Grilled Pork Steak with Herb Puree and Grilled Peaches

This recipe is strictly an original from one of the Sous Chef Series classes I taught with Chef Brad at Williams-Sonoma. I know the combination of items for this recipe sound non-traditional, but for some reason, peaches and pork go great together! It also looks beautiful with the bright green herb puree drizzled over the entire dish. Enjoy!

The Recipe:

1 Pork blade steak (2 inches thick- ask your butcher at the grocery ;) )
3 Tablespoons Creole spice (Tony Chachere's is great)
1 1/2 cup- 2 cups honey
2 1/2 teaspoons Aleppo chili powder
OR
combo of 2 teaspoons paprika and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (whatever works best for you)

1 cup plus a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

4 garlic cloves

handful of parsley (about 1/4 cup)

handful of basil leaves (about 10)

3 scallions

few shaved slices of Ricotta Salata cheese

Keep in mind that you want to have a grill pan as well as food processor/blender for this recipe. An outdoor grill will work just fine too but you may have to adjust the cooking time of the pork steak.

The Procedure:

1. In a large glass dish or bowl, cover the pork steak in creole spice, some salt, and 1/2 cup of the honey. Set Aside

2. Pit the peaches and cut them into halves. Coat them with the aleppo pepper or cayenne/paprika as well as a little salt and 3 Tablespoons olive oil.

3. Bring your grill pan to high heat and coat it with olive oil.

4. Grill peaches, cut side down on the pan until grill marks form (takes about 4 minutes). Flip them and give them another 3-4 minutes. Set aside to let cool in a bowl and toss them with remaining honey and rice vinegar.

5. Wipe your pan and coat with oil again. Bring to medium heat and throw the pork steak on for 20 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, combine remaining olive oil, garlic, parsley, basil, scallions, and a pinch of salt until pureed. Set aside.

7. After steak is grilled for the 20 minutes, coat it using a brush with the peach marinade. Cook, flip, and continue brushing a few times until the steak is cooked through to medium (middle should be 145 degrees). If you prefer a more done pork steak, no problem- cook it longer.

8. Let the steak rest for a few minutes. Serve pork steak on a nice platter with the peaches. Drizzle your herb puree on top as well as a few slices of the ricotta salata cheese.

This dish is sweet and tangy with a little kick. Who knew pork and peaches were a winning combination? Maybe it's alliteration...foods that start with the same letter can possibly go together! Haha. Enjoy ;D
* I acknowledge Williams-Sonoma Inc. and Chef Michael Gulotta for this recipe*