Chili, Coffee, and Steak; oh my!

This steak was a huge hit. It had a little too much of a kick for me, but I also fail at eating spicy food. It was however, delicious, and for the second time of using coffee I once again did not taste it. This is also a blog I haven’t tried anything from before and it got raves. I used it on steak, but originally it was used on pork. I think serving it with sweet potatoes would be great, because with the cauliflower it was a little much.

Coffee-Chili Steak
Adapted from Tasty Eats at Home

1 T canola oil
1 1/2 T finely ground espresso powder
1 1/2 T ground chile powder, such as ancho or cascabel
1/2 T dark brown sugar
1/4 T dry mustard
1/4 T ground coriander
½ T garlic salt
1/4 T freshly ground black pepper
1 ¼ lb steak

Combine all spices and oil in a small bowl. This will create a coarse mixture, which you then spread on the steak. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Heat up the grill, it should take about 8 minutes to cook, but because the rub is so dark is a little hard to tell. Serve and enjoy.

As you can tell this is a fast and easy rub, and you an even skip the marination process.

Yummy to the extreme

Things that are not photogenic with my not so awesome camera: things that are white, which mostly today includes tzatziki sauce and the pita bread. So I’ll provide the links for both of those, but only talk about the kebabs here.

These kebabs were awesome, I was unsure about how cooking something covered in yogurt was going to go down, but that all burned off and left a slightly lemony purely delicious meat. I love lamb, as a side note. Like love, like I don’t understand why I forgot about it until this recipe and never buy it at the store. Maybe because the word lamb is so cute and makes me feel like a bad person? Something for you all to ponder.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, as well as the Pita and tzatziki
Lamb Kebabs

1 pound plain yogurt (regular or lowfat)

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for brushing grill

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (This takes more than the lemon you bought for zest)

5 tablespoons fresh whole rosemary leaves, chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds top round lamb (I used a shoulder cut that was awesome)

1 red onion

First mix everything except for the lamb and onion together in a bowl. Stir. Cut the lamb (using scissors people! How thrilling is that?) into little kebab sized chunks about an inch and a half big. Let marinate between two days and four hours, then stick on a kebab stick as well as cut up pieces of red onion. Pop on the grill for a about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with tzatziki and homemade pita.

Now eat.

Color Theory

I may have spent the better part of last night eating chocolate chips out a bag. Which made me feel the need to do something more exciting tonight, and so I went and bought a salmon fillet from the store today. (Side note, they were selling these itsy cartons of blackberries for three fifty each, and this store is on the Burke Gilman, people are crazy) But I decided that nothing sounded better than salmon and blackberries, and so I googled blackberry sauce and came up with…almost nothing. Steamy kitchen has a variety that looks good, but is heavily based on brandy which I have none, and being underage which I have no means of getting. So I decided to come up with a something and see how it tastes.

I should of course, issue a word of caution. When cooking with a plank, have a bowl of water nearby, because mine caught on fire a total of three times and set off the smoke alarm once.

Salmon with Blackberry Sauce
Serves 2

½ teaspoon butter
Pinch of thyme
1cup blackberries
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 salmon fillet
1cedar plank

Combine vinegar and blackberries on stovetop, cooking at a very low temperature. (If you want your blackberries more whole, don’t add them till the end, but I wanted all of their flavor). Once you’ve done that for a couple of minutes add the honey, then the mustard, thyme, and butter. Simmer for a while longer, until you get the consistency and flavor you want. This isn’t very sweet despite the honey and berries, and is more mustardy and savory. If that wasn’t what you were looking for with the berry approach, I’d omit the Dijon.

After letting the sauce cool for a while, I poured it on top of the salmon and set it in the fridge to marinate until dinner a few hours later. About two hours before I was going to start cooking I took out a glass pan and placed the cedar plank in it while filling it up with water. You can weigh the plank down with a bowl, it needs to soak two hours so as not to catch on fire in the grill. This is not a desired result.

Once the plank has been soaked for two hours, turn the grill on and let it preheat for 5 minutes before putting the salmon on. Cook salmon as normal, and for an elegant finish you can even serve it still on the plank. Unless of course, you’re like me and your plank has turned the color of a bruise.

I served mine over the pilaf mixed with some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, and although it was tasty my favorite thing about this might be the color. The entire salmon was purple, and purple happens to be my favorite color (my being a husky is really a coincidence). If my parents had made this for me when I was two (and refused to wear anything but purple for an entire year) I might have been the happiest kid. As it was, I was still a pretty happy adult.

Mustard Kabob Glaze

This glaze was adapted from a Bobby Flay recipe, and I put it over some kabobs with tomatoes, mushroom, pineapple, chicken, and peppers and thought it was awesome. It was also super easy and I already had all the ingredients, so if you're in need of something to grill with or just coat your meat, this would be an excellent and easy choice.

Mustard Kabob Glaze

Makes enough for more than four very full skewers

1/4 cup Dijon mustard
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Put the mustard(s) in a small mixing bowl and stir, add the wet ingredients and stir, and then all the dry ones and stir. Once you're done stirring, just apply over meat and veggies and cook as you like, though I recommend using your grill.

A note: This originally called for much more whole grain mustard and only a little Dijon, but I worked with what I had and it turned out great.

Everyone's first bites! This went excellently with my friend's contributions, hummus and pita for appetizers, homemade strawberry lemonade, and a phenomenal carrot cake