"Homage to Tartare with Chicken & Shrimp"

"Chicken Tartare"
Plated by
Clarence Gardener

I wanted to create an out of the box recipe for chicken salad. Specifically, my aim was to approach this simple dish by giving it more of an exotic appeal. The first thing that came to mind was TARTARE.

If you have ever had a tartare, you know that it is a dish prepared using mince meat served in its raw form. Tuna Tartare is the most popular dish which I enjoy, but I have also seen steak prepared as a tartare as well.

Now with this recipe, I used boneless chicken breast, which has been seared and grilled. It will be used and prepared the same as it would be for any chicken salad recipe. The unique thing about this dish is that I used goat cheese, cream cheese, mayonnaise, minced garlic, sliced onions, sliced shrimp and egg yolks combined to create a wonderful base flavor. I whipped this together with the sliced chicken breast and the above mentioned ingredients - and the base for the salad was complete.

Using a ramekin, I packed the chicken salad along with some veggies and additional goat cheese at the base of this container. The vegetables included diced onions, celery, and carrots. I also used an assortment of sliced brown, green and yellow kumato's.

Plated by
Clarence Gardener

Once you have prepared your ramekin with the chicken salad, you need to heat it so that it will melt the cheese just a bit. I suggest that you pre-heat your oven to 425˚. You may choose to use a micro-wave for about 15 seconds or less.

After you have completed this step, you will want to plate this dish. Simply turn the ramekin upside down and empty its contents slowly onto a plate. You should now have a simulation of a tartare. It should hold together very nicely. I chose to top off my tartare with shrimp. Feel free to experiment with any topping of your choosing.  I also added a side of sliced mushrooms that was sautéed in a white wine butter sauce.

Enjoy!