Prime Ideas
Round up your red-meat-loving friends and enjoy these steak tips on
your next long winter night. - Jenna Schnuer
What to Cook for Dinner Take the bull by the
horns and serve this perfect-for-company steak.>>
Beefsteak Fiorentina
From Jennifer McLagan's Bones (William Morrow, $35)
(serves two to three)
1 porterhouse steak, 2 inches thick, about 3.5 pounds
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon marjoram leaves
10 sage leaves
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1. One hour before cooking, remove the steak from the
refrigerator.
2. Heat the oil in a small saucepan until hot. Remove from the
heat; add the rosemary, marjoram, sage, and garlic; and stir to
mix. The moisture in the herbs will cause the oil to sizzle. Set
aside to cool.
3. Preheat a grill or broiler to high. Grill or broil the steak to
rare or medium-rare, turning once. Place in a shallow dish, pour
the herb-infused oil over the steak, and turn to coat. Let the
steak rest in the oil bath for five to seven minutes.
4. Remove the steak from the oil and cut the meat off the bone in
two pieces. Cut into thick slices, then drizzle with the flavored
oil, making sure each person gets some meat from both sections of
the steak.
SoBe It: What Wine to Pair with That Steak
Laurent Tourondel, the chef and owner of New York's BLT Prime, BLT
Steak, and BLT Fish, is set to dazzle diners at the South Beach
Wine & Food Festival, February 24 to 26. His signature steak at
BLT Prime: a cold-smoked Kobe rib eye that his sommelier, Fred
Dexheimer, likes to pair with the tangy red-fruit flavors of a
classic Grenache from Australia. At home, the chef likes to roast a
double-aged New York steak with butter, salt, cracked pepper,
garlic, and thyme. The perfect complement? Dexheimer recommends the
big flavor of a California Cabernet Sauvignon, like the 2001 from
Turnbull Wine Cellars. - J. Schnuer
Here's the Rub
Thanks to the following spice blends, you can up the flavor
quotient of your steak without much work. For the best flavor, rub
the spices on about 30 minutes before cooking. Then let the steaks
warm to room temperature before applying your heat of choice. Here
are our favorites.
The brown sugar, garlic, and other spices in
Wild Rooster
Sauces' Grill & Roast Rub offer a bit of sweet with a
hint of heat. $4 per 3.5-oz. package.
www.wildroostersauces.com,
(800) 380-1775
Nantucket Off-Shore Prairie Rub's straightforward
blend of pepper, yellow mustard, and garlic enhances everything
from steaks to burgers. $7 for a 2.75-oz. tin.
www.bbqsauceofthemonth.com,
(800) 838-2595
The competition barbecue team behind BBQ'n Fools doesn't suffer bad
rubs lightly. Try their Signature
Montreal BBQ
Rub, an award-winning bold blend of pepper, garlic,
chiles, onion, mustard seed, and coriander. $6 for a 13-oz. shaker
bottle.
www.bbqn
fools.com, (800) 671-8652
It's the Spanish smoked paprika that makes
World Merchants
Smoky BBQ Rub rise above. The blend also features Turkish
oregano, garlic, coriander, Malabar black pepper, mustard seeds,
and cloves. $1.50 per oz. (2-oz. minimum order).
www.world spice.com, (206) 682-7274
You can't talk steak without mentioning
Kansas City. Serve up the
meaty flavors of the city with
Kansas City's Cowtown Steak
and Grill Seasoning. (And on Sunday mornings, give your
Bloody Mary a boost with a shake or two of the rub.) $5 for a 7-oz.
shaker bottle.
www.originaljuan.com, (800)
568-8468 - J. Schnuer