Cowboy Steakhouse Almond Satay

Not sweet. Not mild. A savory almond spread with a steakhouse backbone and real heat.

This is the strangest thing we make and the one people can't stop talking about. It started as our Cowboy Steakhouse compound butter — the seasoning we built for a cast-iron ribeye — and we asked what would happen if we put that blend into almond butter instead. The answer is a spread that behaves like a condiment: garlic, shallot and onion up front, cracked pepper and turmeric behind them, rosemary and thyme in the back, and then the heat. It's noticeable, it lingers, and it's meant to.

Heat: 8/10. If you like a hot sauce that actually tastes like something, this is your jar. If you don't, start with a thin spread.

We blanch the almonds for this one. The skins carry a tannin that fights the spice, so we take them off — which lets the seasoning read clean and lets the turmeric show its color. High-polyphenol Moroccan olive oil and grass-fed beef tallow carry it. A little maple sugar and a touch of woodfired syrup keep the savory from going flat and take the edge off the burn.

Tastes like: A steakhouse rub over toasted almond, then a real chili burn. Deeply savory, aromatic, faintly smoky, and hot. Read the jar — it says NOT SWEET for a reason.

What's in it: Fresh-roasted blanched almonds (made with organic almonds) · high-polyphenol extra virgin olive oil · grass-fed tallow · garlic · shallot · maple sugar · sea salt · onion · woodfired maple syrup · black pepper · crushed red pepper · rosemary · thyme · turmeric · capsicum

Eat it: On a burger instead of aioli. Thinned with hot water into a spicy satay sauce for chicken or grilled vegetables. On flatbread. Off a knife over a cutting board while you cook.

Net wt 8.8 oz (250 g). Roasted and jarred in small batches in California's Central Valley. Oil separation is natural — stir it back in.

Contains almonds (tree nuts).