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Pepper-Crusted Grilled Strip Loin Steak with Homemade Steak Sauce and Mushroom Hobo Packs
Serves 4 to 6
The strip loin is right up there with our favorites in the steak department. I (Chris) have one about twice a week at Frank's Steak House in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I'm not alone in my enthusiasm, either; this steak is so popular that it has accumulated over a dozen vernacular names, from New York strip to country club steak to ambassador steak. Whatever you call it, it comes from the top loin muscle, so it is extremely tender and has some good, strong beefy flavor to boot.
The mushroom hobo packs that go with it are quick to put together, but they have enough earthy flavor to stand up to this awesome steak. Exotic (read expensive) mushrooms are wonderful with the steak, but button mushrooms are great cooked this way too.
It's fun to figure out how to make something that you have always bought in a bottle at the store, like catsup and mustard, so here's our homemade version of super-flavorful steak sauce to go with the excellent steak. You can keep the leftover sauce, tightly covered and refrigerated, for up to a month. Of course, if you're in a rush, you can always buy yourself a bottle of steak sauce at the market instead of making it yourself.
Ingredients
For The Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup shrimp shells, 1 teaspoon chopped anchovies, or 1 teaspoon chopped sardines (optional)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced fresh Chile peppers of your choice
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup beer of your choice
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup molasses
3 tablespoons tomato paste
5 whole cloves
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper
1 shot bourbon (optional)
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1 lime, very thinly sliced
For the Hobo Packs
2 pounds mushrooms (any kind), trimmed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh herbs: any one or a combination of sage, thyme, and/or oregano
2 tablespoons dry sherry
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Four 12- to 16-ounce strip loin steaks, about 1 1/2 inches thick
1 cup freshly cracked black pepper
Kosher salt to taste
Instructions
1. Make the sauce: in a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 11 to 13 minutes. Add the shrimp shells (or anchovies or sardines) if using them, along with the garlic, ginger, and chiles. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 2 hours, stirring every once in a while.
2. Strain the sauce, pushing on the solids with a wooden spoon to extract all the liquid. The sauce should have about the same consistency as the standard Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. Set aside.
3. Light a two-level fire in your grill, putting about three quarters of the coals on one side and one quarter on the other. When the fire dies down, the coals on one side should be hot (you can hold your hand 5 inches above the grill surface for 1 to 2 seconds) and those on the other side medium-hot (you can hold your hand 5 inches above the grill surface for 3 to 4 seconds).
4. Make the hobo packs: Tear off eight sheets of heavy-duty foil, each about 2 feet long, and stack them one on top of the other. Arrange half the mushrooms in the center of the top sheet and drizzle with half of the olive oil. Sprinkle half the minced garlic, half the herbs, and half the sherry over the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Fold up the top four of the sheets of foil around the vegetables, one after the other, turning the package one quarter turn between each sheet and making sure that each sheet is well sealed. Repeat this process with the remaining ingredients so that you have two packs. Place the packs on the bottom of the grill off to one side, pile coals up around them, and cook for about 30 minutes, depending on the intensity of the coals.
5. Meanwhile, pat the steaks dry with paper towels and sprinkle them with the pepper and a generous amount of salt. Place them on the grill over the hot part of the fire and cook until well seared, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Move to the cooler part of the fire and continue to cook to the desired doneness, 10 to 12 minutes more cooking time for rare. To check for doneness, nick, peek, and cheat: Make a 1/4-inch cut in the thickest part of the meat and take a peek, it should be slightly less done than you like it. When the meat is done to your liking, remove it from the heat, cover it loosely with foil, and let it rest for 5 minutes.
6. Unwrap the hobo packs and serve with the steaks, passing the steak sauce on the side.
The cut
This steak comes from one of the two muscles in the very tender (and pricey) short loin section of the cow. After the tenderloin is removed, the remaining short loin muscle, also known as the shell, is cut into strip steaks. They are really a great steak: tender and fine-grained, but with good flavor too.
