Tuesday, January 2, 2018

NMT Umami Steak Seasoning

[FTC Disclaimer] We are proud to have Certified Angus Beef® Brand as a sponsor again in 2018.  However, this is not a sponsored post.

This is the steak seasoning recipe that I shared in some of my steak classes that I taught in 2017 - NMT Umami Steak Seasoning.  It has become the steak seasoning that I use most often because it brings out the flavor of the steak without covering it up.

NMT Umami Steak Seasoning recipe is a salt and pepper based seasoning that adds aromatics and a mushroom powder blend.

NMT Umami Steak Seasoning starts with a basic salt, pepper, and garlic seasoning.  Then I add some aromatics. Finally, I leverage the power of mushrooms which are a natural source of flavor enhancers.  I use 3 types of mushroom powders to boost the flavor of a mouthwatering steak, namely, portobello, porcini, and shiitake mushrooms.

NMT Umami Steak Seasoning recipe leverages the natural flavor enhancers of mushrooms.
Upper left - dried and ground shallot
Upper right - dried and ground shiitake mushroom
Lower left - Dried and ground guajillo and ancho chiles
Lower right - dried and ground red bell pepper

Admittedly, several of the ingredients are hard to find, but you can either order them online or make them yourself with a dehydrator and a coffee grinder.  I've done both.  Doing it yourself is much less expensive and ordering online is much less time-consuming.
Ribeye steaks seasoned with NMT Umami Steak Seasoning.


NMT Umami Steak Seasoning


Ingredients


  • 1/2 cup kosher salt 
  • 1/2 cup Malabar Black Pepper, dustless, 16 mesh 
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated garlic
  • 2 teaspoons coarse ground shallot 
  • 2 teaspoons ground dried shiitake 
  • 1 teaspoon dried porcini mushroom 
  • 1 teaspoon dried portobello mushroom 
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground dried red bell pepper 
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried ancho chile 
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried guajillo chile 



Instructions 

  1. Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. 
  2. Season steaks either immediately before grilling or at least an hour before grilling. 
  3. This is best when applied in a 2 step process.  
    1. First, when cooking steaks, pat the steak dry, lightly oil it with peanut oil and then season the steaks with the NMT Umami Steak Seasoning. 
    2. Second, when the steak has cooked, use NMT Umami Steak Seasoning finely ground as a finishing seasoning dust.  You can apply the finishing dust either on the plate before slicing or on top of a freshly sliced steak.

Notes/Substitutions

  • Malabar black pepper - What is important is that the pepper is dustless and an even, coarse size.  I buy Costco's Kirkland Coarse Ground Malabar Black Pepper (Amazon affiliate link).
  • Dried shallot - I guess you could substitute about 1 teaspoon of onion powder but the shallot has an unmatched flavor.  I buy Harmony House Dried Shallots (Amazon affiliate link) online, but you can buy smaller amounts from other vendors.
  • Dried mushrooms - You have to have the mushroom powder, but you can switch up the types.  I started making my own by drying them out in a dehydrator and then grinding them up. We've been making this so much, Alexis has started buying quart jars.  If you are only going to use 1 mushroom powder, I'd recommend using shiitake as it contains 2 natural flavor enhancers.

I like to use Mason jars with a shake lid for this and all of my homemade seasonings.  We buy the shake lids at the grocery store in their canning section.  But Amazon does sell the Mason jar shaker lids (Amazon affiliate link) online if you can't find them locally.  This seasoning settles, so be sure to shake well before using.

Last week I used this seasoning on a pair of Certified Angus Beef® Brand ribeye steaks.  I used the sous vide method followed by a sear.   I seasoned them with the Umami Steak Seasoning, vacuum sealed them and placed them in a Sous Vide Supreme at 123°f for about 90 minutes. 


I like the performance of the SousVide Supreme, but it is an appliance style, which means it is bulky, you're stuck with the size that you have, and it takes up storage space.  Now you can buy the wand style sous vide appliances (non-affiliate link) which are much smaller and can be used with a wide variety of container sizes.

The next step is to sear the steaks in a hot pan or over hot coals.  This doesn't take long, maybe 1 minute per side.  I seared mine on a small kamado grill.  You can also use an insanely hot cast iron skillet or griddle for this.

Mini-Max set up with a Kick Ash Basket and GrillGrates.
 You usually knock the heat down a notch when using GrillGrates, but I wasn't paying attention and had the kamado up to 700°f.  That made the grill marks appear too defined in contrast to the rest of the steak.  No problem.  I just flipped the GrillGrates over and hit each side of the steak on the flat bottom of the GrillGrates to get color on the entire steak. That was only about 20 seconds a side.

Using GrillGrates upside down like a griddle.

As soon as the steaks come off, hit them with the finely ground NMT Umami Steak Seasoning.  The fine powder will quickly dissolve on the steak.  I also crumbled some Murray's Black River Blue Cheese on them.

Tender, juicy, and medium rare - just perfect for me.