My friends at Lava Lake Lamb recently started carrying grass-fed beef, and I jumped at the chance to give some of it a try. One particular challenge came in finding a unique, yet somewhat traditional, way of preparing sirloin steak; it’s a very simple cut, which fares the best with a simple preparation (garlic, salt, and pepper are usually perfect). Luckily, after some digging I discovered quite a few different ways that people grill this steak in Turkey, so I developed a recipe based on some of those traditional Turkish methods.
It’s hard to find specific history related to grilled beef steaks in Turkey – in fact, many regions only ate meat during special celebrations until very recently. My guess is that this particular preparation is relatively new to the country, probably only 50 years old. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter – this steak was delicious, regardless of how long people have been cooking it!
You’ll Need:
16oz sirloin steak
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp yogurt
1/4 tsp each cumin, thyme, black pepper
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
Combine all of the ingredients and marinate for four hours.
Shake off some of the yogurt marinade, then place on a preheated grill. When grilling, grill on med/high heat, flipping every few minutes. It’s pretty neat to watch the transformation from a somewhat-unappealing white blob like in the picture above into a delicious steak!
It should take about eight minutes altogether to grill the steak to about medium doneness. Be sure to cover the steak and let it rest for five minutes before eating.
That’s it! Couldn’t be easier. The steak was tangy and flavorful, and incredibly tender. Serve with a heaping portion of veggies and a nice big salad.
The Domestic Man 
Mmmmm. This is how they grill lamb and chicken in Iran, except they use turmeric rather than cumin in the marinade, which I’ve done many times. I’ll have to try your Turkish version with cumin soon!
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Let me know how you like it, Buttoni! :)
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Steak may just have to be on the menu today. Looks really good.
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Thanks!
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Hm, was it cooked well done when you had it? I see you’ve cooked it pretty well through there.
Would it have the same effect if I made it a tad less done? Say, medium/medium rare?
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It was probably closer to medium-well than medium doneness when I cooked it, but I think the marinade also negated some of the rosy pink color that you’d get from un-marinated steak. But yeah, you can totally cook it to whatever doneness you prefer, and it’d still be pretty good!
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It was a little salty for me – would 1 1/2 or 1 1/4 tsp of salt be enough for the marinade?
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