Carne Crudo

I have to start this out with two apologies. First, I’m sorry I haven’t posted in awhile. A project at work is keeping me busy, and when I’m not busy, I’m out of town. This isn’t likely to change in the next month or two either. And second, I’m sorry that this recipe isn’t very good. In fact, it’s barely a recipe at all. I wasn’t going to even post it, but this blog is supposed to be about failures as well as successes, so here goes.

My work took me to Birmingham, Alabama a few weeks ago. Not really a mecca for great food but we were able to find a couple decent places to eat. At one of these restaurants, Bottega, I got the Carne Crudo. Now, I am a big fan of raw beef and tend to get steak tartare or beef carpaccio any time I can. I know that not many people are fans, so I don’t expect this to appeal to everyone who reads this. Anyway, while my companions weren’t pleased with their meals, the crudo was fantastic! Lemony, without hiding the meat. Just salty enough. And served with microgreens and crostini to make the perfect little bites. It was so good, in fact, that I decided to try to recreate it at home so my husband could try it.

Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that great. It was a little too lemony, and although the first few bites tasted ok, it got saltier and saltier the more we ate. I think because we used kosher salt, it melted as we went. Anyway, we ate as much of it as we could, and then vowed to leave it to the restaurants from now on.