The making of these espetadas was a team effort. I did the prep and sauce and my dad used his Big Green Egg to cook the meat! The majority of what I did was make the marinade for the beef to soak up for an hour. On a whim, I asked my mom if we had a spice grinder, to transform the bay leaves into bay leaf powder. We happened to have some cool contraption that basically did the trick! I couldn’t get the bay leaves to a powder, but it broke them up well enough. Another obstacle I faced was the fact that we couldn’t find Madeira wine at the store. I ended up settling for red cooking wine, and the skewers tasted great, don’t get me wrong, but I think the special sauce would have been a great touch to connect this recipe to its origins in Madeira, Portugal.
I got this recipe from the September-October edition of Milk Street and I loved reading the history behind the recipe. What is so special about Milk Street is that the recipes come from all over the world, and each one has its own description and story.
Ingredients ~
10 dried bay leaves, crumbled
kosher salt and ground black pepper
6 medium garlic cloves, finely grated (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 pounds beef sirloin tips or flat iron steak, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup Madeira (I used red cooking wine)
2 tablespoons salted butter, cut into 2 pieces and chilled
Instructions ~
In a spice grinder, combine the bay, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper, then pulverize to a fine powder. In a medium bowl, combine 2 teaspoons of the bay salt, 1 tablespoon of the garlic and 1 tablespoon of the oil, then use a fork to mash until well combined. Add the beef and toss, rubbing the seasonings into the meat. Thread the beef onto four 10 to 12-inch metal skewers. Place in a large baking dish or on a rimmed baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 1 day.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and the remaining bay salt, stirring, until fragrant and sizzling, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant and sizzling, about 10 seconds. Add the Madeira and bring to a simmer, then reduce to low and cook, sitting, until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Cover and set aside off heat.
Prepare a charcoal or gas grill. For a charcoal grill, ignite a large chimney of coals, let burn until lightly ashed over, then distribute evenly over one side of the grill bed; open the bottom grill vents. Heat the grill, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes, then clean and oil the grate. For a gas grill, turn all burners to high and heat, covered, for 15 minutes, then clean and oil the grate.
Place the skewers on the hot side of the grill (if using charcoal). Cook uncovered until the beef is lightly charred on both sides and the center of the thickest piece reaches 125 F for medium-rare, 8 to 12 minutes total, flipping once about halfway through. Transfer to a platter, tent with foil and let rest while you finish the sauce.
Set the pan containing the Madeira reduction over medium and heat uncovered just until steaming. Remove from the heat, add the butter and swirl the pan until the butter is melted and the sauce is emulsified. Remove the meat from the skewers and drizzle with sauce.
Recipe From: Milk Street Kitchen September-October 2020 Edition
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