I had a date the other night with a guy I'll call Handsome and Brave (H&B). It was a rare Saturday off for me so I made the most of it.
I volunteered at the Farmers Market, in the morning and took Belmont for a
long walk. I also planned a meal and snacks for my date -- we were going to the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, with snacks before and dinner after.
He's a foodie -- he has a sous-vide circulator and vacuum sealer in his house! He also has both hot and cold smokers -- useful for the catering business he runs in addition to working a full-time job.
Can you see the attraction? Food? Fiction? Handsome and brave??
I was going to make pizza; asparagus, shiitake, leeks, and lovely salumi from Chop butchery and charcuterie, but H&B is gluten intolerant.
If I'm going to continue seeing this guy -- and I probably will -- then both roommateSpike and I will have to learn how to cook for gluten-free people -- as he has a GF GF (gluten-free girl friend).
So I made a lovely snack of steak tartar. No gluten at all. Fun ensued, and the film fest was attended.
Steak Tartar
3 - 4 ounces whole muscle meat per person. I used flatiron because I love the flavor. If I'd been thinking clearly I'd have picked up hanging tenders from Zupans market.
1-1/2 tsps finely minced shallots per portion
1/4 tspn Sriracha hot sauce per portion
1/8 tspn Dijon mustard per portion
salt TT
olive oil TT
one coddled egg per portion (raw eggs, in the shell, held in hot tap water for 10 minutes. Or you can boil water, take it from the stove, and drop in the whole, in-shell eggs and allow them to soak for 5 to 10 minutes)
1 tspn capers per serving.
Preparation:
Cut the meat into small, 1/8x1/8 inch pieces (brunoise for those of you with marginally useless culinary degrees -- like me ☺)**
Add the shallots, hot sauce, mustard, salt, pepper (if desired) and olive oil. Mix quickly, adding salt to taste.
Take a ring mold (use a size slightly larger that a bangle bracelet) and fill it with tartar. Leave a depression in the center.
Crack the coddled eggs and place the yolk in the depression.
Garnish with finishing salt (like Maldon) if you have it and a teaspoon of capers tossed over the whole.
---------------------
This is kinda cute. In addition to munching on steak tartar, we spent an hour in the kitchen tasting the multitude of pickles, kimchi, and other fermented delicious things I've made. I tell you what, H&B knows food.
** I have used the grinding attachment of my Kitchen Aid to grind the meat but I don't like the texture as much as cutting it finely. Also, do not go back over it--this isn't garlic you're mincing. Texture matters. Just cut it as best you can and run with the results.
PS: A friend of mine said that the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. True that.
