Charcoal and wood fired dry aged porterhouse brazilian style with garlic/shallot stuffed potato and asparagus with spicy hollandaise. served with a serious super-tuscan. As previously reported here, once served with churasscarria chicken for Valentines Day 2009. Wow.
Read the American version too before you commit.
Ingredients
1.75 lb Dry Aged Prime Porterhouse 1.5 in thick
2 tbsp Very Large Sea Salt Crystals
1 tbsp Fresh Coarse Ground Black Pepper
2 tbsp Freshly Crushed Dried Turkish Oregano
1 tbsp Freshly Crushed Dried Thyme
Instructions
1. Take the meat out of the fridge and warm it to room temperature 0.5 to 1.0 hours.
2. Get a major fire going on a good charcoal grill using Lump Charcoal. (I'm a Weber guy - if you don't have one consider getting a 'weber kettle'). To do this make a big pile in the center of the grill, put some starters in and light it and cover them with stray charcoal from the sides. It's important to keep the sides free from charcoal - more on that later. Don't put the grate on yet so you can work with the charcoal. Keep the lid off and the bottom vents open to let in all the air to burn, burn burn. Once they catch and start to turn grey, they burn hot and fast so be ready. At that point you can put the lid on with lid vents closed - the coals will begin to run out of oxygen to burn - they'll stay hot but burn slowly.
3. Brazilians and Texans know meat and swear by the dry rub. Texans have BBQ. Brasilieros have Churrascarria - wood fired meats of all kinds - and the churascarrias are everywhere. Once, a brazilian told me - I've had Texas BBQ when I lived in Texas and its really good, but it can't compare to the Brasilian - 'Just Salt, That's All). Its not tho. Way up deep 1,000 miles past the beginning of the Amazon in Porto Velho, I was able to buy some. My best approximation that is represented here. Lots of rock salt is critical. As the juices come out of the meat, they melt the salt. And don't use Mexican Oregano for this (if you don't know, chances are you have what you need - South America like North America got its fair share of Italian immigrants, too) - if possible use Turkish Oregano (ie. italian), it won't be noticeable in the final taste, but in my book, your dish is successful when it tastes incredible and no-one can pick the flavors apart. Go mix the dry ingredients. I grind the herb flakes to fine with my fingers. What you'll have will look mostly like dirty rock salt. Coat the meat on both sides.
4. Before the meat goes on, remove the grill lid and get those coals going so they have a layer of fire over the top. Now you can put the grate on and heat it hot. Put in lots of hardwood chips or chunks around the fringe of the fire to get them burning (you don't need to soak them because you are not 'smoking' ie. preventing the wood from burning and wanting the wood to last so it can permeate the wet smoke flavor - you want it to burn the way wood fires steaks in Brasil). Open the lids in the vent for maximum air flow and temperature. Put on the lid and stabilize the buring at very hot and wood-smoky...
5. The wood fire and meat prep have taken a leisurely 45 minutes give or take. Now is a good time to put the wine into the fridge to chill it slightly. Drink what you like. Remember, if you don't drink alot of wine, the tannins you might hate because they seem bitter if your just having a glass with friends need a good steak: the flavor of the meat is way better, and the wine-bite is completely gone. (For me, good Argentina Malbecs for this are cheap but hard to find in the US, California Cabs are too fruity, and the French just don't have something as big as I'd like up against a giant hunk of wood fired beef.) I like the Italian 'Super Tuscan'. Once the wine is in the fridge and your steak is ready, you are 23 minutes from showtime.
6. Put the steak directly over the fire and close the now-vented lid completely. Do NOT open it for any reason (and for that matter don't even try this recipe if the wind is over about 10mph) Sear the steak directly over the screaming hot coals for five minutes - not more, no less. Open the lid, turn over the coals once again, close the lid and sear again for five minutes. This melts the salt and chars the meat.
7. At the end of grilling the second side, open the lid and move the steak to the side off of the main coals. Close the top, shut both the bottom vents and the top to shut off the air flow. Cook indirectly for 7 minutes.
8. Remove from the grill and let the steak rest. The nice thing about a porterhouse is that it has two sides. One side - the small one - will be the lightly flavored 'filet mignon' appreciated better from the flavor of being cooked 'on the bone'. The other is known as the 'ny strip steak' or 'delmonico', a more fully flavored cut.
9. Aerate the wine in a decanter now so it will react with the air and become ready to drink. After five minutes, cut the steak from the bone and serve it to the sweethearts.
10. Showtime. Simple ingredients and alot of TLC makes for the best eating. I have served this with asparagus holladaise and twice-baked garlic/shallot mash potatoes - done at the same time, but cooked with other recipes not presented as part of this one as they can stand alone.
Notes
This is a $25 to $30 piece of meat and a $25 bottle of wine. Don't screw it up!!
Cautions
Unlike the rest of this website, the notes are internalized in the instructions. They are crucial. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST.