Thursday, August 20, 2009

Porcini rubbed steaks

I've been cooking/baking a fair amount lately so have a bit of a backlog of posts-- brace yourselves. The first is a perfect summer recipe I bootlegged off of Mario Batali. It is a porcini rub that you rub on rib-eyes (though I've also done it on New Yorks with great results) The steaks bask in the goodness for 12-24 hours, then you grill them up, and honestly, turn out AMAZING. I've done this probably 4 times this summer already and folks' eyes always roll backwards in their heads :)



In this picture it was leftovers the next day, so I sliced it and served it with a mixed greens salad and a succotash of summer squash and zucchini. When I serve it for company they just get a big imposing steak on their plate and they can dig into it themselves!

By the way, I got these steaks from Costco, where they occasionally have prime NY and rib-eyes for $10.99 and $9.99/lb respectively. This is a ridiculously good value, and the steaks are delicious, so if you see any, snap them up. They only have them occasionally and they go fast!

Batali's Rib Eye Rub

3/4 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, finely ground in a spice grinder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1-2 good sized rib eye steaks (3 inches thick)
Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling (optional)

Directions
1.In a bowl, mix the porcini powder, sugar, salt, black pepper, red pepper, garlic and olive oil. Rub the paste all over the steak. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours or overnight. Scrape off the excess paste; let the steak stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
2.Light a grill, or heat a grill pan and preheat the oven to 450°. Grill the steak over high heat until crusty and brown, a couple minutes per side, then move to indirect heat for 20-30 mins or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 125° for medium-rare. (cooking times vary by thickness of steak-- best judge for me is by feel of the steak, but a thermometer is a great check to make sure you have it just the way you want it!) Alternatively, brown the steak in a cast iron grill pan over moderately high heat, about 8 minutes per side, then roast in the oven for about 30-40 minutes.
3. Either way, let the steak rest for 15 minutes after cooking

3 Comments:

Blogger Jerilyn said...

I've been wanting to make this since you told me about it. Have you tried a Zuni rub the day before and then this 12 hours before? I wonder how that would come out ... that piece of meat in your photo looks delicious!

20 August, 2009 15:39  
Blogger Julie said...

I haven't as it might be overkill on the salt, but maybe worth an experiment? It was REALLY good, if I might say so myself. And such a good value, which made it even better!

20 August, 2009 16:25  
Blogger Jerilyn said...

I always overcook steaks on a grill (hence all my questions the other day!) haha. And so my grilled steaks always come out too dry (b/c I always leave on too long!) I will try this without the zuni rub first and will grill them exactly the way you described last weekend. If I'm still over cooking then maybe I'll try the pre-salting. The one thing I like about the pre-salting is that it is forgiving to overcooking.

20 August, 2009 16:41  

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