Grilled Coffee & Cola Skirt Steak � Two Great Drinks = One Fantastic Marinade

I�ve made hundreds of different marinades over the years, but for some reason, cola had not appeared in any of them. One reason is that I never drink soda, so it�s simply not around, but above and beyond that, it always sounded more like a gimmick to me, invented by some marketing guru at Coke. Boy, was I wrong.

This coffee and cola marinated skirt steak was the most delicious thing I�ve grilled all year. The cola provides a unique sweetness, which is balanced beautifully by the bitterness from the coffee and dark grill marks. The marinade (probably technically a brine) made the already uber-juicy skirt steak even more so, as well as absolutely fork tender.  There wasn�t anything I didn�t love about this recipe.

Speaking of fork tender, this is dependent on two key things � that you slice the meat against the grain, and you don�t cook it too rare. As you�ll see in the video, it will be very obvious which direction you need to slice, so that shouldn�t be an issue. As far as doneness goes, I really think that somewhere around medium produces the ultimate skirt steak texture.

I have no problem with rare meat, but rare skirt steak can be chewy, and you also want enough heat to melt the marvelously marbled meat�s fat. In fact, I�d take a medium-well piece over a rare piece any day, and I can�t think of another cut of beef where I�d say the same thing.

So, if you�re looking for something a little different at your next backyard barbecue, I really hope you give this grilled coffee and cola marinated skirt steak a try. It was amazing. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

1 whole beef skirt steak, about 1 1/4 pounds (no need to trim, except for any obvious large chunks of fat)

salt and cayenne to taste

For the marinade:

2-3 cloves minced garlic

2 tbsp ketchup

1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried rosemary (or 1 tbsp freshly minced)

1/4 tsp hot sauce, or to taste

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup strong, freshly brewed coffee

1 (12-oz) bottle cola

View the complete recipe