[Everyone's Addicted!] Coke and Coffee Steak w/ Asparagus!

This is my second overall Cooking Contest entry anywhere! (Both here on Fakku!)
This time it's for the month of April Cooking Contest! Which features...CAFFEINE!
"Caffeine happy make me!!"

The Entrée!



The Dessert!



Personal Review
The entrée could have used a bit of salt for
the steak perhaps. Otherwise, I enjoyed it.
The steak absorbed more of the coffee flavor,
while the asparagus brought the sweetness of
the Coke more into play. It was also lacking
a bit in substance. So it does leave you still
looking for more. It'd be good however, for tapas.

The dessert came out a little odd. For my second
time of making pudding, (the first time was a total
disaster) it came out better! But chunky.
Regardless, once you got past the...texture, the
flavor of the vanilla plus the ginger green tea
went very well together! Surprisingly enough, the
green ginger tea came out strong, not to the point
where it's overwhelming, but as if you were drinking
tea! All in all, it turned out better than I hoped!

looks tasty

If your pudding is coming out chunky make sure to mix the corn starch into a slurry before adding it to the rest of the mixture, if you did and it still came out funky, try a lower heat, starch doesnt need much.

Also, for the entree to add some depth of flavors, I recommend marinating some sweet onions in the cola then cooking them (grill, saute, roast, broil, doesnt matter much). For the steaks dry them and place them in a pan with some strong brewed coffee, cocoa powder, and a smokey chili/spice like Hungarian paprika or chipotle (let sit 15-30 mins).
Toss the asparagrus in olive oil with crushed fresh garlic, salt and pepper and briefly broil or grill (any high heat technique). Prepare the steaks like usual and at the last minute top with the onions and a touch of kosher/sea salt. You can add some starch/arrow root to the steak marinade and reduce it, then pour it over the dish.

Id probably serve this with a crust french bread and red wine. Perhaps an Unruly Red. And a green salad in a balsamic vinaigrette.

PS - the pudding idea is really great, I'm going to try that soon. :D

Edit: I did some testing. The chunkiness is from too much starch. To fix this, whisk in some more milk then strain through a sieve to get the final lumps out.

Just throwing this out there before I really analyze your entry...Work on getting better pictures.

Edit: While Cola IS a great element for marinades, I find your dish lacking. Where were your seasonings? Salt and pepper are a must for any protein, especially when grilling, and that is just basic seasoning.

However, it was a simple recipe, and I like that. Too often in regular life, people don't have time to prepare a great dish with good flavor, and I think you had that, despite your lack of seasonings. Although, I think a sauce might have been able to pull it all together, but that's just my opinion.

Coke does make for a good meat marinade. I usually put it in chicken marinades, though.

And mmm, ginger green tea pudding...THAT I will definitely try out. I totally want some now.

I'd like to comment that salt isnt always required if a sauce is added, in fact not salting the meat (at least precooking) will make it more tender and juicier.

note: Always has been a debate on when to salt the meat, I fall on the "salt after cooking" side.

Once again, I must disagree with you. Not salting the meat will make it juicier yes, but there is a reason behind seasoning meat with salt

The salt allows the meat's natural flavors to come forward and be concentrated. More often than not, when a piece of meat is "bland", this is due to not salting the meat.

I always salt after cooking. (unless its a naturally tender piece of meat then I coat with salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and Worcestershire before grilling)

There is a story that a long time a go a girl lived with her father and two spoiled sisters. One day as their father was leaving on a trip the father asked the girls if they loved him. The first sister, material and shallow, said "Father, I love you more than all the jewels in the world." The father smiled, hugged her, and said his farewells. The second sister, similar in personality to the first, said "Father, I love you more than all the dresses in the world." The father contented smiled and bid his farewells to the second daughter. Finally, it was the last daughter's turn to say farewell. She thought deeply about how she could express her boundless love for her father. At last she said "Father, I love you more than meat loves salt." The father taken aback by the association such commonplace foods did not return her love and instead bid her to be gone from the house by the time he returned. The passed and finally the father returned. By this time, the good third daughter had left and was now earning her room and board at a local restaurant. The trip had gone well and made the father extremely wealthy. To celebrate he took his two spoiled daughters to the local restaurant. When the father ordered his steak the third daughter working in the kitchen made sure no salt was put on the meat. When the father tasted the steak he called over the waiter complaining "This is the worst steak I have EVER eaten. It is completely tasteless." At this point the third daughter walked out of the kitchen with a container of salt and applied it to the steak. When the father took his next bite he understood what she had meant when they last spoke. Realizing the magnitude of his third daughter's love over that of the other two, come his passing he entitled all his holdings to his third daughter.

the end

(lovely example of food culture there, that is a real story, i did not make that up)

Nice bit of lore there, but I stand by my previous argument, salting meat prior to cooking, no matter what method, is essential.