Raw steak. Many of us we’re told as a child to never eat raw meat.
The truth is, as we learned on our Facebook Live Show today, that it’s actually okay to eat – and really good for you as well.
Toby Gilbert, owner of Gilbert’s Provisions in Berlin, Md. joined us in the DelmarvaLife kitchen to make steak tar tare with peeled beets, beet juice, puffed rice, and reindeer moss. Before you turn your nose up, I’m here to tell you, it was delicious! You have to try it out for yourself.
The recipe is below, or you can check out one of the dinners at Gilbert’s Provisions. They have a Valentine’s dinner coming up on Feb. 14 and have seats still open. Message Toby on their Facebook page to book a seat. Check out the Facebook event for the dinner here.
Steak Tar Tare
Instructions:
- 8 oz raw beef, more lean than fatty
- The juice and pulp of two large, roasted and peeled beets
- Puffed brown rice
- Thyme Oil
- Champagne Vinegar
- Lichen or Reindeer Moss
For the Beets: roast in a cast iron skillet that has a layer of salt on the bottom. 425 for about an hour or until tender. Once peeled and cooled, juice the beets but don’t throw out the pulp.
For the Brown Rice: Simmer rice in 2x its weight in water. Cook until its tender but not cooked all the way through. Cool and let dry in the refrigerator over night. Next spread the rice evenly on a pan and roast at 500 for 2-3 minutes or until the rice has puffed but doesn’t toast too far. Salt while its warm then chill.
For the Thyme Oil: 100 grams fresh thyme. 50 grams blanched spinach. .5 liter of blended oil. Heat the oil to 130. Remove from heat and puree thyme and spinach. Chill to room temp and allow to sit overnight. Filter through increasingly smaller filters with the last filter being a coffee filter.
For the Reindeer Moss: Loosely shake and visible debris. Soak in cold water. Allow any sand or dirt to settle to the bottle and remove the moss that’s floating on top. Blanch in boiling salted water for 30 seconds. Shock with ice water and repeat. Allow the moss to dry on a rack overnight or until it feels brittle to the touch. Use as a garnish or puree into a powder.
Instructions:
- Hand cut the beef into a small dice. If you prefer the beef cut smaller, cut it smaller, if you like it larger, cut it larger.
- Season with a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of vinegar.
- Add a tablespoon of both beet juice and pulp and mix well.
- Fold in a tablespoon of puffed rice.
- Set in a ring mould.
- Spoon about a tablespoon of thyme out over the top so that it cascades of the sides and surrounds the beef on the bottom of the plate.
- Lightly sprinkle the reindeer moss over the top of the tartare.
- Finish with flake salt and serve with bread and/or crostini.