Other Names
For boneless: ambassador steak, hotel-style steak boneless club steak, New York strip, Texas strip, Kansas City strip; for bone-in: club steak, country club steak, shell steak, sirloin strip steak, strip steak, New York steak.
Other Cuts You Can Use
Any tender steak would be a good substitute here, but the Delmonico (rib-eye) would be our top choice.
Butcherspeak
You can find these steaks at most supermarkets, but the key is to get a steak that is small enough to be a serving size for one but thick enough to get that great sear on the outside without overcooking on the inside. This means getting steaks from the part of the short loin closer to the rib, rather than the part closer to the sirloin. To be sure of this, you may want to go to a butcher.
Cook Once, Eat Twice
Get up in the middle of the night douse the leftover steak with the steak sauce, and have yourself an unforgettable midnight snack
Lamb, Leek, and White Bean Stew with Oregano, Walnuts, and Hard Cheese
Serves 6 To 8
Somewhat similar to the French country classic cassoulet, this hearty stew gets an extra flavor dynamic from the aged cheese and toasted walnuts sprinkled on the top after it is finished cooking. We like to serve the stew on top of big slabs of toasted country bread.
When you buy leeks, look for ones with a relatively high proportion of usable white and light green versus the dark green, which is too tough for cooking. That dark green portion is very good in stocks, though, so you might want to throw it in the freezer. Speaking of stock, we know that few people are likely to have lamb stock sitting around, so this might be a good opportunity to make some enriched chicken stock as described on page 32. Of course, you can also go the route of substituting beer or a mixture of red wine and water for the stock. And, by the way, if you are in a hurry or forget to soak the beans overnight, you can shortcut the process by using a good variety of canned beans; in that case, add them about 15 minutes before the stew is done.
Serve this with a simple arugula salad and Roasted Beets.
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2-inch cubes
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
10 small or 5 large leeks (white and light green parts), well washed and halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons minced garlic
4 plum tomatoes, cored and diced small
1 pound dried cannellini or Great Northern white beans, picked over, rinsed, soaked overnight and drained (or substitute two 16-ounce cans beans, drained and rinsed)
3 bay leaves
About 4 cups lamb or chicken stock
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano
6 to 8 large slices country bread (1 per serving), toasted
1 cup walnut halves, toasted in a dry saute pan, shaken frequently, until fragrant 4 to 5 minutes
8 ounces Parmesan, Asiago, or other hard aged cheese, very thinly sliced or coarsely grated
Instructions
1. Dry the meat with paper towels and sprinkle it generously with salt and pepper. In a 5-inch-deep Dutch oven or other large heavy pot with a lid, heat the oil over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the lamb in a single layer, in batches if necessary to avoid crowding, and brown well on all sides, about 12 minutes total; as the pieces get nicely browned, transfer them to a bowl.
2. Add the butter to the pot and melt over low heat. Add the leeks, cover, and cook until they are very soft but not browned, about 15 minutes. Uncover the pot, add the garlic, raise the heat to medium-high, cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and saute, stirring, 5 minutes more.
3. Return the meat to the pot along with the beans, bay leaves, stock, and 1 tablespoon salt. (The liquid should cover all the ingredients; if it does not, add more stock or some beer.) Bring to a simmer, stirring to incorporate any brown crusty stuff in the bottom of the pot. Skim any film from the surface of the liquid, then cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook, skimming the film from the surface periodically, until the meat is very tender and the beans are cooked, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (If it seems as though the stew is getting too thick, add a little water.)
4. Remove the stew from the heat, stir in the oregano, and season with salt and pepper. Place the toasted bread in the bottom of soup bowls, ladle the stew over the top, sprinkle with the walnuts and cheese, and serve hot.
How to Cook Meat. Copyright © by Christopher Schlesinger. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.
Excerpted from How to Cook Meat by Christopher Schlesinger, John Willoughby
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
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