Grilled NY Strip with Smoked Paprika Rub

 

Before I get into this recipe, I'd like to discuss what I consider to be the two most important things in the grilling of a perfect steak...cooking the meat to medium rare and putting a beautiful, charred crust on that marvelous piece of beef.

Consumer sous vide cooking made quite a splash in the 2000's. I jumped on the bandwagon as it meant that a perfect 125º was possible every time you cooked a steak. Seal your meat in a vacuum bag and let it bathe in 125º water for several hours. And while sous vide was extraordinary for always hitting the correct temperature, it was accomplished in a moisture-rich environment. Regardless of how much you dried off the meat after a sous vide cook, there was just way too much moisture to put a charred crust on the steak.

The very same situation occurs when you marinate a steak....a lesson in futility. First, the marinade just coats the surface...so none of the flavors make it deep into the meat. And, again, you have a moisture-rich environment...so you will walk away from your grilling session with the steak having no charred crust. Sous vide and marinades cause the exterior surface of the steak to steam on the grill. You went to all of the trouble to build a roaring fire to char-grill your steaks.....hoping to make sure each steak is crisp and robust. But steam heat just makes your steak pink and flaccid (oh...the horror).

Moisture is Public Enemy Number 1 when it comes to charring a steak. Kosher salt is the Dick Tracy hero that will eradicate and eliminate all of your moisture problems. Take your steaks out of the package and place them on a wire rack over a cookie sheet. Salt the daylights out of them and then let them sit in the fridge...uncovered...for 1 to 3 nights. This methodology is called Dry Brining. The Kosher salt will not only draw the moisture out of the meat, it will also penetrate completely through the meat....meaning every bite is seasoned to perfection.

After your steaks have rested in the fridge for one or more nights, pull them and put them on the counter for at least 4 hours prior to cooking. This will serve to further dry off the meat and bring it to room temperature...which makes for faster, uniform cooking. Leave the Kosher salt on the steak while it rests at room temperature. Then, right before cooking, wipe down the steaks to remove moisture and excess salt. Then season the steak with your favorite spices right before grilling.

The easiest way to ensure that your steak is served at 125º is to use a meat thermometer. One foolproof cooking method is to reverse sear the steak in a grill that is 250º. The temp will rise slowly and you can pull it at 118º. Tent it with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes....the temp will gradually increase to 125º. When it does, sear it for about a minute per side and serve.

You can also grill it quickly, using a 2-zone fire and the meat thermometer. Get one zone on your grill blazing hot and have nothing in your 2nd zone as you will use that for indirect cooking. Sear the meat over the covered hot zone for 4 minutes per side and then slide it over to the covered, indirect side for 4 more minutes. Your steak should be about 118º, so all you have to do is yank it off the grill, tent it with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes. The temp will rise about 7º under the foil and the juices will redistribute throughout the meat.

The very best way to put a nice crust on your steak is to use a dry rub. This is a combination of herbs and spices that will char as the steak cooks. And if you add some sugar to the rub (like we have done here), it will crystallize over the heat and help to create the most incredible charred crust you have ever tasted. But don't take my word for it. Follow the instructions I have shared below and use this smoked paprika rub to achieve grilled steak nirvana.

INGREDIENTS

2 New York Strip Steaks, about 16-ounces and at least 1-1/2" thick

Olive oil

For the Rub

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon granulated onion

1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder 

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare your grill for a two-zone fire...one zone for direct cooking over high heat and the other indirect.
2. Combine rub ingredients and mix thoroughly. Brush steaks with olive oil and season thoroughly with the rub (rub it into the meat by hand...don't just sprinkle it)..
3. Place steaks over direct heat and cook, covered, for 4 minutes per side. Then move steaks to indirect side and cook, covered, for 4 minutes more.
4. Remove steaks from grill, wrap with foil and let them rest for 10 minutes. Then serve.

Wine pairing: Malbec

Easter Ham (easiest ever)

 

It's Easter next weekend. Time for another family meal. You better have a Costco membership card in your wallet...otherwise you will miss out on one of the greatest epicurean delights known to modern man. Kirkland Ham. Bone-in and spiral sliced. Pre-cooked. Hickory smoked. I'm here to tell you it is the greatest ham you will ever taste.

Not only is the taste of this ham astounding, the price will absolutely blow you away. It's just $3.29 a pound. Cheaper than ground beef. Cheaper than wieners. Cheaper than that 47-week supply of Kirkland toilet paper. You've gotta be plum crazy not to take advantage of this. The world's greatest ham at the world's greatest price.

The ham also comes with a package of glaze. My advice.....throw the glaze away the minute you get home. The pit master has put the absolutely perfect amount of hickory smoke in this ham. The glaze is over-the-top sweet and detracts from hickory greatness. Plain ham and Becky's cheesy potatoes for my Easter dinner, please.

So let's tick off the boxes. World's best tasting ham. World's cheapest ham. And now for the trifecta...world's easiest ham recipe! 

