Please share, I would love to see that.
Not to brag, but it's a flavor you can't find in restaurants. I like the fact that the salty/slightly sweet aspect allows me to just power through a streak vs eating steak in some restaurants, after a while my mouth feels ultra salty. I was literally inspired to this recipe by using spirits to kill germs on a questionable old steak, plus inspired by kettle corn for the salt and sweet. It turned out better than expected and became a regular recipe I made that many of my friends really enjoyed.
Spirit steak recipe (BBQ or hot pan):
Ingredients:
- Steak (typically beef, but can basically do this combo on any meat)
- Spirit
- Salt
- Syrup (ie: maple syrup, Aunt Jemima's, brown sugar dissolved in water or direct on the meat etc.)
Prep steak(s) and add these ingredients in this specific order, preferably in a bowl:
1. Steak
2. Spirit
3. Salt
4. Syrup
If you don't do it in this order, spirits rinse off the salt, syrup blocks the spirit/salt etc. The intention is the spirits soak in slightly for more flavor, salt does its special thing with meat and the syrup traps all of that in and helps to create a good crust.
Grill immediately or allow to marinate before grilling.
Feel free to pour the extra stuff that drips into the bowl onto the steaks when you grill. Don't forget that the liquid has spirits in it so with the high temp of the BBQ. you'll get a flare up. Don't get burned by the flambe styled flare up.
Spirits:
I find that anything works as long as you want those flavors, but typically I choose a dark liquor. Smoky will show up nicely, sweet/spices will as well. I would highly suggest a dark spirit, but certain clear spirits work fine too, but usually dark spirits have more of the right complex deep flavors that will go well with a steak (ie: Smoky, earthy, spices and sweet) vs many clear spirits have lighter flavors that taste weird on a steak (ie: Floral, plant matter, fruity etc.). You can always make your own blend if you desire.
Whatever you choose, it has to be a spirit and not something of lower alcohol content like wine. You want it to quickly burn and leave the flavor behind in an almost flambe~esque type of way. You may want to experiment how long you marinate the steak for the best balance of flavor and time spent on prep. More saturation of the spirits flavor in the steak isn't necessarily better for all individuals. I often choose something that isn't smoky for guests (ie: Rum, cognac or certain scotches) and for myself or those that I know would appreciate it, I'll go with something more spicy and smokey (ie: a sherry cask finish scotch with a bit of smokey/peaty taste).
Bourbon, whiskey, Scotch, Brandy and Rum all work well without hyper-analyzing the flavor profile. You can probably just start with the cheapest one you can get your hands on or are trying to get rid of (Calgarians, the Kirkland 12 giant bottle from Costco is excellent price point for this) and use the steak, salt and syrup to adjust the flavor to your liking.
It may make the wine choice for the steak a little more narrow due to the sweetness, but IMO it also allows for certain cocktails to go reasonably well with the steak as well. I've also done this combo on pork chops and other meats.
