Gordon Ramsay is indeed a well-known and well-respected chef. He has definite opinions — and he makes them known.
You either like that or you don’t.
Here, he makes his opinion about steak known loud and clear. Let there be no question as to what he thinks.
Watch it and tell me what YOU think. Do you feel the same way?
The beautiful thing is, whether you agree or don’t agree you can cook your own darn steak at home any way you want it.
Is it okay to ask for steak sauce at a steakhouse?
Does it insult the chef if you order your steak well done? (Well, that’s why I like my steak at home – I never insult myself. But that’s another story.)
These steak questions and more are answered by celebrity chef Bobby Flay in this enlightening video (click on photo).
Click here for video. Then go cook a steak at home – where no one will judge you. Well, except maybe the cat.
Photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.com.
Is this a deep, philosophical question?
An inquiry from a visitor to our planet?
Nope, just a “Who’s on first?” type of comedy skit from our friends at BBC.
Steak style.
Funny? You decide!
Oh, yum! What’s better than a steak dinner?
A summer steak dinner!
Eating outside, soaking in the sun and enjoying being alive. THAT’S what summer’s about!
Check out this video filled with great ideas to make an amazingly sunny steak dinner at your house!
And, seriously, the steak in this video just might be the biggest steak I have ever seen. And the vegetable? Cactus! Plus, chipotle mashed potatoes. You’ve GOT to check it out.
Enjoy!
Good Day Café: Grilling Steak: MyFoxNY.com
It’s that time of year! So many things to celebrate – Father’s Day, graduations . . . summer!
And how do we celebrate things around here? Why, with food, of course!
So to help us do that, here’s a video of Arturo McLeod, executive chef at Benjamin Steak House in NYC, showing us exactly how to grill that perfect steak or burger.
My favorite takeaway from this one? Heat your grill 30-45 minutes before putting on the steaks.
Now that’s a HOT grill! Makes sense, though.
Mmmm, I can hear that beef sizzling now . . .
Super Sister-in-Law Chef Sandy is back today with a recipe and tips for making your own amazing bread (like they serve in the best steakhouses) at home.
This way, you can get the ENTIRE steakhouse experience at home!
Here’s what she has to say:
One of my criteria for any great restaurant is the quality of its bread. Now, thanks to some genius bakers, it’s totally possible for you to make great bread at home, to go with your fantastic steaks and side dishes. Who needs to eat out, anyways?
I use a recipe created by Jeff Hertzberg, MD and Zoe Francois from their book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Because I live above 6000 ft, I have made a few adaptations, like reducing the yeast, and because I am a recipe-tinkerer from way back, I add a few things in for my family. My only other secret is to use King Arthur Flours, because I am a believer in the quality of their products. I use at least ½ King Arthur Whole Wheat flour, and add a little extra water. Sometimes, I will add whey from the yogurt that is in my fridge as part of the liquid, if I have it.
The reason this recipe is so wonderful, besides the fact that it is tasty, is that it truly is easier than any other bread recipe I have ever tried. I get more consistent results from this recipe than I ever got from my bread maker, plus I have a gorgeous, crusty, delicious loaf of bread instead of a square loaf with a hole in the bottom.
If you’re not familiar, the concept behind the “5 Minute” breads is that they are mixed and kept in the fridge, in large batches, for up to 2 weeks. This time in the fridge develops a slight tang, makes the dough easier to work with and the moist dough makes the artisanal bread crust and moist “crumb.” The recipe makes enough dough for 4 small loaves of bread.
I used to be better about following instructions, like “use a baking stone,” but since I lost mine during the move, I just use an upside-down cookie sheet, preheated in my oven to bake this bread. I baked this bread just recently and shared with a good friend who has a little boy who is just learning to talk – he loved this bread and called for “more dat.” I second that motion!
Although the Master Recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is great, here is my version of the bread, made with ½ whole wheat flour:
3½ cups lukewarm water
1½ Tbsp granulated yeast
1½ Tbsp kosher salt
3 cups King Arthur Bread Flour
3 cups King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
½ cup wheat germ
(Note – for high altitude, I reduce the amount of yeast to 1 Tbsp.)
In a 5 or 6 quart bowl or lidded food storage container, dump in most of the water (3 cups) and add the yeast and salt. Dump in the flour all at once and stir with a long handled sturdy wooden spoon, a silicone spatula or a Danish Dough Hook. The rest of the water should be added, as needed, depending on your climate/altitude/flour choice. When you mix the dough, let it rest for about 5 minutes to see if it relaxed into the shape of the container – if you can’t easily mix in the flour, you will definitely need to add additional water. This is not dough that requires a mixer to come together.
Stir it until all of the flour is incorporated into the dough. The dough will be looser than most bread doughs you have seen – it will flatten out and take the shape of the bowl or container quickly – not cake batter thin, but looser than cookie or most bread doughs you may have worked with. Because I work with King Arthur Flour, live in a dry climate, and use about ½ whole wheat flour, I usually end up adding about ½ to ¾ cup more liquid than the original recipe calls for.
Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours to rise. When you first mix the dough it will not occupy much of the container, but after the initial rise it will almost fill it. Don’t punch it down, just cover it loosely, with plastic wrap or set the lid of the container on top of it. I use a plate on top of my large bowl to give a cover without sealing the dough in. Set it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours for the easiest handling.
The next day when you pull the dough out of the refrigerator you will notice that it has collapsed – this is normal for this dough. Dust the surface of the dough with a little flour, just enough to prevent it from sticking to your hands when you reach in to pull a piece out.
Cut off a 1-pound piece of dough using kitchen shears and form it into a ball.
To shape the dough, grab your mass of dough – about the size of a large grapefruit for a one-pound loaf of bread, and sort of tuck all of the ends around to the bottom of the mass of dough and stretch a “cloak” of dough around the ball. If you are shaping the dough into rolls, now is the time to do this – for nice dinner rolls, cut the ball of dough into 6 pieces and form each of these into a neat little ball. You may need to dust your hands with a little flour, or counter-intuitively, wet them, to get a nice shape – the quicker you move here, the easier, I promise.
If you want to add something like olives to the bread, you can either mix it into the dough (at the first mix,) or sort of roll it in, jelly roll style. For bread to enjoy with a nice steak dinner, I’d go simple. Leave some good quality salted butter on the counter to soften to room temp while you cook.
Place the ball of dough on a sheet of parchment paper… (or rest it on a generous layer of corn meal on top of a pizza peel.)
Let the dough rest for at least 40 minutes, or 60 or even 90 minutes. It won’t rise much, but that is how the recipe was designed. Longer rests will allow the center of the loaf to be less dense, with larger holes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone on the center rack, with a metal broiler tray on the bottom (never use a glass vessel for this or it will shatter), which will be used to produce steam. (The tray needs to be at least 4 or 5 inches away from your stone to prevent it from cracking.) If you don’t have a pizza stone, use a cookie sheet, upside down, on the center rack.
Slash the loaf deeply (1/2 inch or so, with scissors or a serrated knife) to prevent splitting.
Slide the loaf into the oven onto the preheated stone and add a cup of hot water to the broiler tray. Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes or until a deep brown color. As the bread bakes you should notice a nice oven spring in the dough. This is where the dough rises.
If you used parchment paper you will want to remove it after about 20-25 minutes to crisp up the bottom crust. Continue baking the loaf directly on the stone for the last 5-10 minutes.
Allow the loaf to cool on a rack until it is room temperature.
If you have any leftover bread just let it sit, uncovered on the cutting board or counter with the cut side down.
Enjoy!
If you’re looking to cook something a little different this weekend, try this flavorful boneless ribeye steak recipe from Chef Marcus Samuelsson of Good Morning America.
It would seriously be a good morning if you served this up with some eggs and fixins the next day. Just sayin’.
Try this paprika-y, garlicky seasoning and tell me what you think. This just might become your favorite new way to cook a steak!
Photo courtesy of Ida Mae Astute/ABC.
What, you say? Grape?
Yes. Grape. It’s something I’ve never thought of before.
Good thing there are chefs out there who are always thinking!
Here, Chef Evan Branning goes over this recipe detail by detail, tip by tip for us. Thank goodness, because I need specific directions.
He even tells us exactly how to season before the marinade to get the most flavorful steaks possible. So go here now for the full recipe and instructions.
Happy cooking!
Photo courtesy of ChefALaPorte.com.
It’s fall and my Super Sister-in-Law Chef Sandy is back today with a hearty, beefy, autumny favorite that any beef lover will eat up. She always knows just the right thing to make to welcome the season. Enjoy!
I made a fabulous pot roast on Friday, because the weather was frightful and was just begging for it. It was tender and flavorful and everything you could hope for from a pot roast. And it was large enough for leftovers, because I always like to have enough for second helpings – we all know it is just as easy to cook a 4 pound piece of meat as a 2 pound one, it just takes a little longer. But, the question is, do we really want to eat the same thing twice? If you ask my daughter, the answer is an emphatic “No!” So this is where I have to get a little creative.
In this economic time of doomsday forecasts on all of the news media, it just feels right to be a little frugal in the way I run my kitchen. One of the best ways to do this is to do a great job managing our food budget by not being wasteful. But I still want to make mealtime delicious and enjoyable for everyone. So I use my leftovers, a little creativity and a little bribery to make everyone happy at the dinner table. I still shop for the best quality meats and vegetables, and we always get great bread.
Tonight we are going to have Stone Soup and salad for dinner. Did you ever read the Grimm Brothers fable Stone Soup to your kids? It is one that was read to me when I was probably in first or second grade, and it is a story that has stuck with me all of these years. The idea is simple – just a little bit of this and a little bit of that and you can have a nourishing meal.
The bribery comes in with the garlic bread to eat with it, and the cookies and milk for dessert. The soup will be vegetable soup, made with pot roast and gravy leftovers, plus some other goodies from the pantry, refrigerator and freezer.
Stone Soup, AKA
Quick and Easy Vegetable-Beef Soup
2 cups assorted vegetables, either frozen or leftover or fresh chopped
(I used 1 chopped carrot, 1 cup frozen green beans and peas, ½ cup of garbanzo beans, 1 leftover roasted potato)
½ cup spaghetti sauce, Bloody Mary mix or tomato juice
3 cups stock or water
1 cup diced leftover roast beef, plus gravy
Sauté any fresh vegetables in olive oil until they are tender, seasoning as necessary. Add frozen vegetables, stock/water, tomato product and gravy. The meat may be added at the very last minute, or right away, depending on your preference. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower to simmer and cook gently for about 5 minutes until all the vegetables are just tender.
Just before serving, check for seasoning, adding salt and pepper (maybe hot sauce) as desired. Maybe a little parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.
Great Garlic Bread
6 slices day-old Italian bread
1 clove fresh garlic, peeled and cut in half
2 TB butter
Salt (if desired)
Toast the bread until golden in the toaster. When it comes out of the toaster, immediately rub it with the cut garlic clove. The more you rub the clove, the stronger the flavor. Then butter the toast and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, which will bring out the garlic flavor. Serve immediately.
For my chocolaty-chocolate chip cookies:
One recipe traditional chocolate chip cookies (from the back of any package of chocolate chips), with the following substitutions:
In place of 2 ¼ cups flour, just use 2 cups of flour, plus ¾ cup of best quality cocoa powder.
In place of 2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips, use only 1 cup, plus one cup each white chocolate chips and bittersweet or milk chocolate chips.
When you have formed the teaspoonfuls of cookie dough, drop them into milk chocolate sprinkles and roll them around to coat. Then place on a cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes, or until you just can slide a spatula under a done cookie.
When you remove the cookie sheet from the oven, quickly place an assortment of 5 or so of the various chips in the center of the cookie. Allow them to melt slightly and then swirl the top of each if desired.
Or use a refrigerated roll of cookie dough, adding 1/3 to ½ cup of cocoa to the dough before shaping. Proceed as directed above.
In this fantastic article, chef Scott Popovic grills up some great advice on choosing the right meat and more to make this Labor Day the tastiest ever!
I hope you are planning on sharing some steakburgers or T-bones or something yummy with loved ones this long weekend. After all, that’s what it’s for!
Well, that, and honoring our country’s workers, of course.
But, seriously, what better way to do that than by cooking up a great feast?
Get your beef here, check out the article here and then let me know what you cooked. I want to see photos, too!
Our chef friend gives us his thoughts on what NOT to do when on the quest for a wonderful steak. I, for one, will take note because I need all the help I can get! Read on . . .
Don’t flip your flipping steak 42 flipping times. I know it’s so tempting – you just want to have a peek. You can’t see what is happening on the bottom of your steak – you feel so helpless! Leave it alone! It will be OK. Trust me.
Your best bet is to sear the steak for 2 minutes on each side on high heat. After that, it depends on the cut of beef and the thickness. Even for an average T-bone, cooked to medium rare, you are looking at almost 9 minutes on medium heat before you flip it (after the sear process).
Check out a grilling chart-
http://www.steak-enthusiast.com/2010/02/top-10-steak-grilling-tips/
Also, don’t flip your steak with a fork. You will lose juices. Use tongs or a spatula.
Don’t take your steak out of the fridge and toss it on the grill. The steak needs to be at room temperature before it hits the grill. So slow down, relax….Pull the steak out early and let it warm to room temperature. You also need patience after you take the steak off the grill. Allow the steak to rest for a full five minutes before cutting it. This allows the juices and flavors to develop.
Don’t marinate aged choice or prime beef, or you will ruin the steak! A great steak can stand on its own, it doesn’t need to be masked with a girly marinade. A marinade can help less tender cuts, such as flank, but not a prime cut of beef.
Sir, would you like to taste some steak with your overpowering tangy ketchup sauce?
A great steak doesn’t need steak sauce. Steak sauce ruins the flavor of the meat. Steak sauce is a way to mask the flavor of an inferior steak. Steak sauce, while appropriate on a bologna sandwich, is not appropriate on a prime cut of beef.
In some of the finer steak houses you could get slapped or asked to leave for requesting steak sauce.
The number one way to break a steak is to cook it until it resembles a piece of charcoal. A well done steak is dry, leathery and tough. The juices are cooked away and it loses its flavor. If you are going to order a steak well done, just order something else. Ask for some beef jerky and ketchup.
It’s Father’s Day on Sunday. Got good plans for your old man?
Well, you can’t go wrong cooking him a steak dinner. I’m serious. He’ll love it.
The Houston Chronicle had an article recently giving some great grilling advice from the experts. Check it out — and then treat Dad to something special.
Happy Father’s Day!
Photo courtesy of Steve Giralt, Food Network Magazine via Chron.com.
Tips and thoughts from a wonderful chef friend of mine . . . he knows what he’s talking about!
You cannot help but to look at two different steaks in the store and wonder why one is 3 times as expensive as the other. Often times we tend to accept a lower quality steak just so it doesn’t hit our wallets so bad. However, there are some good tips to help you pick the best steak regardless of the price points.
You have lots of options as a steak lover, each with their own pros and cons. The first hurdle we are going to look at, because, honestly, it is the problem we usually confront with all of our decisions – price.
Lots of factors affect how much a steak costs, like the cut of meat, the type of feed the animal ate and even the breed of the cow itself. The cuts break down from most to least expensive in this way: filet mignon, ribeye, strip and sirloin.
There are lots of other cuts but we won’t worry about those since they don’t really fall into the “steak” category most of us traditionally think of. Each of these cuts come from a particular muscle in the animal, the filet from the tenderloin (which runs through the hindquarter of the animal and through the short loin and sirloin cuts), the ribeye from the rib section and the strip from the short loin. The Porterhouse and T-bone come from here as well but we will cover those later. And finally, the sirloin from the sirloin.
These selections all make ideal steak choices for one important reason – tenderness. Muscles that get used more frequently tend to be tough. That is why you don’t often see steaks from the round (rear leg) section thrown on the grill. They taste great, but you will be chewing for a long time. In order of tenderness the steaks above go as follows, filet mignon (from the tenderloin, tender-loin, get it?) ribeye, strip and sirloin.
This follows our price list above. There is a direct correlation between how tender a steak is and how much it costs. Other cuts you might see in the store are flank, plate, chuck or round steaks. But these will all be very tough if cooked in the traditional “steak” methods.
Another thing to keep in mind is that muscles that are used more frequently, and are therefore tougher, also happen to have a more robust flavor. This has to do with more blood circulation through the muscle while the animal is alive. Chuck, or shoulder as it would be called to those of us non-butchers, can be extremely tough. But it is a beefier tasting beef.
So back to our steaks. There is nothing that compares to the soft, velvety mouth-feel of a filet, but more than a few steak enthusiasts lament its subtle beef flavor and prefer a ribeye or strip because it offers more of that classic beef taste. Sirloin at the bottom end of the toughness scale (and still quite tender, really) has the best flavor of the steaks. Ribeye and strip tend to give you the best balance in terms of cost, flavor and tenderness.
So now you know where the steaks come from, but what about all those words advertisers stick to them like Angus or Prime? All meat is inspected by the USDA for wholesomeness. This means if it is sold, it is legally fit for human consumption. Unfortunately, that is a pretty low bar, so the USDA has a grading system.
Grading is a voluntary system that beef producers allow their meats to be graded on in several categories. The long and short of it is a delicate balance of fat to lean meat, plus the age of the animal.
The younger the animal and the higher the fat marbling of the meat, the higher (and therefore more expensive) the grade. The only grades you want to consider, (even though there are eight of them, the bottom few named “canner” and “cull” – yum, right?) are prime, choice and select.
Prime Filets
Prime can be very expensive and has beautiful fat marbling in a very tender steak. Steak image courtesy of KansasCitySteaks.com
Choice Steaks
Choice offers a great value of marbling and tenderness at a fair price.
Select Steak
Select has much less marbling. (Used by permission of USDA.gov)
But, remember, you only want to go with the most tender cuts. Don’t be taken in by names like Angus or Wagyu. They typically mean much higher prices. Certain breeders of cattle specialize in one breed, like Angus, Black Angus or the ridiculously expensive Wagyu (this is a breed of cow from Kobe, Japan, where the animals have beer with their breakfast and at a minimum one hour of massage a day. It can also cost well over $100 per lb.). These breeder associations have created their own system to market their cows with their own standards, not the USDA’s. Because of that, they can charge a pretty penny.
Another component to look for is aging. I’m gonna get a little technical and gross here (and I mean very little technical). When an animal is butchered the muscles go through rigor mortis where it becomes tough, and over time the muscles soften. This freshly butchered meat is called green meat. You don’t want that. It’s not actually green by the way, the term green refers to age, not color.
Green meat is tough and chewy. The muscles need to relax before you try cooking them. A reputable supplier only sells meat that has been aged properly. There are two ways to age: dry and wet.
Dry aging is expensive and very difficult to find. The meat is hung in a temperature and humidity controlled environment and allowed to rest for a set period of time. Eleven days or so has proven to be the magic number here where tenderness no longer increases. One of the reasons dry aging is so expensive is that you have considerable moisture loss and therefore a higher cost per pound.
Wet aging occurs when meat is packed into vacuum-sealed packaging and allowed to rest in its own liquid (sounds worse than it is). Many consumers prefer wet aging because dry aging sometimes imparts a musty, basementy aroma.
