Bon Matin we are off to Canada. Montreal to be exact.
Introducing Zoitsa Homely Produce’s – Montreal Steak Seasoning. A gorgeous blend that is perfect on all steaks from rib-eye, tomahawks, Scotch fillet, T-bone, flank, porterhouse, and sirloin just to name a few. Its also sensational on chicken, pork, and burgers. A wonderful addition to home-made veggie burgers too!
During Easter long weekend and due to the nice weather, The Hubster and I decided to have a BBQ for dinner. Quite honestly, I was relieved to not be cooking a big extravagant meal. Thankfully I had some beef sirloin steaks in the fridge crying out to be eaten by my boys and veggie burgers for Moi.
I started going through my cookbooks and looking for a different steak seasoning. Here at Zoitsa Homely Produce we have a few seasonings and rubs that are great on steaks such as our Steak Spice, Pork Dry Rub, All Purpose Dry Rub, Gyros Seasoning, and our Sweet Chilli Rub, but I wanted to try something new.
I wanted a steak seasoning that had bright herbs for colour, and a perfect balance of savoury flavours. I came across the Montreal Steak Seasoning recipes and there were so many versions of the stuff that had me in a state of utter confusion. The original Montreal Steak Spice ingredients are a mystery. All that I could find out was that the “key players” in this spice mix were salt, pepper, garlic, onion, dill, and coriander.
So, in true Zoitsa Homely Produce style I looked at 5 different versions and then added some of this and some of that and took out one herb and then added another herb and basically took some liberties with the recipe and BOOM SHAKALAKA ….our version was created. I really love our version of Montreal Steak Seasoning as it is absolutely delicious.
History time…The original Montreal Steak Seasoning was created in a Montreal delicatessen called Schwartz’s. There is no clear pinpoint as to the date that this seasoning was made but research tells me that it was some time between the 1940’s and 1950’s. Apparently the deli had a broilerman who was named Morris “The Shadow” Sherman. Mr Sherman began adding the deli’s smoked meat pickling spices to his own rib and liver (VOMIT) steaks. The regular customers started requesting the same pickling spices in their meat and became extremely popular literally overnight. Customers were coming in droves for this particular pickling spice. Many customers were asking for this spice to be made and sold to them in small bottles. And the rest ….is history.
Our Montreal Steak Seasoning is made using whole peppercorns, smoked paprika, kosher salt (as an homage to Schwartz’s Deli) garlic powder, dehydrated onion flakes, whole coriander seeds, mustard seeds, dried dill, and rosemary.
I decided to add smoked paprika into this steak seasoning as I wanted to bring out that barbeque smoky flavour. I feel that is leaves a hint of “smoke” into the blend.
Some of this seasoning I used a mortar and pestle to grind everything down and to keep the steak spice a lot more vibrant and “fresh”. I then hand mixed a few of the other ingredients into it. To give it a coarser texture.
I played around with our Montreal Steak Seasoning. When I say I played I mean I used it in the kitchen on a few other different foods. Its absolutely delicious rubbed into salmon before pan frying. I sprinkled some on baked potatoes and pumpkin and it was moreish! I stirred a little pinch into some Dijon mustard when I was making a Dijon Chicken Marinade. I added a teaspoon to my home made veggie burgers and turned a rather bland veggie burger into a finger licking burger of deliciousness! But the piece de resistance…I coated some streaky bacon strips with our Montreal Steak Seasoning, and I fell outta of my chair! It was MAGIC!
Don’t just take our word for it! You really need to try our Montreal Steak Seasoning out for yourself!
Bon Appetit
