Grillin’ & Chillin’ THE COOKING & COCKTAIL SERIES PRESENTS WITH PATRICK SCULLY, YOUR NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF FOOD, BEVERAGE & CULINARY EXPERIENCE
The quality of your final product depends on your starting ingredients. Finding the best product you can get your hands on is always the hardest part of cooking a great steak. Fat is flavor, so look for beef that is plump, bright red, and has the most marbling. Marbling is the intramuscular fat present in high-quality beef that gives it a ‘marbled’ appearance. Grain-fed or grain-finished beef will have more marbling than grass-fed beef.
DON’T COOK YOUR STEAKS STRAIGHT FROM THE FRIDGE.
Certain types of steak are better suited for grilling. Skirt steak for a hot grill, whereas a New York strip or Rib Eye steak is best for a cast-iron pan over a burner. For
3
Grilling
pan cooking the thickness ideally would be a ¾-inch to 1-inch steak because the thickness gives you time to get a nice crust on the outside without overcooking the inside.
If you’re lucky enough to find a butcher that has dryaged beef, I highly recommend trying anything aged from 15 to 30 days until you become acquainted with the flavor. Most steaks from the grocery store are aged 14 days. If you’re up for trying your hand at aging and have access to a vacuum sealer, I suggest packing the meat in an airtight seal until it hits at least 23 days.
True sea salt or kosher salt is always the way to go when seasoning a steak. Grains should be medium-sized. AVOID table salt, iodized salt, or fine-grain sea salts as they have more weight to volume than larger grain salts, and you can easily over-season with them. Just think
Take your steak out from the fridge about one hour before you’re going to cook it, and set it on a roasting rack. (This is also the best time to season it with salt, ideally medium-grain sea salt.) Let the steak come to room temperature before cooking it. However, if the steak is thin you can start the cooking process when cold as it will give you a buffer from overcooking the center.
#1 #2#3
THOUGHTS ON AGED BEEF
CHOOSE THE RIGHT PIECE OF STEAK
THOUGHTS ON CUTS AND THICKNESS
11 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN GRILLING STEAK
DON’T USE THE WRONG KIND OF SALT, AND WHEN IN DOUBT, USE MORE SALT.
With larger steaks, it’s always a good idea to finish with some large flake or finishing salt once it’s sliced like Maldon Salt. If you don’t have an hour to temper and season ahead of time, season immediately before grilling; anything shorter than 40 minutes will only pull moisture out of the steak and not let the outside get those beautiful grill marks and crust. You can also add a little bit of olive oil as well to the steak before seasoning. This will help achieve a better sear and marking on the steak. If you decide to add some fat, stick with olive oil, not butter.
DON’T SEASON YOUR STEAK TOO SOON
Always over season your steaks a bit when cooking on the grill (not in a cast iron pan). When you think it’s enough, always add a little more as salt and pepper falls off during the cooking process and doesn’t always penetrate the meat. Lastly, add the salt before you let the steaks rest to room temperature so the seasoning has time to work its way deep into the meat.
MAKE SURE YOUR STEAK IS SUPER DRY BEFORE IT HITS THE HEAT
medium grain, true sea salt or medium grain kosher salt. I also believe that you should season with fresh cracked pepper with the same grain size. I recommend combining with salt in equal quantities.
Plain and simple, dry meat forms the best crust. You need to ensure you dry your meat before the seasoning goes on. You do not need to dry it once again before you put it on the grill, the initial dry should be sufficient.
DON’T USE LIGHTER FLUID OR CHARCOAL BRIQUETTES IF YOU CAN AVOID IT
4
Avoid lighter fluid if possible, and while convenient, charcoal briquettes can add an unpleasant kerosene flavor to grilled meats and should be avoided. If a wood/natural lump charcoal fire is unavailable or too inconvenient, propane grills will ultimately yield a better steak than charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid. The best way to go, however, is hardwood or hardwood lump charcoal. Natural solid fuels add the most flavor to steaks, complementing their natural flavors instead of overpowering them.
ENSURE YOU HAVE A SUPER-HOT GRILL
Be sure to let your grill get up to a super high temperature (450 to 500 degrees) before attempting to grill. If you are using lump charcoal allow it to for about 20 – 30 minutes and fully catch and heat up before grilling. Your fire should have a bed of red-hot coals, with high, even heat across the grill, and minimal flames and smoke. There is nothing wrong with using an infrared thermometer gun to check the temp as the built-in thermometers are not as accurate.
#5#4#6#7
DON’T FORGET THE THERMOMETER – EVEN IF YOU ARE A PRO
AVOID INDIVIDUAL STEAKS WHEN COOKING FOR A CROWD
Ideally, you should turn the steak once on each side to get those crosshatch grill marks, and only flip it once.
» Well: 160-165°F (remove from heat at 155°F)
Cooking the steak to 10 degrees below your desired temp and then resting it allows for the collagen in the meat to thicken the juices as it cools slightly. This creates a juicier steak than just cooking straight to temp. Rest the steak for approximately half the time up to the full time you spent cooking it. Ensure the steak is resting in a warm place, as it is not fun to eat a cold steak.
DON’T FORGET TO LET YOUR STEAK REST
» Medium Rare: 130-135°F (remove from heat at 125°F)
Don’t be afraid to go with one large steak, like a 32-ounce rib eye or a one-kilo porterhouse, for a group as opposed to multiple individual steaks. One large steak is easier to manage and monitor on a grill than multiple smaller ones, and with a good thermometer, any cook can nail a perfect medium-rare every time. Due to the inherent internal variation of cooking times within one steak, you can accommodate diners who prefer medium rare and medium well with just one large steak.
» Medium Well: 150-155°F (remove from heat at 145°F)
DON’T FLIP YOUR STEAK MORE THAN ONCE
This is one of the most important things to remember. Temping a steak by hand can be tricky. It takes a ton of practice and a ton of experience. Thomas Keller once said, “You have to cook a steak a thousand times just to suck at it.”
» Rare: 120-130°F (remove from heat at 118°F)
Keep away from overturning your steak. Let the Maillard reaction do its thing. That’s the technical name for the chemical reaction between amino acids and sugars, which gives browned and caramelized food its distinctive flavor.
5
#9#8 #11#10
» Medium: 140-145°F (remove from heat at 135°F)
6
Today, under European law, all sangria must be made in Spain or Portugal and have less than 12 percent alcohol by volume. The best sangria, however, is homemade.
However in the 700s, the Spanish wine business, and by extension the Spanish sangria business, faltered. Islamic Moors conquered the peninsula in 711 A.D. Sangria didn’t return until the Moors’ rule ended in 1492, and with the return of wine there was the return of sangria.
Sangria
Variations on house sangria — which means blood in Spanish, in reference to the red wine used — ruled in Spain. Traditionally, it’s been made with Spanish Tempranillo and other wine from Rioja with added citrus fruit. But even then, no sangria was made the same.
E
THE HISTORY
arly Greeks and Romans mixed their wine with sugar, spices, and whatever was on hand. It was called “hippocras,” and it was sometimes heated like mulled wine. Hippocras is likely the common ancestor of both sangria and mulled wine, and was drunk everywhere because water was bacteria-filled and unsafe to drink. A touch of alcohol made the liquid drinkable, and mixing the watered-down wine gave it flavor. People who lived in modern-day Spain were doing something similar with grapevines planted by the Phoenicians around 1100 B.C., and then with vines planted by the Romans after.
The current craze for sangria in the U.S. dates back to the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City. Spain’s sponsored pavilion featured the drink, and Americans have been thirsty for sangria ever since.
In the 1700s and 1800s, a style of sangria was made in England and France using traditionally French grapes. There was also white sangria, sparkling sangria, and sangria made with peaches, which was called zurra. The drink, in all its forms, had flashes of popularity in the U.S. in Spanish restaurants and certain city alcoves.
» 1/3 cup brandy (plus more to taste)
INGREDIENTS
5. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours, though it is best when fresh.
INSTRUCTIONS
» 1 cup ice to chill
Simple, traditional Red Spanish Sangria made with simple methods and just six ingredients. The perfect fruity beverage that’s adaptable and delicious!
7
2. Add orange juice and brandy and muddle again to combine for 30 seconds.
» 750 ml bottle dry Spanish red wine (suggest tempranillo)
1. Add apples, oranges, and sugar to a large pitcher and muddle with a muddler or wooden spoon for 45 seconds.
» ½ medium orange (rind on, sliced into small pieces, large seeds removed / plus more for garnish)
» ¾ cup orange juice (plus more to taste)
3. Add red wine and stir to incorporate, then taste and adjust flavor as needed. I added a bit more brandy, orange juice and brown sugar. Stir to combine.
» ½ medium apple (cored, skin on, chopped into small pieces)
Easy Traditional Red Sangria
» 3 tablespoons organic cane sugar
4. Add ice and stir once more to chill. Serve as is, or with a bit more ice. Garnish with orange segments (optional).
5-MINUTE RECIPE
ld fashioned is a cocktail made by muddling sugar with bitters and water, adding whiskey (typically rye or bourbon), and garnishing with an orange slice or zest and a cocktail cherry. It is traditionally served in an old-fashioned glass (also known as rocks glass), which predated the cocktail.
Of course, this recipe would eventually be stamped with its definitive name and heroed by classic bourbon whiskies, but back then it was simply a concoction used, for reasons unknown, as a pre-breakfast drink to either ready one for the day, or to cure headaches. The recipe remained simply known as the “whiskey cocktail” until after the American Civil War, which severely confined cocktails to the aristocratic class.
During the following period of reconstruction, budding entrepreneurs from the Northern states began to open bars in the south, touting “improved” whiskey cocktails boasting access to other liquors and flavor modifiers like Absinthe and Curacao. The ostentatious
Old Fashioned
THE HISTORY
twists didn’t sit well with the southerners, who would constantly request that their whiskey cocktail be made the “old-fashioned way.” Hence, a powerful name was born – one that not only describes a cocktail, but represents a conscious rebellion against unnecessary flourishes, and indeed values minimalism over all else.
The Old Fashioned is then the go-to for someone who wants a no-fuss, fat-trimming drink unconcerned with chasing perfection, simply because it is perfection. That kind of confidence is the reason why the Old Fashioned has been celebrated as the drink of choice for the sophisticated man for decades (yes, that mental image you have right now of Don Draper isn’t a mistake). To order one is to make the assertion that you’re a purist, in every sense of the word. A mix of bourbon, sugar, a few dashes of bitters, water, and an orange peel for garnish – that’s a statement right there, and it’s one that speaks volumes on one’s character.
There’s no wonder then why many bars throughout history have laid claim to being the birthplace of the official Old-Fashioned cocktail. The most credible one would be barkeep James E. Pepper of Louisville, Kentucky’s Pendennis Club, who would mix up his whiskey drinks the old-fashioned way in the 1880s. As legend has it, Pepper was the one who took the recipe to New York City’s legendary Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, a place better recognized as the first place an Old Fashioned by name was served and consumed.
Developed during the 19th century and given its name in the 1880s, it is an IBA Official Cocktail. It is also one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury’s “The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.”
O
Since then, many cocktails have taken attention away from the drink, but even though the Old Fashioned has more than once had to claw its way back into the illustrious spotlight, it’s clear that this ineffaceable recipe will always stand the test of time, with the grace and style of the era in which it was created.
The widely recognized foundations of an Old Fashioned were first validated as the very definition of the word “cocktail” in 1806. A passing reference to “cock-tail” was printed in the New York newspaper The Balance, and Columbian Repository, met in its subsequent issue by a confused letter urgently asking for a definition of the obscure term. Legendary journalist Harry Croswell was the responder, writing simply that a cock-tail is a “stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters.”
8
COCKTAIL RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1. Combine bourbon, simple syrop and bitters in a mixing glass and add ice.
» Rye will give you a hotter mouth feel whereas bourbon will have a sweeter end note like caramel and banana.
INSTRUCTIONS
Smoked Old Fashioned
» Smoke no more than 5-10 seconds using the wood flavor chips of your choice (such as, cherry wood, which I prefer).
5. Sip slowly and enjoy.
» ½ oz demerara simple syrup (demerara sugar is a raw natural sugar extract from sugar cane and great for brown spirit cocktails)
3. Smoke the old-fashioned cocktail in a Crafthouse Fortessa smoking chamber or any other smoking device of your choice.
4. Remove from smoker and express an orange peel over of the cocktail. Drop in the orange peel along with the brandied cherry.
9
NOTES & TIPS
» 2 to 3 dashes angostura bitters
» 2 oz bourbon or rye whiskey
» Orange peel and brandied cherry for garnish
2. Stir well to combine (do not shake) and strain into an old-fashioned glass with a large cube of ice.
» Simple syrup is simply dissolved equal parts sugar and water by volume. Use a teaspoon of sugar or 1 sugar cube with 1 teaspoon of water and dissolve if you don’t have demerara.
» 1 pinch chili powder
» 1 red bell pepper, chopped
» ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
6. The salad can be made a day in advance, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.
» ½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from 4 to 5 limes)
SIDE DISH RECIPE
SALAD INGREDIENTS
» 2 cloves of garlic, pushed through a press
» Hot sauce, preferably Crystal hot sauce (to taste)
» 1 teaspoon kosher salt
2. Using a sharp knife, cut off the kernels into a very large, deep serving bowl (hold the narrow end of the cob, point the other end into the deep bowl and cut downward so the kernels land inside the serving bowl).
4. For the dressing: Whisk together the lime juice, sugar, salt, vinegar, cumin, chili powder, garlic, and olive oil and season to taste with the hot sauce.
5. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to thoroughly coat. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes, then toss again before serving.
» 1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
» ½ red onion, chopped
1. Preheat the grill on high for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium high and grill the corn, with the cover closed and turning occasionally, until some kernels are black (about 12 minutes). Remove and allow the corn to cool slightly.
» 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Grilled Corn & Black Bean Salad
» 1 teaspoon ground cumin
» 4 fresh or frozen ears of corn, husks removed
» 1 (15 oz) can of black beans, rinsed and drained
DRESSING INGREDIENTS
» 1 tablespoon sugar
» 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or more if you prefer)
10
» 1 green or orange pepper, chopped
» 2 teaspoons kosher salt
» 1 tablespoon of honey
Total Prep Time 1 hour (35 minutes active) | Yields 12 to 14 servings
» ½ jalapeno or serrano chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped (wear gloves when handling)
INSTRUCTIONS
3. Add to the bowl the black beans, cilantro, green
pepper, red pepper, onion, jalapeno pepper, salt and pepper and toss everything to combine.