Ingredients
One Kirkland spiral sliced ham (7-10 pounds)
Aluminum foil
1 cup water


Directions

1. Remove ham from store packaging and wrap tightly in aluminum foil.
2. Add water to bottom of slow cooker, then add ham and cover.
3. Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours. When done, remove foil and serve.

Wine pairing: Zinfandel

Slow Cooker Corned Beef

 

 

Beef. It's what's for supper.

Actually, it's corned beef and it's what's for St. Patrick's Day supper.

My Irish relatives created corned beef back in the Middle Ages. They used brisket to make it as it was a relatively unloved cut of beef (because it required hours of braising to become tender). Unloved also equated to low cost.

There was a shortage of electric refrigerators in Ireland during the Middle Ages, so they would brine the brisket in a bucket  of water, spices and salt nuggets known as "corns". This served to preserve the beef  so that it could be cooked at a later time without risk of spoiling.

When the Irish began migrating to America, they brought the recipe with them...and it became to be associated with St. Patrick's Day. And the popularity of corned beef grew across the land. In fact, on March 4, 1861, corned beef was the entree for Abraham Lincoln's Inauguration Dinner in Washington D.C.

This is my very favorite corned beef recipe. While it calls for a 10-hour cook, it will only take up 6 minutes of your time. The first 5 minutes of the time commitment requires you to simply dump all of the ingredients in your slow cooker and walk away. The last 1 minute is reserved for simply slicing and serving the corned beef. I guarantee you it will be one of the best St. Patrick's Day corned beef briskets you have ever tasted.


INGREDIENTS
1 corned beef brisket, 3-4 pounds
2 medium onions, cut into quarters (no peeling required)
5 ribs celery, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon prepared stone ground mustard 
2 cups chicken stock
12-ounces of beer (lager or pilsner)



DIRECTIONS

1. Place onions and celery on the bottom of your slow cooker. Add stock, beer and mustard.
2. Set brisket on top of onions and celery, fat-side up. Sprinkle meat with seasoning packet (which comes packed in your brisket). Put lid on slow cooker and cook on low for 10 hours.
3. Remove brisket. Slice and serve.

Pairing: You knew this

Vietnamese Garlic Noodles

 

This dish was created by J. Kenji López-Alt and was a featured entree at the Thanh Long restaurant in San Francisco. You can never go wrong with a meal when spaghetti noodles are the main attraction. While the noodles are glorious all by themselves, you can crank it up a level by adding a fried egg. But the flavors really shine with shellfish....so I'd select shrimp, crab or lobster meat for an absolute crowning touch.

INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

20 garlic cloves, minced, pressed or smashed in a mortar and pestle

4 teaspoons oyster sauce

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons fish sauce

16 ounces of dried spaghetti

1/4 cup grated Parmesan 

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the butter in a wok or saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and fish sauce, and stir to combine. Remove from the heat.
2. Meanwhile, bring 1-½ inches of water to a boil in a 12-​inch skillet or sauté pan over high heat. Add the pasta, stir a few times to make sure it’s not clumping and cook, stirring occasionally, until just shy of al dente (about 2 minutes short of the recommended cook time on the package).
3. Using tongs, transfer the cooked pasta to the garlic sauce, along with whatever water clings to it. (Reserve the pasta water in the skillet.) Increase the heat to high, add the cheese to the wok and stir with a wooden spatula or spoon and toss vigorously until the sauce is creamy and emulsified, about 30 seconds. If the sauce looks too watery, let it keep reducing. If it looks greasy, splash some more pasta water into it and let it re-​emulsify. Serve immediately.

Wine Pairing: Syrah or an oaky Chardonnay

Southwestern Goulash

 

In 1971, General Mills launched a new product called "Hamburger Helper". In each box you'd find elbow macaroni with some powdered spices. There was a meat shortage at the time, so this product was designed as a way to stretch the cook's budget. All you needed was a pound of ground beef, some water and a box of Hamburger Helper... and voila! Here's dinner! 

While my mother disliked pretty much all cooking, Hamburger Helper was not a bridge too far for her culinary abilities. Through the years, she had meticulously honed her ground beef browning skills and the freakish talent of putting the correct amount of water in a measuring cup. Accordingly, Hamburger Helper became a regular staple of the Gruggen household dinner rotation.

I actually enjoyed the meal. Ground beef with macaroni is a perfect comfort food. So I continue to eat it to this day.....but from scratch....not out of a box. I've been making an Italian version of it for decades and recently I started borrowing some of the Pecos River Red Chili spices to create an American Tex-Mex version. I think you'll like it.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, diced

2 tablespoons pickled jalapeño slices 
1, 14-1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes
1, 14-1/2 ounce can of tomato sauce
4 tablespoons smoked paprika
2-1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2-1/2 teaspoons of chili powder

16 ounces elbow macaroni

2 cups of sharp cheddar (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large skillet, heat olive oil. When shimmering, add beef and onion. Use spatula to break meat into small crumbles. Cook until there is no pink left in the beef and onions are translucent. 
2. Turn skillet heat to medium low. Add the next 9 ingredients to the skillet. Stir to mix thoroughly and simmer while you prep the macaroni.
3.  Cook macaroni to al dente in a large pot of salted water. Drain in a colander and add macaroni to the skillet.
4. Using a large spoon, thoroughly mix all of the contents in the skillet. Turn up heat to medium-high, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, until the goulash is completely heated through.
5. Serve, passing the cheese for people to top off their goulash.

