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Properly
Grilled Steak |
Beef tenderloin filets about 1.5” thick or New York strip
steaks over 1” thick are good cuts for grilling, and about
the right size for one person.
A good N.Y. steak has some fine marbling as well as trimmed fat
along the edges which provides a good bit of the taste. Filets are
leaner and require more butter tratment since they don’t have
much fat.
A charcoal grill with a movable hood permits the proper burning
of mesquite or hickory chips for flavor. Once there is a red hot
bed of coals a few inches below a clean grill, without leaping flames,
you are ready.
Some melted butter with chopped garlic in a cup, a long handle brush,
and a long handle grill fork are essential.
The woodchips go on last, right before the steaks. It’s good
to brush on a little butter on the down side of the steaks to reduce
sticking to the grill. The hood is immediately covered for about
four minutes to hold the thick smoke from the chips. Dry chips are
good if the fire is not blazing, and water-soaked chips will smoke
more before igniting in a hot fire.
Brush-on a little butter before turning the steaks over, and switch
the outer with the inner ones. You can brush more butter on the
edges to get a few flames, and add some chips for more smoke and
fire. Close the hood for a short three minutes of smoke for the
second side.
End with flames, and more butter to make sure the fat on the edges
is crackling. Flip again if you start to char too much on a side.
Get ‘em off quicker! They’re overdone! They keep on
cooking after they’re off the grill, dummy! Brush-on some
more butter/garlic and serve immediately.
The whole idea is to get both sides of the steaks flavored by smoke
to seal the juices-in, and to get the fat edges crackled by flames,
while keeping the center very red.
During cooking, the butter is used to raise flames and to help sizzle
the outsides. It’s an old Danish idea to add butter on top
just before serving.
Always undercook to medium rare, or the whole thing is absolutely
a waste. You can always throw some back on the grill for another
minute if anyone absolutely insists.
-Phi
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