Elevate Your Steak Like Bobby Flay With This Simple Ingredient
Like all chefs, Bobby Flay has go-to ingredients that he keeps within easy reach in the kitchen. One of them, as shared with Misfits Market, Flay says is smoked flaked sea salt, which he uses on his steaks. (If you're wondering what his favorite cut is when cooking for guests – it's skirt steak.)
Flaky salt is the best type of finishing salt for steak due to the crunchy bite and flavor that doesn't overpower the meat. Taking that a notch higher by using smoked salt provides the same salinity and texture, while also giving steak a smoky grilled flavor. Flay suggested it as a great final touch, for instance, on a steak cooked in a pan that's been basted with butter. It's also an easy, handy option when you can't grill outside, don't want to spend time doing it, or don't have a grill.
Sprinkle on the smoked salt right before serving after the steak has had time to rest. This maintains the salt's crunch by keeping it from melting too fast. Also be careful about how much you use so the steak isn't too salty or smoky.
How smoked salt is made and other ways you can use it
There are different types of wood commonly used to smoke flaky sea salt, including oak, mesquite, hickory, alderwood, applewood, maple, walnut, and cherry. Cold-smoking over low temperature for a longer period of time is usually preferred, since the higher heat of hot-smoking can affect the salt's flavor or consistency. The smoking process not only imparts flavor, it turns the salt a light brown color.
Smoked salt is good for finishing other meats, poultry, and fish in addition to steak, but it also works well with anything that would pair well with its flavor. Sprinkle it on roasted veggies, scrambled eggs, buttery corn on the cob, or baked potatoes. Liven up snacks like popcorn and roasted nuts. Add it to fruit like pineapple, peaches, or plums that you'd grill. Put it around the glass rim of a margarita, maybe mixed with a little chili powder, or a Bloody Mary the queen of brunch drinks. You could even use it as a substitute for crumbled bacon.
Introduce smoky to the classic combo of sweet and salty in desserts. Top brownies or chocolate chip cookies with flecks of flaky smoked salt, use it over scoops of ice cream, or dust it on pieces of gooey caramel apple pie. Experiment with your own creative ideas and see what you like!