Pairing steak with lighter flavors like citrus and oils are great, but stronger and more acidic flavors can enhance the beef and bring your taste experience to a whole new level! Especially when you’re using the highest quality and best tasting beef, like the cuts from PRE Brands, one of my favorite grass-fed beef companies. This gluten free recipe, Gluten Free Steak Tacos with Pickled Red Onions is a sure favorite! Using marinade and then rub steaks in ground coffee, and specifically cold brew gives it a rich flavor and its acidic nature makes an amazing tenderizer.
Cold brew coffee is naturally 60% less acidic than regular brewed coffee which gives it a smooth taste. If using a flavored coffee, find other spices and flavors that pair well. In general, these are great pairing for coffee: citrus, brown sugar, butter, cocoa, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, garlic, nutmeg, onions, vanilla, and walnuts.
Marinating is a great way to add flavor to the outside of your meat. However, marinades never penetrate meat all the way through, but it gives the outside a deep flavor that translates to every bite. For best practices, use a 2-step process.
1) Dry brine your meat first. Salt is the only penetrable component, it will leave your meat with great flavor and consistency. Rub salt on all sides and let sit for 1 hour.
2) Then let it sit in your marinade for up to 4 hours. Is longer marinating better? Not really. The higher the acid content the less time you should marinate your meat. For cold brew coffee, the ph level is about 5, so I recommend keep your steak in the marinade 1 hour with 4 hours being the max.
The best cooking methods for liquid marinades are slow cooking and sous vide cooking. You can grill with marinades, but make sure to put very little to no sugar since it will burn with high heat and giving the meat an ‘off’ flavor. For rubs, sear at higher heat, and then transfer meat to lower heat zone on your grill to finish cooking through. Below, Sarah shares her method for marinating 100% grass fed Ribeye steaks and serving them up Mexican style in a delectable soft taco.
PRE culinary manager Chef Sarah Russo loves to share her recipes with me and I love to share them with you! Check out some of the others too, right her on this site.
PrintCoffee Rubbed Steak Tacos with Pickled Red Onions
This gluten free recipe, Gluten Free Steak Tacos with Pickled Red Onions is a sure favorite! Using marinade and then rub steaks in ground coffee, and specifically cold brew gives it a rich flavor and its acidic nature makes an amazing tenderizer.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 3 1x
Ingredients
- Onions:
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- ½ cup lime juice
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- Steak:
- 2 PRE – Ribeye Steaks, cut in half to make four pieces
- 1 cup cold brew coffee
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon high heat cooking oil
- Pairings:
- 6 Corn tortillas
- ¼ cup cotjia cheese, crumbled
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Whisk together all the ingredients for steak and pour into a re-sealable plastic bag.
- Place steak in the bag with marinade.
- Turn to coat.
- Let steak marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.
- Preheat cast iron skillet to medium high. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place the red onion sliced in a bowl with lime juice, water, and salt.
- Stir around and set aside for about 30 minutes.
- Put a little oil in your pan.
- Slide the steaks onto the hot pan and let sear about 2 minutes each side.
- Transfer steaks to oven and cook an additional 6-7 minutes until the internal temp is 130 F.
- Let steaks rest for 10 minutes before you slice it thinly against the grain.
- Serve on warm tortillas with cheese and pickled red onions.
From our home to yours, Tina Turbin
If you have any questions or suggestions just email me at info (at) GlutenFreeHelp.info.