At first, I couldn’t believe what I read on the restaurant menu, in New York. Coffee rubbed steak? Then I tried it and discovered a whole new world of steak rubs. I thought it would taste bitter, but it didn’t. There was a subtle hint of coffee but if I didn’t know, I would never have guessed. It’s almost like a secret ingredient! You know something adds magic to the dish, but don’t really know what it is. I serve it with roasted garlic, buttery jacket potatoes and grilled corn. Yum!

Ingredients

• A whole piece of sirloin, about 1300 gr.
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 60 gr unsalted butter
• 2 rosemary sprigs

For the coffee rub

Mix together:

• 1 Tbs ground espresso coffee
• 1 Tbs black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• ¼ tsp chilli powder
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• 1 Tbs dark brown sugar
• 1 Tbs sea salt (or 1 tsp table salt)

Method

Preheat oven to 220 C (430 F). Put sirloin in a baking pan and drizzle with the olive oil. Wear plastic gloves and rub the coffee rub all over the meat massaging well. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 175 C (345 F). Add the butter and rosemary in the pan and bake for 20 minutes more for medium rare.

Tent pan with foil and let the meat rest for 30 minutes. Slice and serve with the pan juices. Cold, it makes the best sandwiches.

A note on cooking times: For medium-rare allow 12 minutes per 500 gr. For medium 14-15, for well-done 17-18. The meat will carry on cooking while it’s resting so don’t be too hasty and return to the oven cause it looks too rare.