Happy day 3 of #Choctoberfest! I hope everyone has been checking out all of the bloggers involved in this event…there’s some really good stuff being posted in this event!
Today’s post is sponsored by Rodelle. They provided Choctoberfest participants with their Gourmet Baking Cocoa (even though I didn’t bake with it!) The cocoa powder is Dutch-processed, which provides a more consistent flavor than un-processed cocoa does. (Dutch-processing helps in avoiding the bitterness of cocoa if you wondered.) Rodelle’s Gourmet Baking Cocoa also has a number of health benefits, including being naturally kosher-, cholesterol-, and gluten-free, and containing calcium, fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. Also, this cocoa contains one of the highest levels of cocoa butter on the market, allowing for a great cocoa flavor.
All that being said…one of my goals of this event was to make and post recipes that involved chocolate but that weren’t necessarily going to give you cavities, Hard to do when the theme is chocolate, but I hit a home run with this recipe!
This is another recipe from the Taste of Chocolate cookbook, and this one is from Mrs. Donna Powers-Wilson. I put Donna as a Mrs. instead of a Ms. because I actually know/knew her. We used to be Facebook friends, but she’s not on my list anymore. She’s still alive, though, so maybe one of these days, I’ll be able to track her down and tell her how AMAZING this steak was!
The steak was great, but I’m not gonna lie; the real star here was the salsa. When Dennis was having steak leftovers, he was like, “What’s missing?” And I said we’d eaten all the salsa when we had the steak the first time. He was genuinely sad. (I was, too.)
I’m not saying you have to double the pineapple salsa recipe, but I’m gently suggesting that you do.
Also, I spent a good amount of time looking for “pineapple tidbits” at the store and had almost resorted to buying pineapple rings and dicing them when I found the tidbits. They really are the perfect size, so use them if you can find them!
Oh, and I almost forgot! Remember yesterday, when I said I had a second Davis Chocolate item to showcase? It was some 70% Cocoa Cocktail sticks that go excellently with a good dark, red wine and some steak!
Chocolate Flank Steak with Pineapple Salsa
Serves 2
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ancho chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 1/2 lbs. flank steak
Pineapple Salsa
In a medium bowl, combine all salsa ingredients.
Cover and chill for at least one hour.
To make the steak
In a large Ziplock bag (or large container if you’re like me and forgot to get bags), combine all ingredients except steak.
Make sure the marinade ingredients are thoroughly combined, then add the steak to the bag/container.
Chill 4 to 6 hours.
Remove the steak from the marinade and discard the marinade. Broil on a foil-lined pan or cook on grill for 8 minutes per side, or until desired doneness is reached. Or you can do what I did and bust out your grill pan, set your smoke detector off a bunch of times, and cook the steak to a nice internal temperature of 145°F.
Let steak rest for 10 minutes, then cut across the grain into strips.
Serve with Pineapple Salsa and bask in the glory of the most delicious steak ever to be created.
Make sure to check out the Wednesday recipes from other Choctoberfest participants below!
