Surf and Turf: Espresso steak and Shrimp scampi

Mmm. Where do I begin? I guess I should start by thanking the grill master: Dennis. Thank you for teaching your son a couple things about the charcoal grill. Or else this would have been a disaster.

We’ll start with the espresso steak. This was a sirloin cut marinated in olive oil and chili powder for a couple hours. Then I used a dry rub containing: 1/4 c. fresh ground espresso, 2 T. brown sugar, 1 t. chili powder, and 1 t. garlic powder. I let the rub sit for about 30 minutes before going onto the grill.

They got a little more done than I would like, but its really hard to tell when your steak starts out black.

My dad is the king of this phrase: “No, its not burnt honey, its blackened!”

Oh, and just in case you’re wondering. This delicious steak is all from our 1/6th of a heifer loot. Plenty more farm raised steaks in the freezer…….

Now to the shrimp scampi. I read about a way to spice it up in my Rachael Ray cookbook that calls for adding lemon zest, salt, pepper, and 3 shots of rye whiskey to the cocktail sauce. Then serve it like I did but in a martini glass. She calls it shrimp martinis. I didn’t have everything on hand, so I just improvised. Hey, I thought they at least looked cool!

Serve it up with staples like mashed potatoes and baguettes. I really liked this twist on an classic American dinner. If you’ve never tried a steak rubbed with espresso or even coffee, you need to! I promise it doesn’t taste like coffee.

Kitchen update: tomorrow is the deadline for all kitchen projects. Sooo, you can expect to see beautiful pictures by the end of the week.

Related posts: