Coffee Espresso Ribeye

There is nothing better than a tall pour of wine and a large steak, especially served for a special occasion or celebration with family and friends.

Over the years, I continue to learn and adjust to make a steak that everyone will love. Because I live in an apartment, my perfect steak recipe can be made with our without a grill.

In fact, with a few of the right tools you can make a steak indoors that rivals any that you could order from your favorite steakhouse.

I start by picking the perfect steak: a filet or ribeye that must be at-least 1.5 inches thick. The quality of your meat matters, higher quality meats have more favorable nutrient contents.

Once I've chosen the perfect the perfect cut of steak I bring it home, and pull it out of the refrigerator to let it get close to room temperature before seasoning.

Never forget to season your steak with a generous amount of sea salt and pepper.

Fun fact: The salt dissolves into a brine that breaks down the muscle fibers and is absorbed by the meat. Because of osmosis, the meat juices leave the meat and mix with the marinade and salt before being absorbed again.

After generously seasoning the steak, I move them to a bag to be vacuum sealed before dropping into a sous vide.

My perfect steak must be 3 things.

1. Fully flavored

2. Medium Rare

3. Have a nice crust on the outside

Because I want a medium rare steak, therefore want the final temperature of the steak to be around 135 degrees, I set my sous vide to 120 degrees as I will finish on a cast iron grill pan to form that nice crust, so that my steak doesn't look "roast-like." To those of you with access to a grill or smoker, you can finish steak here with the smoke adding extra flavor.

At a minimum, the steak should stay in the sous vide for at-least an hour, but can stay for up to 4 as the internal temperature of the steak won't rise above the precise temperature of the water bath.

When ready to serve, I pull the steak out of the sous vide, pat dry with a paper towel, add my chili espresso seasoning (recipe below) and get ready to drop into a cast iron grill pan on medium-high to high heat with a film of melted butter. If you are finishing on a grill, you want the temperature of the grill to be between 400 and 500 degrees.

Your steak will not need to be seared on this grill plan or grill for more than 2 to 3 minutes per side to bring up to temperature, but having a meat thermometer nearby will ensure that it's cooked perfectly.

I pull my steak off of the grill pan when it reaches about 130 degrees and transfer to a piece of foil where I let is rest for about 5 minutes.

You want your steak to rest is because the juices need time to redistribute, otherwise it will just flow away, leaving you with a brown, overcooked piece of meat. The residual heat will continue to cook your steak once removed from the grill pan, so that 5 minutes of rest will bring it up to a perfect medium rare 135 degrees.

Serve with your favorite potato and vegetable and of course glass of Cabernet or Pinot Noir.

1. Season before Sous Vide:

• Sea Salt

• Pepper

2. Set sous vide to 120 for medium rare finish

3. Vaccum seal steaks to be dropped in water

4. Let steak cook into sous vide for atleast 1 hour and up to 4

5. Pat dry and season with Chili Espresso Rub

Chili Espresso Rub:

• 2 tbsp (30 ml) ancho chile powder

• 2 tbsp (30 ml) ground espresso

• 1 tbsp (15 ml) paprika

• 1 tbsp (15 ml) brown sugar

• 2 tsp (10 ml) garlic salt

• ½ tsp (3 ml) kosher salt

• ½ tsp (3 ml) ground ginger

• ½ tsp (3 ml) dried oregano

• ½ tsp (3 ml) mustard powder

• ½ tsp (3 ml) black pepper

• ½ tsp (3 ml) cayenne pepper

6. Melt butter in Cast Iron grill pan over Medium High Heat

7. Sear steak 2 to 3 minutes on each side until steak reaches 130 degrees

8. Let steak rest in foil for 5 minutes or until it reaches 135 degrees

Enjoy!