Wine pairing: Malbec

Fiery Steak Stir Fry

 

This is another of my diabolical recipes that allows me to slip some steak past my fish and chicken loving wife. And it worked! We had this last Tuesday and Becky declared this was most definitely blogworthy.

I had a New York strip on hand, so that is what I used for this recipe. The marbling added a lot to the taste. A bit extravagant for a stir fry, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Any cut of steak will do, but I would stay away from any lesser cuts of beef unless you are hankering for a good chew.

I gave the sliced steak a good dusting of cornstarch, which serves two important purposes. It makes the steak strips extra crispy and helps to thicken up the sauce at the end. And you can use any kind of chili sauce you prefer. I'm a big fan of the Vietnam-inspired Huy Fong line of products from Irvindale, CA. They all have the big rooster on the front.

My favorite, which has a moderate burn to it, is their Chili Garlic Sauce (above). A step up the heat chart delivers their Sambal Oelek. And if you have an affinity for the really hot stuff (like my wife and my former AT&T client Terrie Harris do), choose their Sriracha Sauce. However, if I'm cooking for a crowd with different heat tolerances, I  use the Chili Garlic Sauce in the stir fry and then pass Sriracha for those wanting to light their hair on fire.

This dish can be served over rice or noodles. Rice can help mitigate the heat. But in the Gruggen household we like it fiery, so this was served over Momofoku Spicy Soy Noodles. 

INGREDIENTS

For the Stir Fry Sauce

2 tablespoons Chili Garlic Sauce

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper

4 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar

1 teaspoon fresh mined garlic

1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger

2 tablespoons chicken broth

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

For the Stir Fry

1-1/4 pound New York Strip Steak, cut against the grain in 1/4-inch thick strips

2 tablespoons corn starch

2 tablespoon sesame or peanut oil, divided

1 bunch scallions, white parts cut 1-inch long on the diagonal

1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, combine all Stir Fry Sauce ingredients and mix well. Set aside.
2. Place steak strips in a bowl and add corn starch. Toss to coat and let rest 15 minutes.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a wok and heat on high. When oil smokes, add half of the steak strips, making sure there is no overlap. Let steak sit for 30 seconds, then stir constantly for another 30 seconds until they are dark and crisp. Set aside.
4.  Add second tablespoon of oil to a wok and heat on high. When oil smokes, add second half of the steak strips, making sure there is no overlap. Let steak sit for 30 seconds, then stir constantly for another 30 seconds until they are dark and crisp. 
5.  Return first batch of beef to wok. Reduce heat under wok to medium-high. Add scallions and stir fry until everything is heated through, about 1 minute.
6. Then add stir fry sauce to wok and stir throughly, Then add cornstarch/water mixture and stir for another minute or so until it reaches your desired consistency.
7. Serve over white rice or Momofoku noodles. 

Wine pairing: Zinfandel

 

Ravioli with Sausage and Cream Ragu

 

As a general rule of thumb, I am not a fan of one-pot meals. They almost always require some sort of compromise in the interest of easy preparation. Well, this is a one-pot meal with no compromise. A simple, weekday meal that takes just 15 minutes. And, oh boy, it's really good.

The key to making this a one-pot meal for two is using fresh ravioli. Your grocery store will have it and you'll find it in the refrigerated section...typically near Dairy or Cheese. If you only have dried or frozen on hand, the recipe still works, but it will have to be a two-pot meal as you'll have to cook the pasta separately and add it later.

You can pick your favorite filling. I would recommend a cheese, mushroom or Italian sausage stuffed ravioli. I would stay away from seafood or chicken as they would not go well with the ragu. The beauty of fresh ravioli is that cooks up right in the ragu...no extra steps required. Buon appetito!

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 small yellow onion, diced

1 pound hot Italian sausage, bulk

2 cloves garlic, minced

1, 15-ounce can of tomato sauce

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

1, 10-ounce package of fresh ravioli

1/4 cup of heavy cream

Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. When oil shimmers, add onion and Italian sausage. Keep stirring and breaking up the sausage until onions are translucent and no pink remains in sausage (about 5 minutes). Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds.
2. Add tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and salt. Keep stirring until it is heated through.
3. Add fresh ravioli to the sauce. Stir and cover, keeping skillet at medium heat.
4. After 6 minutes, remove skillet cover and stir thoroughly. Remove skillet from heat and add cream, stirring again thoroughly. Serve and pass the Parmesan cheese for topping the dish off.

Wine pairing: Chianti Classico