The other day, the television being on for no particular purpose, Arthur and I watched a program on KQED about Italian Cooking (along with French, our favorite kind). The program is called Lidia's Table, and it's worth some time, especially if you enjoy cooking Italian food.
The topic that particular day, was a wonderful soup, which I did not take the time to write down (which I think I can find on her website), and an amazing recipe for a porterhouse steak. I'll describe it in steps:
1. Rub the steak with coarse sea salt. (Do not pepper it at this point, the pepper will burn and ruin the flavor of the steak.
2. Prepare either a lined pan, or charcoal grill so that both are hot, and grill your steak to your liking. I did 7 minutes to a side in a lined pan - you may have another feel for the time. Also, use the grill to brown the sides of the steak as well.
3. While the steak is grilling, or before you grill the steak, place some coarse sea salt, some rosemary leaves (to your taste), and garlic (again to your taste) along with a 1/4 cup of olive oil into a mortar. Use the pestel to grind the mixture into a sauce. Set aside.
4. When the steak comes off the grill, set it aside, and cover it loosely with some aluminium foil and let it sit for 15 minutes. It will continue to cook.
5. After the 15 minutes, remove the "tenderloin", and the "New York strip" from the bone. Save the bone. Use the rosemary, salt, garlic, olive oil mixture, and paint the sauce on all sides of the meat.
6. Cut the meet across the two portions, into slices, and reassemble onto the bone. Anoint with more olive oil, or sauce if you have more, and serve.
It's wonderful!
12/26/08 MTH