Chili Coffee Rubbed Venison Steak
You’re probably thinking the exact same thing I did when I heard about coffee on a steak. Gross. No thanks. Not on my meat!
I was pretty set in my ways when it came to that, but then I kept seeing it over and over — at restaurants, on social media and even in cookbooks! Was I missing something here?
So I obviously had to try it and I’m a big time firm believer in this method now. You don’t taste coffee with this recipe. I can promise you that. By adding chili powder, cumin and brown sugar, the flavors that you taste are anything other than the coffee in the rub. The coffee more so acts as a crust and bark on the outside of the meat. I won’t do every venison steak like this, but it’s nice to mix it up for a change.
Finish with some flakey finishing salt and enjoy! I recommend marinating your backstops overnight to help tenderize the meat. I used a combination of soy sauce, Worcestershire and olive oil for my marinade.
Ingredients
- 2 TBSP Chili powder
- 2 TBSP finely ground coffee (not flavored)
- 5 TSP brown sugar
- 1 TBSP paprika
- 1 1/2 TSP dried oregano
- 1 1/2 TSP fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 1/2 TSP mustard powder
- 1 TSP ground cumin
- 1 TSP red pepper flake
- 1 TSP ground ginger
- 1 TBSP kosher salt
- 2 Venison backstrap filets
- 5 TBSP Butter
- Maldon or Kosher salt to finish
Instructions
- Mix chili powder, ground coffee, brown sugar, paprika, dried oregano, fresh pepper, mustard powder, cumin, red pepper flake, ginger and salt in a small bowl or mason jar.
- Remove the venison from the refrigerator and season generously with the chili coffee rub. You’ll have enough seasoning for one or two more batches of this recipe so don’t use it all! (I know it will be tempting). Set on the counter for at least 30 minutes to an hour to come up to room temperature before adding to pan. This will prevent the meat from shrinking when you put it on the hot cast iron.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Heat your cast iron on high to medium high. Sear venison 2 to 3 minutes on each side to create a beautiful crust. Transfer the pan to the oven for about 4 or 5 minutes to finish the cooking process. Remove from the oven and put the pan back on medium heat adding the butter to pan. Let the butter melt and with a spoon give the venison a butter bath coating the entire steak with butter. Remove from heat and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice 1/2inch thick against the grain and finish with maldon or kosher salt and enjoy!