I’m completely comfortable in the kitchen, but give me a steak and put me behind a grill, and as our Borough President might put it, “fuhgeddaboudit.” I can do a few things well—such as a boneless-leg of lamb, a pork shoulder, or soft-shell crabs—but when it comes to steak, I’m lost.
Over the weekend, my sister and her husband threw a BBQ at my mom’s house to celebrate Mother’s Day, and I had a chance to talk to my brother-in-law John Rando about grilling.
Rando is a theatre director and man of many accomplishments—he won a Tony Award for “Urinetown” a few years ago—but the thing about him that impresses me the most is that he’s from the Lone Star State. When he was lighting the fire, I asked him about barbecuing. “This ain’t Texas BBQ, this is just throwing some steaks on the grill,” he said.
“One of my youngest memories,” Rando added, “is of my Dad throwing a party for his 40th birthday. He threw a luau. He dug a three-foot pit in our back yard, and roasted a pig with palms and everything. He created quite a stir. It was very good.”
Rando’s memory made me think of Manny Howard’s essay in my forthcoming book, “Man with a Pan: Culinary Adventures of Fathers who Cook for their Families,” in which he attempted much the same thing, on a beach at the end of Long Island, with a slightly different result:
“We unearthed the pig. It was hot and fully cooked, but, to my horror, it looked like an East River floater. The beast wasn’t roasted. I had steamed it in the sand. At best you could call it poached. Whatever it was called, dinner was a wrinkly abomination; not the least bit appetizing.”
How Howard saves the day, and woos the love of his life (future wife and mother of his children) makes for a good read, and it’s in the book. Check it out and see.
Rando’s father never had this sort of problem, though, and grilling was a big part of John’s life as a kid. “I grew up near Galveston Bay, and we used to eat jumbo shrimp. They had to have their heads on to be good. My dad would marinate them for a few hours in olive oil, lemon, and lots of garlic. Then he would grill them directly. They would boil in their little shells. We’d take them to the table, pop their little heads off, and start eating.”
Over the weekend, Rando gave me some instructions on how to grill a nice steak. He was cooking Porterhouses. “I like them with a lot of salt. Rock salt is best,” he said. “One inch equals 3.5 minutes a side. That’s from Mark Bittman.”
These ended up running just a bit past the 16 minute mark, and they were mouthwatering. How do you like to grill your steaks?
Fie! I do my steaks on cast iron *only*. The grill is far to variable and no where near as good. Nine times out of ten, my cast iron skillet out performs a grill as far as consistency is concerned.
If you’d like the method, let me know.
Charcoal is the only way! Totally agree with the rock salt too.
Those onions look nicely charred, were they cooked in the foil the whole time? So many beautiful onions lost to the coals it hardly makes it worth trying to grill them…
I’ve always used the “flip it only once” method but have recently tried the frequent flip (every 30-60sec) method recommended by Harold McGee. It is a little more work but I think it ends up cooking the steak slightly faster and it cooks VERY evenly. I like it. But as long as you start with good meat, season it well, and don’t overcook it, its kinda hard to go too wrong.
John Rando is your brother-in-law?!?! I have had the pleasure of assisting John on a few of his shows, and he is one of my most favorite people (not to mention a brilliant Director). And your blog, which I have read regularly for months, is one of my most favorite blogs! I feel this is universal kismet in some way.