The Veggies Can't Handle The Smoke But The NY. Strip Can!

The weather cracked the 70F mark the past few days, and we know what that means here in Sunny San Diego: BBQ Time.

Lori picked up some really nice thick steaks @ Costco. They were a good inch thick.

Tasty.

New York Strips.

First ingredient needed: FIRE.

In this case, it is my Weber Performer grill, with Kingsford charcoal.

Ok, so that's part one.

Part II: Smoke!

Smoke is what separates the average steak from the transcendent steak. If you aren't going to use charcoal and smoke, you might as well do my magic-stove-oven steak. Easy: In an oven-proof pan, place on the stove on HOT. Preheat oven to 425. Toss steak on pan, it should sizzle greatly. Oil as necessary to keep from sticking. Wait one minute. Flip steak. Toss in oven for 8 minutes. Perfect steak.

Only way to beat a steak like that, is the smoke, or the schmoke. Tonight we used Hickory.

Soaked these guys for 30 mins. Meanwhile I coated the NY Strips with fresh ground pepper and salt.

These guys are around an inch think. Good little bit of fat on the edges. If you don't like your steaks coated in pepper, you can't handle the spice, and so you shouldn't be reading the Chronicles of Spiciness!

(This Guy can handle the spice)

Okay, so some of us have been trying to eat less meat and more veggies. Sometimes this works, other times, well, when you buy 1-pound steaks, what are you do to?

But grilled veggies are great, and even greater with some smoke. Tonight we went after grilled onions, grilled peppers and grilled asparagus. Whacked the onions into 1.5 wedges and topped with olive oil and some of that Monterrey Seasoning. Peppers and asparagus were tossed in Newman's Own Basalmic Dressing. Tasty. And all the profits go to charity....Even if he didn't have a great name, he's still be on my fav ingredient list.

Ah there is the feast, ready for the fire.

A few notes on grilled veggies. By putting a little oil/dressing on them, it helps the veggies to pick up a little of the smoke flavor.

How to Grill:

Heat up charcoal and keep coals on one side of grill.

When coals are all nice and toasty, toss the wet chips on top of the coals. Put the grill on.

Cover, and let it get smokey for a minute or two.

Toss on the onions on the non-fire side, and definately not over the fire. They take the longest to cook.

After 4 minutes, add the peppers, again, not over the fire.

Toss on the steaks over the fire.

The coals should be hot and smokey but not firey. If you have fire, you can cut down the airflow in the grill. Or you can pour beer (an essential grilling tool) on the coals. Try not to do this while the food is there....the steam can send ash on the food.

Cover.

Cook the steaks ~8 mins.

Add asparagus half way thru side one of steaks

Flip steaks.

Cook steaks another ~8 mins. You can tap for doneness. See here for an idiot's (no offense:) guide to doneness

Pull steaks from the grill and wrap in tin-foil. Let sit 5 mins. before eating.

Ah there we go! Steaks had just been pulled, and you can see the grill itself was on fire! In Spanish, they say En Fuego. Si, en fuego, la parilla!

The flaming grill in the background with our nice patio heater going. I know I said it was in the 70's but the ocean drops temps down to a brisk 55 or 60. I burn 2 gallons of gas to and fro work a day, so this little extra propane doesn't hurt my eco-conscience.

Alas, there was a mishap! The steaks were tremendous, full of spice and smoke and more smoke and perfectly cooked. But alas, the veggies...

The veggies tho, wow, I have never cooked such veggies before. From a al-dente perspective, they were great, but they were over-smoked in a mushroom-cloud-of-smoke-way. The asparagus was so oversmoked it caused my mouth to go numb from the bitterness of the burnt hickory! I've never had this problem before. I guess I had too much smoke. Different woods impart different flavors, and the hickory went well with the beef, but hickory might be too bitter for veggies. You'll need to sort this out for yourself. The onions turned out nice, while the peppers were a bit oversmoked too, altho less than the asparagus.

Lastly, lets write about Smoking Loon! Oh, the Grilling Gods bestowed such a worthy name to this winery. I was near to adopt them as an Honorary Grillmaster, quite a feat for a mere bottle, when I came across the problem.

Last Saturday we also grilled, and Lori and I partook in a fantastic bottle of Smoking Loon: Cabernet. Lori is Canadian, the national bird there is the Loon, or it's on their dollars anyway, so we were doubly happy. Well, the wine was so fine.

So for Steak Night, there needed to be a replay. And the price was right at 6.99 for a bottle.

I dropped into the dive liquor store down the street to grab another bottle, and when I got home and popped the cork, the taste just wasn't the same.

Well, of course not!

I bought the Merlot! Take a look at the two bottles....how are you to tell? Except for some tiny print, the Merlot and Cabernet look exactly the same! How about a small identification? A different color? Maybe a big letter "C", a giant "Don't buy this it's a Merlot" sticker? Anything! The merlot was terrible, in comparison. Who drinks merlot anyway?

What's next on the BBQ list? I have a whole Organic Chicken that needs doing. Perhaps a tatziki chicken? Juli and I are also planning a "Mussel cookoff" and I've got some good recipes for mussels on the grill. I also have some ideas for grilled SpicyBBQ-style sushi. Stay tuned....