Beet Tartare
Beet Tartare, not Beef Tartare. While I haven’t turned into a vegetarian, we could all use more vegetables in our diet. This is a fun way to enjoy some – on a salad, as toast or as a spread. It has the visual appeal of an expensive dish, but quite simple. And when a dish is full flavor, then simplicity is overtaken by elevated delicious.
Interestingly, this week’s theme for Supper Challenge is “slow cooker.” I’ve been dragging my feet all week, so the slow cooker in this week’s dinner is actually me. I took the liberty of spending an excessive amount of time dicing beets by hand and plating restaurant dishes, simply because I could. But the underlying theme of this week’s cook is that smoked vegetables or smoked beets can be incredibly tasty.
Beet Tartare
Ingredients
- 3-4 large purple beets
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 granny smith apple
Whipped Cream Cheese
- 1/2 cup cream cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
Seasoned Walnuts
- 2/3 cup walnuts
- 1/2 tablespoon salted butter
- 2 teaspoon steak spice rub, I prefer Blues Hog Bold and Beefy
Garnish
- mixed greens/ arugula/ alfalfa
Instructions
- Optional to add smoke flavor: Warm up smoker to 350F.
- In a large pot, boil the peeled beets with water and a lid to accelerate cooking.
- Once beets are tender (you can insert a fork into the beet easily), strain liquid add apple cider vinegar to the beets, gently toss and allow the beets to cool.
- Meanwhile, by hand or using a food processor, finely dice granny smith into 1/8” inch. Toss diced granny smith apples in lemon juice and set aside.
- By hand or using a food processor, finely dice cooked beets into 1/8” inch.
- Season dice cooked beets with kosher salt.
- Optional to add smoke flavor: Place diced cooked beets into foil pan and put into smoke for flavor for 20 minutes, stirring every 5-20 minutes.
Seasoned Walnuts
- Chop walnuts into small pieces, about ¼” pieces.
- In a small frying pan, melt salted butter.
- Add walnuts into hot pan of melted salted butter, stir and add steak spice. Remove walnuts from heat and stir to coat.
Whipped Cream Cheese
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed, whip heavy/ whipping cream to soft peaks.
- Add cream cheese, sour cream, kosher salt to whipped cream. Continue to whip at medium to high speed for airy whipped cream cheese. Set aside
For Beet Tartare Toast – Assembly
- On a slice of grain or sourdough bread, spread thick layer of whipped cream cheese.
- Add mixed greens or alfalfa.
- Top with spoonful of granny smith apple, diced cooked beets, and a sprinkle of seasoned walnuts on top.
For Salad Tartare – Assembly
- Lay spring greens onto plate, top with granny smith apple, diced cooked beets, and a sprinkle of seasoned walnuts on top. Dollop with small teaspoonfuls of whipped cream cheese.
For Beet Tartare Spread – Assembly
- On a large plate, add spoonful of granny smith apple.
- On another section of the same plate, add ½ cup of diced cooked beets with a generous sprinkle of seasoned walnuts on top.
- On another section of the same plate, add ¼ cup of whipped cream cheese.
- Provide slices of grain bread or crostini to allow individual spreading of beet tartare.
