I had prepared this very flavorful sauce for the Polar Production Team last week as a thank you for bearing with me during the long, sleepless hours of filming my first cooking series. On the last day, I packed a meal for each member revolving around my favorite insomniac’s ingredient: coffee, of course!
I seared beautiful rib-eye steaks and paired them with a mushroom coffee sauce. The beef was such good quality that salt and pepper could have been sufficient but I jazzed it up with espresso coffee and flavored the sauce with the velvety, dark elixir.
1. Info for Rib-Eye Steaks with Mushroom Coffee Sauce
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 60 mins
- Servings: 6
- Calories: 611kcal
2. Ingredients for Rib-Eye Steaks with Mushroom Coffee Sauce
- 3 (10-ounce) boneless veal chops, about 1″-thick
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
- ½ white onion, freshly grated
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup espresso coffee (2 shots)
- 1 tablespoon dark molasses
- ¼ cup aged Bluegrass soy sauce (or dark soy sauce)
- ½ cup ketchup
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely crushed
- 2 teaspoons sea salt (or regular salt)
- ½ cup beef stock
- 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons curly parsley, chopped
3. Directions:
- Pat dry the meat with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Heat a cast iron pan. Brush with a thin layer of oil, then melt 2 tablespoons butter. Place the rib eye steaks. Sear and brown the meat on both sides for about 3-4 minutes per side. It’s important that you do not pierce the meat (use tongs instead) so it remains tender. Flip the steaks and generously sprinkle with salt. Cook until you reach the desired doneness (I cooked them for another 4 minutes, up to 7 minutes if you like the meat less pink). Turn off the heat and transfer the meat to a plate. Cover with a piece of aluminum foil and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
- Remove half the amount of the drippings from the pan, essentially the excess fat at the surface.
- For the scallion and maple-flavored barbecue sauce: In a saucepan, melt the 2 tablespoons butter. Sauté the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes, then set them aside onto a plate.
- Add the onion paste and cook for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Add ⅓ cup light brown sugar, 1 tablespon dark molasses, the coffee, soy sauce, ketchup and the juice of 1 lemon. Complete with up to ½ cup beef stock. Mix well, bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 6-8 minutes. Thin the mixture with water (up to ½ cup), if necessary. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the mixture thickens. Add the remaining butter. Adjust seasoning and return the mushrooms and steaks, basting and coating the meat in the sauce. Garnish with parsley.
- Bon appétit!