Grilled New York Strip with Steakhouse Sides
What I used:
- 2 steaks
- 1 large onion
- 4 or 5 cloves of garlic
- Worcestershire
- Pepper sauces
- Salt & black pepper
- 2 large potatoes
- Butter & sour cream
- Salad fixins
While Doug was washing up the breakfast dishes (I am so spoiled), I got the steaks started marinating.
Thin-cut New York strips
On sale, these babies were $2.25 apiece. Hooray for affordable luxuries! First I lightly salted and peppered both sides. Then I smashed some garlic cloves, and rubbed them on the surface. I tossed in about a half an onion, coarsely cut, and added some celery seed and cilantro.
Note: marinates are a great way to use vegetable scraps, if like me you don't have compost collection. Celery leaves, bell pepper seeds, and lemon peels often make their way into my marinates. I didn't have any of that stuff on hand this particular day. Just throwing it out there.
Next I added the liquid ingredients.
Artistic? Or just off-center?
A few splashes of Frank's Red Hot and green Tabasco went right on the meat. Then I poured Worcestershire around the edges, until the bottom of the dish was covered. I added enough water to bring the liquid level with the tops of the steaks.
Cover and pop in the fridge.
We watched basketball for a few hours before I started the potatoes. I scrubbed them in cold water and set them on squares of aluminum foil. Here's where things started coming apart. Queen Forgetful over here keeps forgetting to buy proper coarse salt. So plain old Morton would have to do. While the potatoes were still damp, I poured salt into my palm, and rubbed it all over the skins.
Aaand, you can't see the salt. Awesome.
Rolled 'em up nice and tight, put 'em in a baking dish, and popped them in a 350° oven. Mishap #2. I checked them after 30 minutes and they weren't getting done at all. Cranked it up to 400° and sulked. I was freakin HUNGRY already! Soon, it was time to start the grill.
You see what I have to put up with?
All I did, was politely suggest, he ought to hitch up his britches before I took his picture. I was trying to be nice, and not broadcast a carpenter crack on the internet. Sheesh.
Anyway, this little portable gas grill is an old friend to me. But Doug has never used it. We had a big charcoal grill in Kentucky that we opted not to bring along. We like our little cottage, but it's got no porch, i.e., no place to keep a big grill out of the rain.
I cut the rest of my onion into slices. Mishap #3. I've also grown accustomed to the big old charcoal grill, and I sliced the onion way too thick for the portable.
Time out, mmmmm... grilled onions...
Once the onions were about half-cooked, we added the steaks. I strongly advocate grilling onions alongside meat. Maybe it's inside my head, but I swear it improves the flavor of both. While the meat was on the grill, I put together a couple of salads.
Spring mix, sharp cheddar, & garlic croutons. Also, tomatoes for me!
The onions started getting black on the outside. Doug took them up. The steaks got to medium-well. Doug took them up. I pulled out the potatoes from the oven, and? Still. Not. Done. Argh!!
So he put the steaks back on the grill and turned the heat down to low. We enjoyed our salads and stalled a little more, but before long the steaks were threatening to over-cook. Screw it. Let's eat. The damn taters had been in the oven an hour! Surely, they must be ready...
Funny, it doesn't look like a poorly cooked mess...
Here's when I actually realized I'd cut the onions too thick. Black on the outside, raw in the middle. Crap. And the taters? A shade too hard inside. Double crap.
Oh well, live and learn. Next time I'll try 425° for the baked potatoes. And cut the onions thinner. And wait a little longer to bring out the meat.
In spite of all this, the well-done steaks came out tender and juicy. Thank you marinate! And thank you Douglas, for happily eating your sub-standard dinner without a complaint.
Here's what I do for my baked potatoes, and I've never had a problem.
ReplyDeleteRub the potatoes with a mixture of olive oil, kosher/coarse salt, and black pepper. Place them directly on the oven rack in a preheated 400F oven, with a baking tray underneath to catch dripping oil. Bake for an hour-ish, depending on size of potatoes. Most importantly, do not wrap them in tin foil, as the skin will not get as crispy otherwise.
Works like a charm.
Sir, you are a gentleman and a genius. This sounds delicious and I will so try it next time!
ReplyDeleteya, grilling outside on the first day of spring? not happening in Arkansas. Nearly a foot of snow!!!!
ReplyDeleteI admit I cheat on the potatos - I usually nuke mine in the mircowave then wrap them in foil and put them on the grill alongside the steaks I am grilling. They still get that "grilled" flavor, but only takes a few minutes. I like Richard's suggestion above though - I am going to try that.
ReplyDeleteWe just recently had "baked potato bar" for our family night meal and I waited so long to get dinner started, by the time the potatoes would've been done in the oven, my kids would've needed to be in bed for an hour so I ended up doing them all in the microwave. I like the first suggestion here though...especially the kosher salt. It's pretty much all I use anymore. So yummy.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe we've never grilled steaks before??
YUM!
ReplyDeleteNext time try the classic steak house wedge salad: Cut a chunk of iceberg lettuce so it looks like a piece of cake (use a ginormous plastic serrated knife, so the lettuce doesn't turn brown). Throw some roquefort cheese crumbles on it and drizzle with French dressing (you can also use bleu cheese if you want).
I also microwave my potatoes most of the time, but they are way better in the oven!
Thanks y'all for a wealth of good ideas!!
ReplyDeleteFollowing that honesty thread, 9 times out of 10 I nuke the taters too. Which may explain why I totally choked with the oven this time. So much for a "special" dinner. :)
I must admit, I didn't come up with that myself. I learned from my Momma. :D
ReplyDelete