Steak Tartare

It's hard to imagine a dish better suited to the food processor than steak tartare. What once re¬quired laborious chopping and grinding is now achieved with a few strokes of the pulse button. One job, however, remains to be done the old-fashioned way: be sure to trim the beef carefully before processing..

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup lightly packed parsley sprigs
• 1/2 small onion
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained well
• 1 1/2 pounds lean, boneless beef sirloin, trimmed of fat and cut into chunks
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon liquid hot pepper seasoning
• Coarsely ground pepper
• Garnishes: Watercress sprigs, whole chives, slivered red bell pepper, and whole capers
  Melba toast or thinly sliced French bread
  Egg yolks and onion rings (optional)

METHOD

Insert metal blade. Mince parsley, then onion, as directed on pages 15 and 13; set aside. Place capers in work bowl. Process, using on-off pulses, until coarsely chopped. Set aside. Following directions on page 10 coarsely grind beef, a por¬tion at a time (or all at once in a large-capacity processor). Leave in work bowl. Add parsley, on¬ion, capers, egg, salt, soy, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and hot pepper seasoning. Process, using on-off pulses, just until ingredients are combined. Season to taste with pepper. If made ahead, cov¬er and refrigerate for up to 1 hour.

To serve as a first course, divide meat mixture into 6 to 8 equal portions; shape into balls. Place each portion on a plate and flatten slightly. Sur¬round with garnishes. Serve with Melba toast.

If desired, place an egg yolk and a few onion rings on each plate; as you eat, mix egg yolk with meat.

To serve buffet style, shape meat mixture into a ball, place on a serving plate, and flatten slight¬ly. Surround with garnishes; serve with Melba toast. (Omit egg yolks and onion rings.)
Makes 6 to 8 first-course servings or 16 to 18 servings as part of an appetizer buffet.