Steak Tartare from Beef Eye of Round

The day after my second eighteenth birthday, my friend Tomasz and I went to a wonderful place called „Restauracja Kresowiak”. A lovely place with atmosphere. You won’t find fancy, young, slim, nimble, inexperienced, handsome waiters there. You’ll find waiters or waitresses with class. Old-school waiters with class. Waiters who know that when you order steak tartare, you order vodka too. Waiters who know that warm vodka is good… I mean, it isn’t.

Yes, „Kresowiak” is the kind of restaurant you need to approach with a certain attitude. Our attitude was very specific and quite literal 🙂

I really recommend the place. Apart from that attitude, of course, they serve very decent food from Poland’s eastern borderlands. Steak tartare, naturally (hand-chopped if you ask nicely), kulebiak pies, blini and various goose dishes.

And that’s how I am: once an idea gets into my head, it won’t let go. It’s terribly annoying, because it can make me seem a bit twitchy and obsessive. So yesterday, when I came across a beautiful, fresh piece of beef eye of round in the shop, I bought it for a new tartare experiment.

Firstly, tartare made with eye of round. Until now, I’d always used fillet, which is devilishly expensive. Tomek told me eye of round works too, so why not try?

Secondly, tartare without the classic accompaniments, but with freshly fermented vegetables instead. Young sauerkraut and a lightly fermented cucumber. A little different from the classic version.

And my first impressions? If you want good steak tartare from eye of round, get a sharp knife and plenty of patience ready. I don’t accept tartare made from meat put through a mincer. If you do, it’s easier for you, but believe me, it doesn’t taste the same. I only accept tartare made from a fresh piece of beef, chopped just before serving. Eye of round is much harder to chop than fillet, though.

My second impression is that you can make good tartare from eye of round, and with these young fermented vegetables it tastes quite original. It seems milder, while the meat is definitely more pronounced. So I recommend you try this experiment too.

Recipe at a glance:

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Serves: one person

Calories: oh, come on, would anyone dare count a tartare’s calories?

Ingredients for steak tartare with young fermented vegetables:

• 150 grams fresh beef eye of round (a piece of what is called „false fillet”)
• 12 capers
• half a medium onion
• 2 tablespoons young sauerkraut
• 1 lightly fermented cucumber (a fairly large one)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 hen’s egg yolk
• salt
• ground black pepper

Recipe for beef tartare made with eye of round:

I cut the lightly fermented cucumber, onion and capers into very small pieces. I dried the young sauerkraut with paper towel and chopped it finely. I put it in a bowl and got on with chopping the meat. First I cut it into narrow strips, then chopped it vigorously with a chef’s knife (a big one with a thick blade). For about 15 minutes. Hard work, but whether the tartare is tender and pleasant to eat depends on it. So it’s really worth putting your heart into it.

I put the chopped eye of round in a bowl, added olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I added all the finely chopped vegetables (cucumber, onion, capers and cabbage) and mixed thoroughly by hand until the mixture was uniform. I shaped it into a steak with a space in the middle for the yolk (as you can see in the photos) and put the yolk there. The eye-of-round tartare is ready. You can sprinkle a little freshly ground black pepper over it too. Enjoy.