I made this dish while working in French Alps. It’s a very common dish and brings back memories of being in chalets out there and cooking it for guests. It’s just very French – and it’s romantic for me to cook.
Serves 4
Prep time: 35 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Ingredients
Tartare Ingredients:
- 500g tail piece of eye fillet
- Dessert spn capers
- Tbsp chopped cornichons
- Tbsp chopped red onion, finely diced
- Dessert sp dill
- Tsp Worcestershire
- Dessert sp Dijon mustard
- 2 x egg yolks
- Black salt
- Micro chervil
Pickled red onion Ingredients:
- ½ red onion, sliced into rings
- 50g sugar
- 50g water
- 50g white wine vinegar
Toast Ingredients:
- Yesterday’s bread, ideally ciabatta
- Pinch of salt
- Tbsp olive oil
- Tsp dried oregano
Method
Step 1
Prepare pickled red onions the day before. Mix equal parts sugar, water and vinegar in a saucepan and heat just to melt the sugar. Let it cool slight before placing the red onion rings and liquid into a container with a lid. Refrigerate overnight.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 120C. Very thinly slice yesterday’s bread, ideally ciabatta and lay it on a baking tray. Sprinkle oregano and salt, and drizzle olive oil over the top. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Step 3
Take the eye fillet and dice it into cubes. Try not to mince the meat so it retains some texture – a little smaller than ½ a centimetre wide is perfect.
Step 4
In a large bowl mix the eye fillet cubes with the capers, cornichons, diced red onion, dill, worcestershire, Dijon mustard and 1 egg yolk.
Step 5
Plate up the tartare mixture and top with the second egg yolk. Garnish with micro chervil and black salt.
Tip: To make tartare you need a lean piece of meat, and always buy the cut from a good butcher.
