This Mother’s Day, treat her to a steak and a slice of cake, too
Posted May 6, 2019 at 10:57 AMUpdated May 6, 2019 at 11:05 AM
Do you know any moms who’d like a steak and a slice of cake, too?
Mother’s Day is coming up this weekend, and if you’re still looking for a way to treat the mom in your life, here’s an idea: Steak and cake.
Pairing steak and cake is the crafty idea behind Elizabeth Karmel’s new book, “Steak and Cake: More Than 100 Recipes to Make Any Meal a Smash Hit” (Workman, $22.95), which is just what it sounds like: a steak cookbook where each recipe also includes a cake that you can serve alongside it. Karmel, who developed the recipes for New York’s popular Hill Country Barbecue restaurant, has been teaching a steak-and-cake class at the Institute of Culinary Education, which was so popular she decided to turn it into a book.
Karmel will be in Austin next week to teach a similar class at 6:30 p.m. May 16 at Central Market on North Lamar. Tickets cost $70 and are available at centralmarket.com/cooking-school.
Skirt Steak with Chile-Lime Rub
This skirt steak and lemon cake combo plays off the citrus in both. Skirt steak is so rich and flavorful, and you could serve this with a jicama slaw and pickled onions. Note that this recipe calls for powered limeade, such as Kool-Aid. It seems like an odd ingredient, but it’s an easy-to-find source of lime flavor to add a kick of citrus to the rub. If that’s the only ingredient you don’t have, you could always simply squeeze lime juice over the steak after it has finished cooking.
For the chile-lime rub:
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened limeade mix, such as Kool-Aid
1 tablespoon New Mexico or ancho chile powder, or other pure chile powder such as chipotle chile powder for those with a hotter palate
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to taste
For the Steaks
2 skirt steaks (about 1 pound each)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Combine all the rub ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix. Transfer to a covered jar. Store in a cool, dry place. You’ll have about 1 cup of rub, and it will keep for several months. (This rub doesn’t have salt, so you must remember to salt before cooking anything that is seasoned with it.)
Heat the grill with all burners on high. Once heated, adjust the temperature to medium-high for direct grilling. Wrap the meat in paper towels to rid it of excess moisture. Replace the paper towels as needed.
Just before grilling, brush the steaks all over with olive oil and sprinkle both sides evenly with the rub. Sprinkle one side of each steak with about 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt just before placing them on the grill.
Place the steaks, salted side down, on the cooking grate. Cover and grill until the meat begins to brown and shrink, 4 minutes. Salt the top of each steak, turn them over, and grill for 4 to 5 minutes more for medium-rare. Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing it across the grain. Serves 4 to 6.
Easy Lemon Loaf
This lemon tea loaf is easy to whip up at the last minute — and no one but you will know just how easy it is. The best thing is that you can substitute any citrus that you have on hand, or use a combination of lemons and limes or lemons and oranges. And if you can get your oven mitts on Meyer lemons, blood oranges or Thai limes, so much the better!
For the cake:
Baking spray
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 1/4 scant cups self-rising flour
Zest of 2 lemons
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
For the lemon syrup:
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
Pinch of fine sea salt
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the loaf pan with baking spray.
Make the cake: Cream the butter and 3/4 cup sugar together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and very creamy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Whisk the flour and the zest of 2 lemons together in a small bowl. Add the flour mixture and the 1/3 cup of lemon juice to the butter mixture alternately in batches. Stop the mixer and scrape down the side of the bowl as necessary.
Spoon the batter into the prepared 9-inch-by-5-inch loaf pan and lightly tap the pan down on the counter to make sure the batter is evenly distributed and to remove excess air bubbles.
Place the loaf pan on a sheet pan to make it easier to pull it out of the hot oven. Bake until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing it from the pan and letting it cool on a wire cooling rack.
Meanwhile make the lemon syrup: Mix the juice of 2 lemons, 1/3 cup of sugar and salt in a microwavable bowl and heat in the microwave on high until the mixture boils and the sugar is dissolved, 1 minute or so. Stir in the zest of 2 lemons. Spoon or brush the syrup over the cake while the cake is still warm and let cool completely before serving. Serves 8.
— From “Steak and Cake: More Than 100 Recipes to Make Any Meal a Smash Hit” by Elizabeth Karmel (Workman, $22.95)