Some people out there think steak sauce is a dirty word – or rather two dirty words. I don’t get it. The finest steak houses in town are ready to let your steak swim in Béarnaise sauce or soak up mushroom sauce, but if you imply for one minute that you might like a slightly sweet, spicy, tomato, vinegar based sauce – well Katy bare the doors. I think it might be because steak sauce to many people means the stuff in a bottle that is an icky brown with a consistency that can only be described as unnatural. Before you join the masses and write off steak sauce as something for wimps or people who don’t really know steak, try making your own. It’s easy, it’s delicious and your friends think you are really something when you serve steak with your own homemade steak sauce.
At the risk of damaging my son’s masculinity, I’m going to reveal the shocking truth that he doesn’t really like steak unless you do something to it. He’ll put steak in a biscuit, roll it up in a tortilla, or devour it in beef stroganoff. But hand the guy a grilled steak and a baked potato and you have let him down. This steak sauce is the answer – he loves it. In the summer we like steak with homegrown tomatoes and onions and a little grilled French bread all gently garnished with a bit of our Swor House steak sauce. It’s sort of the dressing that brings everything together.
We like it best with sirloin, rib eye, or even flank steak. If you are feeling European and have steak with pomme frites or American and just call them fries, or even lazy and settle for tator tots – steak sauce is way better than ketchup! You can play around with the recipe; make it a little hotter or a little sweeter.
The sauce keeps in the fridge for at least two weeks, probably longer but I’ve never managed to have any left over that long. This stuff is good on lots of things, but it’s hard to beat a perfectly grilled sirloin steak dipped in a bit of your own house made steak sauce. Make a batch and amaze your dinner audience!
Ingredients
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of one lemon
¼ cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar (or whatever you have on hand)
2 Tbsp Ponzu or Soy Sauce
¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce
1¼ cups ketchup
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp water
Directions
Put all ingredients in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
Strain to remove onion and garlic.
Store in a jar in the refrigerator.
