cutter on a cold plate. Separate the quail egg yolk from the white(discard) and place the yolk back in the shell. Place the shell in the center of the mold.
Remove the ring and serve immediately, preferably with toast points and/or nice salad greens.
