We don’t eat steak often around here, but when we do, one of my favourite ways to serve it is with blistered shishito peppers. The shishitos pop and sizzle as they blister in the pan before getting zapped with lemon juice, making them tender and perfectly acidic. Right before serving they get chopped into a juicy, salsa-like consistency and spooned over thick-cut strip steak. There is no better time to eat this than fall, when you can get fresh shishitos at the market. Oh, and I have to give a special shout out to my secret (not-so-secret) steak rub ingredient: coffee!
Strip Steak with Blistered Shishito Peppers
We don’t eat steak often around here, but when we do, one of my favourite ways to serve it is with blistered shishito peppers.
Ingredients
Method
- Pat 1 8oz steak dry with paper towel. Add 1 tbsp coffee, 1 tbsp cracked black pepper and 1 tbsp salt in a small bowl. Mix to combine, then season the steak all over. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, or as much time as you have (up to 2 days in the fridge).
- Heat a cast iron on medium-high heat until just before it starts to smoke, about 3 minutes. Add 1 tbsp canola oil and let heat up, another 30 seconds.
- Add steak and cook on medium-high until a dark golden brown crust forms, about 3 minutes. Try your best not to move it around during this initial sear, just let it do its thing! Flip and cook the other side for another 3 minutes. Rotate the steak to grill remaining sides for about 30 seconds each, if your steak has a fat cap, cook that side for a little longer, about 1 minute.
- Remove from heat. Add 2 tbsp butter and baste the steak for two minutes. By now, an instant-read thermometer placed in the thickest part of the steak should be 120-130°F. Remove from the pan and let it rest on a cutting board for about 10 minutes.
- While the steak is resting, put the pan back on the heat and turn to medium-high. Once it heats up, add the shishitos and let cook. After a few minutes you should start to hear sizzling and popping — this means the peppers are beginning to blister. Toss and let cook until the peppers are golden brown and charred all over, about 3 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add the juice of half a lemon. Toss and continue cooking on medium until soft, about 4-5 more minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and roughly chop until the peppers form a salsa-like consistency.
- Cut your steak into strips and top with chopped peppers and a sprinkle of flaky salt. Serve hot.