We task chef Stephanie Bonnin, owner of Brooklyn, New York-based La TropiKitchen, with pairing a steak with a michelada and the result is Colombian-style steak and potatoes. Drawing from the roots of her native South America, Bonnin sears her T-bone or “Flintstone steak,” and serves it alongside avocado salsa and papas criollas.
First, she advises to let the steak air dry for 24 hours beforehand and then, before cooking, cover with a generous amount of salt. Next, she drizzles oil in a cast-iron pan and allows it get really hot, searing the meat for 3-5 minutes on each side. After she flips it, she adds a spoonful of ghee and a few cloves of garlic, spooning the juices onto the meat. Once the steak gets a proper sear, she finishes it off in the oven.
Next, she moves onto the potatoes. “Papas criollas are really important for the Colombian identity,” she explains. “Potatoes come from South American, from the Andes, but you can source them frozen from many Latin American retail stores here.” She spreads the small yellow potatoes out on a sheet pan covered in parchment paper, covers them in olive oil and salt, and cooks them in the oven.
After that, she softens ghee in the cast-iron skillet and adds the potatoes in to give them additional color and texture. “They have such a buttery flavor profile,” she explains. “As soon as you try them, there’s no way back, people.”
Lastly, she moves onto the avocado salsa, which she says really has no recipe. In a blender, she combines onions, cilantro, lots of lime juice, some serrano peppers, garlic, olive oil, salt, and frozen avocados. “I’m Latina so everything we do is garlic, onions, peppers, that’s our flavor,” she says.
To serve, she cuts the steak close to the bone to ensure the meat is rested but still red. She sprinkles Maldon sea salt on top and garnishes the avocado with cilantro. “This pairs well with the summery flavors of tomato and lime juice of the michelada,” she says. “You get to try a little taste of Colombia, too.”
Watch the latest Give a Chef episode to see chef Bonnin prepares her Colombian steak and potatoes from start to finish.
