Looks like Spring is nearly upon us here in the south. Folks are planning
and planting gardens and cleaning out the old outdoor grill with the anticipation of doing some serious spring-time cooking. That's what life is all about here in the Deep South.
A couple years back, (in Texas speak that means 2 or 3), I visited my oldest son, Scott, in Austin, Texas.
He and his family had just moved into their beautiful new home. Scott (as are all my children) is a great cook and is passionate about it just like his old dad.
That evening, after my arrival, we shopped for about an hour at a near0by H.E.B store. (
God, I love those H.E.B. stores. I wish there was one near here in NE Texas where I live.)
Scott, who is an excellent saucier, wanted to not only share his new steak sauce recipe with me, he wanted to prove it by char-grilling what turned out to be some of the best tasting mouth-watering rib-eye steaks I ever had (scout's honor) -- on his brand new
Bayou Classic Cypress Ceramic Grill.
I had never seen or used a ceramic grill before, so I recorded about a minute of footage of him cooking those out-of-this-world steaks on his new ceramic grill which he has affectionately named "
Mergatroyd". Take a gander.
Here is what Scott has to say about Mergatroyd:
"I really like this grill. I use it every weekend. I've been grilling for
20 years, and have used everything from kettles, to gas, to smokers, to
barbecue pits, but this is my favorite. I can put in a load of
charcoal, and set it on a slow smoke, and it will stay going for two
days - literally. I can get the temperature up to 750 degrees, too. It
doesn't rust, its easy to clean, its compact (but it weighs a ton).
Metal components are stainless or heavy black anodized steel, so it wont
rust.
Here's what other folks have to say about it:
By Jim G. ~ "I have had my grill for 2 months now. LOVE the way it cooks. Best
pizza ever. I have to say it puts any restaurants pizza to shame. I am
a baker and did my first bread tonight. INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!! If anything ever happened to this, I would go straight out and buy another."
By Andrea K ~ "We absolutely love this grill. The quality is perfection. We are recommending this grill to everyone!! Great for both grilling and smoking!!
Me ~ "I can personally vouch for all of them 'cause I saw the grill in action."
By the way, here is the recipe my son used to grill those fantastic steaks... Hmmm... C'est Magnifique!
Balsamic Red Wine Reduction Sauce for Steak
Ingredients
- 1 medium red onion, sliced thin
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 Tbsp cracked black pepper
- 1/2 Tbsp sea salt
- 1 sprig of fresh Rosemary
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan, sweat sliced red onions in olive and butter
over medium heat until translucent, and beginning to caramelize.
- Add dry red wine and balsamic vinegar, and boil until liquid is reduce by 1/2.
- Add beef broth, and boil until liquid is reduced by 1/2 again.
- Add rosemary, salt, and pepper, reduce heat to simmer, and allow the
sauce to continue to reduce until it is the consistency of warm syrup.
There should be about 1/2 cup of sauce in the pan.
- Discard onion and rosemary (or just leave them in the pan).
- Using a spoon, drizzle sauce over grilled steak.
Note
When I make filet mignon, I like to rub the steak with olive oil, course
salt and black pepper, then sear over medium-high heat for a few
minutes on all sides. I then remove the steaks before they are
over-cooked, leaving the fond (pan drippings) in the pan. I then follow
the above process, add a few spoonfuls of sauce to a plate, and set the
fillet on top. The red wine will deglaze the pan, which adds a very
delicious quality to the sauce. ~ Scott Gaspard
Bon Appétit!
KT
