Quick cranberry salsa is an easy and festive compliment to coffee-rubbed flank steaks.
I’m so in love with this recipe that I’m not even sure what to write. It combines a new obsession (cranberries) with an ongoing one (coffee), melding them into a dinner that’s as beautiful as it is delicious. As an added bonus, it’s also ridiculously easy to make and can be on the table in 20 minutes flat. Seriously, it took me longer to preheat the oven for the Brussels sprouts that I served with it than it did for me to do anything else.
When I’m making steak – especially when I’m cooking it inside instead of out on a grill – I love to add a little coffee to my seasoning blend. It intensifies the steak’s beefy flavor and adds a hint of bitterness that mimics the char flavor you might get from the grill.
Playing off of that bitterness, I made a quick cranberry salsa to serve alongside the steak. It was an afterthought, but ended up being the star of the dish. It has the perfect balance of sweet, sour, and spicy flavors. It really brightened the steak up, but I want to eat this salsa on everything! I could see it being great with chicken, sturdy fish, or even just on a cheese board (pair it with cheddar or stilton.)
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Ingredients
- For the cranberry salsa:
- 1 cup cranberries
- ½ jalapeño pepper
- 1 small shallot chopped
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 lime juiced
- For the steak:
- 2 tablespoons Gevalia® Majestic Blend ground coffee
- 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 pound flank steak
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- To make the cranberry salsa: Add the cranberries, shallot, and jalapeño to a food processor; process until finely chopped, about 15 seconds. Drizzle in the honey and pulse a few times to combine. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the sugar and lime juice. Cover and refrigerate at least 15 minutes.
- While the cranberry salsa rest, prepare the steak: Add the coffee, chile powder, salt, sugar, pepper, and mustard to a small bowl. Mix well. Brush both sides of the steak with olive oil. Rub 1-2 tablespoons of the spice mixture onto each side of the steak (reserve any remaining spice rub for another use).
- Heat a heavy pan, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, reduce heat to medium. Add the steak; cook 5 minutes on each side or until cooked to your desired level of doneness. Transfer the steak to a plate and tent with foil; let rest 5 minutes. Slice thinly across the grain and serve with cranberry salsa.
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Kraft. The opinions and text are all mine.