So now you know what cut to look for and what grade you want. So where do you go? You should look for a butcher like you do a mechanic. A good one is hard to find. Once you find one, ask questions like, “Where do they get their beef from?” “Is it grain fed?” “How is their meat aged?”
A good butcher will answer all of these questions. Shop around and go to Web sites for information. There is plenty out there.
Hopefully this gives you some food for thought!
Wanna be like the Biggest Loser?
You know, that show on NBC?
I do. Those folks are focused, driven and they know their stuff.
That’s partly because they have the help of some very talented trainers . . . and chefs.
That’s where we come in. Chef Rocco DiSpirito created this amazing pepper steak as a healthy, tasty meal for Season 5′s Biggest Loser contestants.
Hey, if it’s good enough for them, it’s perfect for me.
See what YOU think!
Rocco’s Pepper Steak
Serves 4
3 -1/2 cups Free-Range Chicken Broth, low sodium
fresh ground pepper and NuSalt
1 cup short-grain brown rice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
12 Anaheim peppers
Pam spray
4 5-ounce portions lean beef tenderloin
1 vidalia onion, slice thinly
5 cloves chopped garlic
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Fat Free Salt-Free Marinara
1/2 cup Evaporated Fat Free Milk
1/2 cup chopped fines herbs (parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil)
pinch cayenne
DIRECTIONS
1. Bring 2 cups chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepot. Season with NuSalt and add rice. Cover, turn down heat to a very low simmer and cook for about 1 hour or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Fuff rice with fork and toss with olive oil. Keep warm.
2. Char Anaheim peppers over an open flame, turning to cook evenly, until skins are mostly burnt. Place peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about 7 minutes to steam off skin. Remove as much charred skin as possible with a paper towel. Seed peppers and cut into rings about 1/2 inch thick.
3. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Season steaks with pepper and NuSalt and spray pan with Pam. Sauté until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side. Remove steaks from pan and keep warm.
4. Spray pan with Pam again and add onions. Sauté until onions are starting to become tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another minute. Deglaze with balsamic vinegar. Add 1 cup chicken stock to the pan and bring to a simmer. Mix remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock with cornstarch to make a slurry and whisk into pan. Stir in marinara and evaporated milk and bring to a simmer. Add peppers, cayenne and simmer until vegetables are tender. Return beef to the pan to reheat, for about 2 minutes. Stir in fines herbs. Serve with rice.
Recipe and logo courtesy of NBC.com.
Top 10 Steak Grilling Tips (From a Real-Live Chef!)
If you think grilling a steak is as simple as slapping a piece of meat you bought at the supermarket on a grill and flipping it a few times, you’re missing out on what could be THE GREATEST STEAK OF YOUR LIFE.
Here are some grilling tips from an honest-to-goodness chef that’ll make your next steak meal your finest work ever.
1. Choose the right cut of meat — Some cuts of meat are better for grilling than others. I, personally, prefer to grill strip steaks over other cuts because you get a nice combination of fat and meat for a great flavor. Filet mignon, on the other hand, I prefer to pan sear because it is so lean and I can add fat and flavors in the pan. Experiment! Ultimately, no one can tell you what you like, you have to find it for yourself. Here are the pros and cons of each cut:
2. Choose the right quality of meat — Nothing ruins a good steak dinner like a bad steak. A lot of places sell poor quality meat, so make sure you choose a reputable supplier so you know you are getting your money’s worth. I always find premium quality steaks online. By law, all meats are inspected for wholesomeness so no one is selling you meat that will kill you, but grading is a voluntary system. Meats are graded on several categories, including the marbling of fat and the amount of connective tissue. Sure, it may be fit to eat but do you want to eat it? Prime is the highest quality, followed by choice and select. Choice meats are very high quality steaks and the most common steak used in the restaurant industry. Here are a few pointers to track down the perfect quality & cut of steak:
3. Season early — You should salt your meat even before you start your coals. If you throw salt on right before you put it on the grill you end up leaving salt all over the grill, not on your steak. So season your steaks about fifteen minutes before you put them on the grill. That gives the salt a chance to dissolve and evenly flavor your meat. Sea salt is all the rage now and chefs like to fancy up a plate by using specialty salts like Hawaiian Pink Salt or Fleur de Sel. Sometimes a little good salt is all that a steak needs.
