Steak in a Martini Glass

Yes, you read that right. Yes it sounds like an odd concoction, and it actually came about as a mistake. You see, the cocktail we originally intended to make was Bon Appetit’s Sriracha-Lada recipe that was just printed in the recent issue.

Well, to start with, we didn’t have Mexican beer. We had Blue Moon’s variety pack – the Summer Honey Wheat on hand. We also didn’t have Sriracha sauce, since I’m actually allergic to it (it’s a shame, because until I figured that out, it was a favorite of mine), but we had Tabasco sauce. We didn’t have Worchester sauce either – but we did have Pickapeppa sauce, which is what I use in place of the classic steak sauce. Here’s how the recipe unfolded.

First, Wining Husband, resident bartender, used salt to rim two martini glasses. Now, the original recipe has the drink in a pilsner glass. About 1 oz or so of lime juice was used – the equivalent of the juice contained in a small lime, squeezed into a shot glass. As I was chopping red onion for use in our dinner, I turned and noticed that Wining Husband had the 1/2 tablespoon out, rather than the 1/2 teaspoon. I mentioned it, but it was too late. He’d already added 1/2 a tablespoon of Pickapeppa sauce to the martini glass. He then added 1/2 a tablespoon of Tabasco sauce. He combined these three ingredients in the martini glass, and then added the chilled beer.

Now, there had been no ice used in the recipe, as there wasn’t room for it in the cocktail glass. He sat the cocktail down in front of me, sans lime wheel, and I looked at it, and finished chopping my onions. Then, finally, I tasted it. It was spicy, and a bit salty from the rim of the glass. I took a second sip.

“This tastes like steak in a cup. It tastes like a big, beefy, juicy, spicy and well-marinated steak,” I finally said. Wining Husband had a taste, and decided he would make himself the same, mistake beer cocktail.

Sometimes, when you make a mistake in the kitchen, it turns out to taste pretty good.