Balance The Richness Of Steak With A Dirty Martini-Inspired Topping

Meaty olives, along with their flavor-packed brine, are what make a dirty martini rise far above the basic, chilled vodka or gin they're stirred into. It's no coincidence that martinis of all varieties are great pairings with steakhouse classic offerings because of their simple, light flavor profiles. Both gin and vodka will stand up to a rich cut of meat, but the dirty martini might just be one of the best pairings for a juicy steak. Olives are a concentrated source of umami, that savory flavor found in so many protein-rich foods, so they pair very well with steak. They also balance the richness of a well-marbled steak.

But there's an alternative way to enjoy that salty, umami olive flavor if you're not feeling like a cocktail with dinner. You could choose to top your steak instead with dirty martini flavors in a punchy green sauce laced with olives and the heat of your chosen alcohol or melt a slab of rich, dirty martini compound butter over the hot steak.

There are dozens of green sauce styles you could adapt to include olives, their brine, and even a hit of gin or vodka if you want to bring the dirty martini vibe to your steak plate. The easiest choice would be a green olive version of tapenade, the chopped olive condiment you'll find all around the Mediterranean. Stir roughly chopped martini olives with an ounce of gin or vodka, and then whisk in extra virgin olive oil for texture. You could spoon this, uncooked, directly on the steak or spoon it over the steak during its last few minutes in the pan to burn off some of the alcohol's heat.

Compound butter is simple to make, and you can personalize a dirty martini version to suit your style. You could roughly hand cut your olives for meaty morsels, or pulse the olives in a food processor for a more spreadable flavored butter (it's great slathered on bread, too). If you'd like to echo the herbaceous flavors of gin, try grinding up a few juniper berries, including a few rasps of lemon peel from your microplane and even a pinch of coriander or anise seeds to fold into softened butter with the olives. Once you've blended your ingredients with the butter, just drop a dollop on that hot steak. You can store any leftover dirty martini butter in the fridge or freeze it for longer storage.