I am extremely fortunate to have a Husband that cooks a mean Barbecue.  His steaks are always cooked to perfection, however it is up to me to come up with new and exciting accompaniments and sometimes mustard just doesn’t cut it.   Sticky, spicy, jammy onions on a bed of sweet potato mash most certainly do!

Prep time:  20 minutes         Cooking time:   20 minutes             $$ Medium Budget

Serves 4

4 x 200gm sirloin steaks

Extra virgin olive oil

20gm of butter

2 large red onions, halved and sliced

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

6 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed and stalks discarded

1/2 tsp of dried chilli flakes

1 tsp of dijon mustard

1/3 cup of red wine

2 tbs of good quality balsamic vinegar

2 tbs of vino cotto* (optional)

2 small sweet potatoes

20gm of butter

Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Steamed green beans to serve

Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into large chunks and bring to the boil in a large pot of salted water.

Heat a large frypan, add a little olive oil and 20gm of butter and fry the onions on a medium heat for approximately 5-7 minutes or until starting to soften.  Add the garlic, chilli flakes and thyme and fry for a minute or so before adding the mustard and balsamic vinegar.  Stir well to combine and allow the balsamic to cook right down so you have a nice dry mixture.  Pour in the wine and vino cotto into the mixture, reduce the heat and allow all of the liquid to reduce nice and slowly, stirring occasionally.

Rub the steaks with a little olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.  Heat your BBQ to a nice high heat and pass the steaks to your BBQ king or cook them yourself if you don’t have one.  It will depend on the the thickness of your steaks as to how long they cook for. For a good 2 inch steak, 4 minutes either side with a resting time of 5 minutes should give you the perfect medium rare steak.

Drain the sweet potatoes and mash with a potato masher.  Pop in the butter and season well with salt and pepper before whipping rigorously with a wooden spoon.  Once the steaks have rested, slice them across the grain on the diagonal.

To serve, divide the mash between four plates.  Slide your knife under each sliced steak and lay it on top of the mash.  Spoon over the onions and drizzle over any remaining pan juice and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.  Serve with steamed green beans.

*Vino Cotto is made from the must of grapes.  It is a sweet, velvety condiment that goes beautifully with red meat and can be found in gourmet food shops and good delicatessens.  If you can’t get it, this recipe will still taste delicious if you leave it out…….you could substitute a little more vinegar and 1/2 tsp of sugar.