4. Take ‘em out early — Let your steaks sit on the counter for at least twenty minutes. I know it doesn’t seem sanitary, but since steaks are whole muscles and you are cooking the outside well above safe levels, you won’t need to worry so much about food-borne illness. The problem with throwing your steaks on the grill right out of the refrigerator is that it will take them a lot longer to cook. Steaks at room temperature take seasoning better and will cook faster. Unfortunately, meat takes time to cook and if you are in too much of a hurry to cook it you are probably in too much of a hurry to really enjoy it. Take your time and learn to enjoy cooking your steak almost as much as eating it.
5. Use charcoal — Gas grills work great for cooking food but can sometimes impart a gas flavor to your meat. I like to use natural hardwood charcoal started in a chimney. Don’t use lighter fluid; it defeats the purpose of using hardwood charcoal. You want to smell the steak roasting over the coals – that is the best part! Some people swear by mesquite soaked in apple juice others say you cook your steak too fast to get any benefit. Wood chips can add flavor if you are smoking your meat but that usually takes a lot more time than it takes to grill a steak. My recommendation is that if you are curious, play around see if you can taste and enjoy the difference.
6. Hot coals — Set your coals up so that you have zones of cooking. Always start off on a hot spot. You want good color and flavor from the high heat. When you flip it, don’t put it down on the same spot as before — it will be cooler. Find another hot spot to continue getting good color and flavor.
7. Don’t touch it! — This is one of the biggest mistakes a home cook makes. Everyone wants to keep checking the food to see if it is done. Leave it alone. Know how thick your steak is and roughly how long it takes to cook. Flip it once and give it a quarter turn once on each side. The more you touch it the better chance you have of screwing it up. Check out this grilling chart as a guide on how to cook steaks:
Grilling Chart courtesy of www.kansascitysteaks.com
8. Make it pretty — Use the hot grill to create “cross-hatch” grill marks. Set your steak down at a 45-degree angle from your grill lines. About a quarter of the way through cooking, give it a quarter turn. Half-way through cooking, flip it once. Give it a final quarter turn for the last bit of cooking. When finished you should have a steak that looks like it belongs on a commercial. This might not be the most important thing in your day, but if you’re on a first date or trying to impress then try this!
9. Leave it alone — There’s nothing worse than taking a beautiful steak and covering it with other flavors. Sauces, rubs and butters are fine but if I’m going to eat a steak I like to taste steak. If you are using a lesser cut of meat or poorer quality, marinades are a great tool. But we are talking steak here and all it needs is a little salt, pepper and some heat to cook over. So refer to rule #2 and source and buy only good quality meat.
10. Make all your condiments early — One trap many people fall into when they grill meat is trying to cook the rest of the meal at the same time. Your kitchen is inside; your grill (if you are following tip #5) should be outside. Don’t try to run between the two. You will only end up ruining your steak or your side dish — or both. Plan your meal to get your extras done early so you can focus solely on your grilling. I mean, it deserves it, doesn’t it? I like a simple compound butter made of softened, unsalted butter, garlic, a little red wine and some cracked pepper. Mix it all together, (in a mixer, if you can, so it is smooth), roll it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge up to two weeks before you cook your steak. One pat on top of each steak can be a nice treat.
Hi! My name is Dena P., and I love steak. In fact, I’ve been on a quest for the perfect steak for a few years now.
I love experimenting with food and I like to get my family, friends and neighbors involved. They add a lot to my cooking experience by helping me perfect techniques and sharing recipes.
