- When it comes to a classic steak sauce,
store-bought sauces have their place,
just not in my kitchen.
Stick around for a couple of secret ingredients
for a classic steak sauce you'll never forget.
(gentle, upbeat music)
Now, if you're like me, you grew up with a bottle of A.1.
on the drawer of your refrigerator.
Standard, right?
Standard fare.
To make a classic steak sauce
like this in your home kitchen,
there are a few standard ingredients to do a cheater A.1.
Most recipes, you're gonna see some kind
of tomato component, in this case, tomato paste.
You'll see a couple of vinegars.
You'll see some form of mustard.
In our case, we're gonna use Dijon.
A lot of times, you're gonna see golden raisins
or some kind of raisin.
We're not gonna use raisins.
A raisin is a dehydrated grape, right?
I don't think it should try to become a grape again
and get rehydrated.
That's just a personal thing.
So let's get started on the sauce
and stick around for the two ingredients
you won't wanna miss.
Starting with an onion component
is always a great foundation for a sauce.
We'll start building our sauce by mincing a shallot
and into a sauce pan over medium heat,
we'll put in a tablespoon of butter
to give the shallot a chance to saute
and become transparent.
We'll build the flavor by adding a tomato paste
and give it a chance to simmer.
Now, while that's going,
let's get our liquids ready to go in.
We got water, sherry vinegar,
apple cider vinegar, and Worcestershire.
We'll bring that to a simmer
and make sure that tomato paste is incorporated.
Then add our Dijon and our first secret ingredient,
tamarind paste.
This'll give subtle, sour, and sweet notes to our sauce.
And finally, our second secret ingredient, dates.
The fiber of dates will give our sauce some structure,
while the sweet Carmel and earthy flavors
balance our vinegars perfectly.
Make sure that pits are removed
and then we've got about a half cup
and a nice little fine dice
that'll head into the sauce pan for simmering.
Cover and simmer on low for about 10 minutes.
From here, we'll blend it.
You can use a hand immersion blender
or a standup blender, like this.
Quick tip here.
If you're ever blending a hot liquid,
be sure to remove the filler cap to let steam escape.
Super important.
Otherwise, you can have a sauce explosion in the kitchen
and nobody wants that.
With the lid secure, we'll blend until smooth,
bottle it up to have your classic steak sauce on hand.
High quality steaks like this deserve ingredients
that are high quality, also.
That's why we made our own classic steak sauce.
Let's season these up and get them in the pan.
I was able to score some great looking,
Certified Angus Beef brand T-bones,
but feel free to grab whichever steaks you prefer,
like rib-eyes, strips, or filets.
Generous salt and pepper on both sides
and then on the grill we go.
You know we can't always grill outside,
so here's a great alternative, a grill pan.
Preheat the pan so you can get a great sear.
Give a couple of minutes on one side
and look for beads of moisture
on the shoulders of the steak as it starts to relax.
These are good indicators that it's ready to flip.
A couple of minutes and check for doneness.
For me, I'll pull it about 120 to 125 degrees
so it ends up at medium rare for my target.
Pick your target with a handy doneness chart here.
Pull your steaks and let them rest
for about five minutes before diving in.
The T-bones are cool because they've got a strip steak
on one side and just a little filet on the other.
I'm a big fan of the strip steak,
so I'm gonna take a bite here
and can't wait to pair with it with this sauce.
So good.
The sauce has got such great balance.
When you have a quality steak like this,
you need something that can pair well
with that kind of marbling.
That kind of robust flavor needs something tangy.
The tang is perfect, the earthiness.
It is the perfect sauce to go with perfect steaks.
Make sure you like and subscribe to our videos
and we'll see you next time in the Test Kitchen.
(gentle, upbeat music)