WEEK 25: YOUR BEST BROILED STEAK

Cowboy Rubbed Rib-eye with
Chocolate Stout Pan Sauce

Photography by Sarah Shatz

    BY ALIWAKS | SERVES 2

A&M: Ground coffee, smoked paprika, cumin, ancho chile, and brown sugar form an earthy, flinty rub that smells appealingly of wood smoke. “I started making this rub after reading about cowboy food,” Aliwaks wrote. “They carried with them coffee, salt, pepper, and sugar … and they grilled their steaks in cast-iron pans. Since I do not often find myself on the open range, I have to make do with either my grill or, during wet yucky weather, my oven. I’ve added a couple of spices and few noncowboy-type extras … though I’m pretty sure if the cowboys had chocolate stout they would’ve enjoyed it, too.” She also borrows a smart technique from Indian cooking and has you toast the spices over low heat before rubbing them on the steak. Then it’s just a matter of searing the rib-eye in a very hot cast-iron pan and finishing the sauce with some chocolate brown stout, beef stock, and a lump of butter. We recommend some corn pudding on the side.

    1 tablespoon ground coffee

    2 tablespoons kosher salt

    1 teaspoon smoked paprika (sweet or hot, depending on your taste)

    1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper

    1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (preferably ancho chile)

    1 teaspoon ground cumin

    2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

    1 nice, thick rib-eye, 1 to 1½ inches thick, big enough for two

    1 tablespoon vegetable oil (if you are the type to save bacon fat, by all means use it)

    1 thyme sprig

    1 cup chocolate stout (you’ll have to drink the rest!)

    ½ cup beef broth

    1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1. Mix the coffee, salt, paprika, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and cumin together and toast lightly in a pan until fragrant. (Alternatively you can toast whole spices, then grind them.) Mix the spices with the sugar to make the rub.
2. Spread the rub all over the steak and let sit for a while. If you do it the night before you’ll have stronger flavor, but if you do it right before cooking it’ll be good, too. (If you prerub and set it in the fridge, be sure to bring it up to room temperature before searing.)
3. Heat a cast-iron pan until it’s really really hot—a drop of water flicked into the pan should sizzle and bounce. Add the vegetable oil, wait a few seconds until it heats up, and place the steak in the pan. It should sizzle; leave it there, do not touch it at all for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it’s browned on the bottom. Place the pan under a hot broiler and broil to medium-rare or desired doneness, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Remove the steak and let it rest on a warm plate, covered with aluminum foil.
5. Add the thyme sprig to the pan and let it sauté a bit until it gets nice and fragrant. Pour in the chocolate stout and deglaze the pan. Add the broth, whisk together, and reduce by half over medium heat.
6. Remove the thyme sprig and whisk in the butter. Season to taste.
7. Slice the steak on the bias and drizzle the sauce over top. This is yummy with creamed spinach and hash browns or a baked potato and a nice big salad.

Photography by Sarah Shatz

    TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

    Aliwaks added, “On the rare occasions when I’ve been forced to camp outdoors, I’ve brought prerubbed steaks with me to get a taste of the old West. If you have no chocolate stout available, any dark beer will do; you can also substitute red wine but it will be very different. I like to use a preheated cast-iron pan because it conducts the heat well … and you don’t have to turn the meat over.”

        Lastnightsdinner said: “We’ve got a weird, very low-profile broiler underneath our oven that our iron skillet is too big to fit under, so when we had this over the weekend my husband seared it on the stovetop and then chucked the iron skillet into a 500°F oven just until the steak reached about 130°F to 135°F. He let it rest tented in foil while I made the pan sauce back on the stovetop, and our steak turned out perfectly medium-rare.”

    ABOUT THE COOK

    Learn more about Aliwaks and check out her recipes for Smoky Fried Chickpeas and Luciana’s Porchetta (which went up against Cook’s Illustrated’s best roasted pork shoulder—and almost won!).

    WHAT THE COMMUNITY SAID

    Limonlemon: “I’ve made this twice, once with pork and another time with steak. The only downside of this recipe is that when you’re toasting the spices, it ‘seriously’ makes you cough. Everyone does. Just turn on a fan, open a few windows, and it’ll pass. Other than that, it’s delicious, even three days later as a leftover sandwich. Definitely a keeper.”