Where’s The Beef?

Right here, A. R.!

My friend Adam Rafferty, guitarist/composer/performer extraordinaire, responded thusly to our last recipe entry:  “Where’s the beef?”  Of course, he’s right, so Buddy, this one’s for YOU!

Got a new Baby Weber table top grill unit; I had one of these years ago and loved it; I’d bet there are still some Ski Patrollers at Mount Baker who recall hot lunches in the summit shack with great fondness, as I do, (Yes, I hauled it to the top, with charcoal and lunch fixin’s, on the chairlift, in a backback…)  What better time to do up a nice beef offering?

If you’re gonna grill, then nice steaks aughta be on the top of the ‘What to make’ list, so that’s where I went.  Got some nice, thick, local T bones and away we go!  I paired those with a roasted vegetable medley and a romaine wedge salad; the counterpoint of cold, crisp lettuce with hot, roasted veggies and tender beef was simply amazing, just like it should be.

I prepared a fresh rub for the steaks; I wanted smoky as my main note, so the following went into a spice grinder:  You’ll note some granulated and powdered ingredients here; I know I always tout fresh, but for rubs, dried/powered/granulated is preferred.

The Rub

1 tablespoon Black/Red/White/Green Pepper corn medley

1 teaspoon whole coriander

½ teaspoon each Alder smoked salt and kosher salt

½ teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon celery seed

½ teaspoon hickory smoke powder 

All that got a quick shot in the ol’ spice grinder; the steaks got a jot of good olive oil, and then I liberally rubbed all exposed sides of the steak.  Once they’re well coated, they go to the fridge to get acquainted with their new skins for a half hour or so.

For the veggy medley, I used the following:

Red, white, and blue baby potatoes, left whole

½ sweet onion, rough chopped

½ sweet red bell pepper, rough chopped

Handful of cherry tomatoes

Juice from one lemon and one lime

Liberal sprinkling of olive oil

Sprig of fresh Cilantro

Couple sprigs of fresh Thyme

Salt & Pepper

Since my new grill is itty-bitty, the veggies went into a baking dish, in a 375 oven until fork tender, (About 30 minutes).  Note that the veggies were cut to be roughly the same size to aid in everything cooking fairly evenly.

For the salad:

Heart of Romaine, trimmed and sliced in half

3 green onions, trimmed and outer layer peeled

Handful of cherry tomatoes

sprinkling of grated 2 year old WSU Cheddar

For the dressing:

3 Parts good Olive Oil

1 part White Balsamic Vinegar

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 shake of dried Tabasco chile

The steaks go on the grill with my age-old proper cooking method; 1 classic rock and roll song per side, (No In a Gadda Da Vida, drum solos or extended dance versions!). 

Pull ‘em off the grill and let them rest inside for about 5 minutes before slicing for serving – They were, FYI, perfect; no need for any other seasoning whatsoever, just as it should be.

Plate it all up and there you go, couldn’t be easier; simple, good food, prepared and cooked well; everything sings very sweetly together!

So A. R.?  There’s the beef, Brotha!