Chef T’s Mid Summers Taste of Turbo
Cast Iron roasted Strip Steak with a Komodo Dragon Coffee Rub, bourbon barbeque garlic confit, mikes spicy honey truffle steak frites with a kale Caesar salad with applewood smoked bacon.
This dish isn’t exactly a back-yard barbeque dish, although you could make it happen with the right set up. This dish is the inspiration of wanting to be outside cooking on the grill but its raining. It has that summertime feel but the indoor appeal. At the end of the day…its damn good eating. It was tested and approved by boss President Chuck Lloyd.
Upon looking at how I wanted the dish to play out, I kept 3 factors in mind-salty, sweet and bitter. These are wonderful areas to play around with in regards to flavor balance. Many like the bittersweet sensation and salty sweet, but what about bitter salty? I messed around with this flavor profile and came up with a very great match. Coffee and salt. Chili powder rends a great balance having a sweetness to the dish as well as the BBQ sauce and the pungency of the bourbon which pairs well with the subtle flavor of the roasted garlic. The honey truffle steak frites are just a unique flavor of their own which adds depth to the flavor of the coffee rub. The kale Caesar salad with bacon stands alone with a great refreshing flavor to cleanse the palate. Tweak it any way you want with any cut of meat of your choosing, cook it any way you want grilling is a good option. When it’s all finished and you are ready to dig in…I guarantee it will be some Turbo eats.
This recipe serves 4 people.
4 each strip steaks about 12 oz or any cut of meat you desire
As needed coffee rub
1 cup your favorite BBQ sauce (my favorite is cannon ball)
12 each garlic cloves
As needed canola oil
1 oz bourbon
4 each russet potatoes washed and dried
As needed truffle oil
As needed mikes spicy honey
As needed chives
1 lb. Tuscan kale stems removed cleaned and cut into bit sized pieces
As needed croutons (make your own or buy which ever you prefer)
As needed shaved parmesan
¼ – ½ cups Caesar dressing
8 strips crisp bacon
4 tsp whole butter
To start: you will need to make the following items first.
Coffee Rub
¼ cup ground dark coffee
¼ cup ground chili powder
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tbsp salt
½ tsp cayenne
- Mix well and store in an air tight container.
Caesar dressing: 1 quart
1ea lemons zested and juiced
1 tbsp fresh chopped garlic
4 ea. anchovies smashed
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1-quart Hellman’s mayo
¾ cup milk
½ cup grated parmesan
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
- Combine remaining ingredients.
- Season to taste
- Store in refrigerator until ready to use.
Method:
- You will need to cut the potatoes in half and then cut each half in half and then cut into thirds to make wedges. You should get 12 wedges per potato.
- Put in a pot covered with cold water and some salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling cook for 7 minutes or until tender and drain.
- Using oil or nonstick spray lightly oil a half size sheet pan and place the potato wedges skin side down and put into the freezer until totally frozen.
- Liberally coat your steaks with the coffee rub and set aside at room temp for 20-30 minutes
- Meanwhile, place garlic cloves in a small pan and cover with canola oil and cook until soft and lightly brown on low heat. Drain and reserve the oil for later use (you just made roasted garlic oil which is awesome on just about anything.)
- Start heating you oil to fry your wedges in until it reaches 350 degrees and maintain that temperature. Preheat oven to 350.
- Melt butter in a cast iron skillet or whatever fry pan you may have as long as its oven proof and turn up the heat to medium high. Once the butter starts to brown, place steaks in the pan and make sure they don’t touch and sear 2 minute and remove from heat and turn the steaks over and put a tsp of whole butter on each steak and put the entire pan in the oven and cook until the internal temperature reaches 120 which is medium rare or which ever temperature you prefer. Remove from oven and place steaks on a cooling rack and allow to rest for 15 minutes
- Meanwhile combine garlic cloves, BBQ sauce and bourbon in a small pan and simmer for 1 minute or so until flavorful. Set aside
- Now is a good time to prepare the Caesar salad. In a large mixing bowl, combine kale, croutons, and shaved parmesan and mix briefly. Add the dressing a little at a time mixing and tasting to make sure it is to your liking. You may need more or less dressing depending on your preference.
- Place salads in bowls and top with chopped crisp bacon and black pepper and serve forth.
- Fry the potato wedges until golden brown and crispy, remove from oil and place in a mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle a little bit of truffle oil into the potatoes as well as the spicy honey until you get a mildly sweet and subtle truffle flavor. (truffle oil is very strong and a little goes a long way so use it sparingly). Fold in some chives and serve forth.
- The steak is now ready to serve. On each steak, divide the garlic cloves evenly and distribute the sauce evenly as well on each steak. Serve forth
- Enjoy with your favorite summer Saison or a light ale.
