Culinary Disasters

One of the great advantages of beef is that it can absorb a lot of bold flavors and still maintain its personality throughout the whole cooking process.  Yes I know there are those critics out there that believe a good steak only needs salt and pepper but I don’t know about you but I love bold flavors and survive on caffeine.  So why not combine them both? 

The idea for this came from BBQ.  I read about a lot of teams that started using coffee in their brisket rubs.  I tried it out on a couple of brisket and was impressed with the way the coffee really complimented the beef flavor and added a whole layer of complexity.  So naturally it progressed into messing around with my steaks and this is what I came up. 

As with any rub that you create feel free to play around with the flavors to make it fit your tastes.  I also have found using a bolder coffee like a French roast or an espresso works a lot better than a milder blend.

For this recipe you will need:

• Your favorite cut of steak (I used flat iron of course)
• 1 TB of your favorite ground coffee (I used a French roast)
• 1 TB of kosher salt
• 1 TB of black pepper
• 1 TB of pure ground chili powder (I used ancho)
• 1 TB paprika
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• 1 teaspoon of coriander
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• pinch of cayenne
• 1 TB of high temperature oil (I used canola)
• 1 TB of unsalted butter

About 30 minutes before you are ready to start bring the steaks out of the fridge and let them rest of the counter.  Relax you won’t get sick from this and this step is crucial for uniform cooking.   

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine all the dry ingredients together and then press the spice mixture into the steaks.

Over medium-high heat and in a cast iron skillet melt 1 TB of the butter with 1 TB of the canola.  After the butter has melted add in the steaks and cook for 3 minutes on the one side.  Flip them and cook for another 3 minutes.  When you first put the steak in you should hear a definite sizzle.  If you don’t hear it remove the steak wait another minute and try again. 

Place the steak in the oven and cook till they are just about done to your preferred temperature (you do remember you have to rest your steaks and there is carryover cooking right?).  For medium-rare I put them in for 8 minutes and the steaks were about 1 inch thick.  Anything past medium well the only option is take your apron and hang yourself for disgracing perfectly good steak.  Remove the steaks from the oven and place on a plate to rest for 10 minutes so the juices can settle.

Serve and enjoy!

Tags: beef, All //