It probably sounds gross. Coffee crusted beef? It did to me the first time it was offered as a special at Stoney River in Roswell GA. It doesn’t taste like coffee at all. It pulls this savoriness out of the meat and really adds some depth. It’s super easy to do and chances are your dinner guests will be very intrigued. Mine were.
I’ve thought about making it for a few years actually, but didn’t find a recipe until earlier this year. I found the recipe at foodnetwork.com .
I added a few things and took a few things away to make it my own.
Tip: Grind your own coffee at the grocery store. Use a bold flavor and grind it to Turkish Style. That’s the finest most machines go. I wish they had a setting called “dust”, but they don’t.
It only takes about 1/4 cup of the coffee for 4 – 6 steaks. Add whatever spices you want to the steak about an hour before grilling. Then sprinkle the steaks with the finely ground coffee and rub it in until you’ve turned the steaks black.
Allow the meat to come to room temperature before grilling for best results. Heat the grill to 500 degrees so you can sear the steak, about 3 minutes per side. Don’t forget to turn your steaks 90 degrees about a minute and a half into it to get those great grill marks.
You’ll need to finish them using indirect heat. The amount of time for indirect heat will depend on the thickness if the meat. I did about 7 minutes, but you may want to use a temperature gauge to get the meat to the desired doneness.
Tip: REST. This is the easiest way to make a steak great and it is definitely the most neglected cooking tip. Let the meat rest for at least 5 minutes after removing from the grill.
Think about it like this. When you get burned, does water go to the surface of your skin? Yes. Whatever meat you are cooking does the same thing. If you cut the meat while it is still super hot at the surface the meat will dry out. Letting the meat rest allows the moisture to return to the center of the meat and retain it’s juiciness.
If you had my steaks, leave a comment and tell the world what you thought.