Beef Tartare with White Truffle and Microgreen Salad

Slofoodgroup Team October 02, 2021

Truffle Steak Tartare with Nutmeg Hollandaise Sauce

White truffles have an odd combination of both delicateness and intensity when it comes to their flavor. This, paired with the extravagant cost is the reason why one needs to put deep intentionality into the associated applications. When it comes to utilizing these tubers in culinary exploitation, most chefs focus on simplicity. That's why they are mostly found on fine-dining menus as an addition to ingredients with neutral or delicate flavors—items such as seafood, pasta, and potatoes or in dishes with high levels of fat, such as cream or butter-based sauces (fat augments the flavor, rather than burying it). When utilized in other dishes, they are typically added just prior to serving, shaved or finely chopped, and sprinkled over top to ensure there is no loss of flavor. 

For this recipe, we utilized our truffles in a combination of the two latter methods, an egg and truffle enhanced beef tartare swimming in a creamy nutmeg hollandaise sauce with thin shavings of black summer truffle atop the beautifully stacked concoction. It’s an elegant entree or small plate that can be made in about 10 minutes from start to finish.

Grass Fed Beef Tartare with Nutmeg Hollandaise and White Truffle Carpaccio

This recipe yields 2 beef entree servings or shared plates for 6-8 people. 

Ingredients

For the tartare:

• 1 pound high-quality, grass-fed beef tenderloin 
• 1 small shallot, minced
• ½ tablespoon capers, roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon white truffle carpaccio, plus more for topping
• 1 tablespoon truffle oil from carpaccio
• ¼ cup fresh chopped curly parsley
• ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 egg yolk, optional additional egg yolk or poached egg yolk to top each serving
• Pinch sea salt
• Pinch black pepper
• for serving, pickled onions
• for serving, crispy baguette, parmesan crisps, or Belgian endives

For the nutmeg hollandaise:

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 egg yolks
• ½ cup sweet cream butter
• 2 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of sea salt

For the microgreen salad:

• 1/2 cup microgreens
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vineger
• ½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon maple syrup
• Flake sea salt
• Crushed black pepper

Procedure

For the tartare:

1. Start by popping your tenderloin in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. This is an optional step but tends to make your steak easier to work with. 
2. Reserve 2-3 shavings of truffle for topping your tartare and mince the rest.  
3. Using a very sharp knife, mince your tenderloin.
4. Mix together the steak, shallot, capers, lemon juice, white truffle, truffle oil, curly parsley, Worcestershire sauce, 1 egg yolk, dijon mustard, and a pinch each of black pepper and sea salt. 
5. Place the mixture in the refrigerator until it is time to assemble. 

For the nutmeg hollandaise:

1. Using a double-boiler, melt your butter over low heat.
2. While the butter is melting, whisk together your egg yolks, and cream.
3. Whisk the lemon juice in with the butter.
4. Next, slowly add your yolk mixture, whisking continuously. 
5. Just before pulling from the double boiler, stir in the nutmeg, cayenne, and sea salt.

For the microgreen salad: 

1. Make the dressing using a glass jar with lid, shake together the oil, vinegar, maple syrup, sea salt, and pepper.
2. Toss the microgreens in the dressing and set aside.

Assembly

1. Place a spoonful of hollandaise sauce near the center of each plate. Reserve more sauce for drizzling over the plate. 
2. Using a ring mold, form your tartare directly over top of the hollandaise sauce. Press the steak mixture firmly, filling the mold and flattening the top with a spatula. 
3. Remove the ring mold.
4. Drizzle more hollandaise sauce around the plate. 
5. Top the tartare with a large bunching of microgreen salad and a few shavings of fresh black summer truffle.