COFFEE MARINATED RIBEYE WITH GORGONZOLA GRILLED PEAR

Last night’s feast included coffee-marinated ribeye steaks, caramelised roasted pears with Gorgonzola cheese, walnuts and pomegranates, grilled tomatoes as well as roasted baby romaine lettuce with a Gorgonzola vinaigrette. Absolutely stunning dish and can be done easily on any grill (though a charcoal Kamado will always yield a better taste!)

So here’s what you’ll need:

1. 4 ribeye steaks about an inch in thickness – I simply took two steaks and halved them

2. 200 ml of strong black coffee (cold)

3. 4 tbsp dark brown sugar

4. 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

5. 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (the chunky kind)

6. 1 tbsp fine wholegrain mustard (the smooth kind)

7. 2 tbsp dark soy sauce

8. 3 cloves crushed and minced garlic

Combine the marinade together and place the 4 steaks in a large resealable bag. Add the marinade and pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to grill. I let mine sit for about 6 hours.

The salad dressing goes like this:

1. 2.5 tbsp red wine vinegar

2. 1 shallot, finely chopped

3. 25 g crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

4. 2 tsp Dijon mustard

5. 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

6. 2 tbsp walnut oil (this is expensive stuff but very well worth it… the taste that this oil yields is smooth and earthy!)

7. a pinch of granulated white sugar

Mix it all up into a sealable jar and give it a serious shaking. This vinaigrette is absolutely delicious on any salad but particularly good on the roasted baby romaine lettuce!

For the salad you’ll need:

1. 8 leaves of baby romaine lettuce (lightly oiled in EVOO and salted with a pinch of Kosher salt)

2. 4 firm but ripe pears, peeled, halved and cored – also brushed with a bit of EVOO and a tiny bit of Kosher salt

3. 100 g of Gorgonzola (split 4 ways)

4. A generous handful of toasted walnuts, crushed

5. Another generous handful of pomegranate seeds

Have all of this set up and ready to go because your steaks won’t take very long to grill.

Set up your Kamado for direct heat and get it nice and piping hot. I used Grill Grates which, for this meal, are essential. The aircraft grade aluminium really cranks up the surface temperature and sears steaks beautifully. Grill the steaks for about 2 minutes then turn 45 degrees for another minute. Then flip them and do the same. If you have an instant read thermometer, pull off the steaks at 125F (50C.) Let the beef rest for about 5 minutes, which is just about the time you’ll need to grill the pears, tomatoes and lastly the lettuce. The lettuce should only roast for a minute or so. You don’t want it wilted.

We also used the coffee marinade and made a classic sauce to go with the steak. Simply take a tbsp of flour and mix it with a tbsp melted lard (I used lamb fat) until it makes a paste. Then add a spoonful of the marinade and keep adding it slowly until it all combines. Then bring it to a boil and let it thicken up.  You need to get it to boil to kill off the bacteria remaining in the marinade.

When you’re ready, slice the ribeye thinly at a 45 degree angle. Place your grilled pear on the plate, add the Gorgonzola cheese in the hollowed out portion of the pear and sprinkle some walnuts and pomegranate seeds on top. Put down the romaine lettuce and tomatoes and give them a sprinkling of the vinaigrette. Lastly, add the sauce you just made and you’re off!  Pair this meal with a hearty red wine and enjoy!

A special thanks to the Immerman crew who volunteered to be our guinea pigs for this new recipe. Thanks for the wine and whisky of course and all that hilarious dancing afterwards! What a night!

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