In more than 300 recipes, Cheryl and Bill Jamison reveal the tremendous variety of terrific flavors that can come from the primal encounter of food and flame. Authors of the pioneering and bestselling Smoke & Spice, which has shown a generation of backyard chefs how to cook wood-smoked barbecue, the Jamisons now aim their expert sights on grilling, the most popular kind of outdoor cooking.
Based on years of testing, the Jamisons argue for a back-to-basics, high-heat, “open air, open flame” approach, a sensual and elemental way to grill that doesn’t require equipment with more bells and whistles than the Queen Mary. Though today’s grill might be fashioned to roast, bake, or smoke, even boil, steam, and suate, these pages remind us that it was, happilly for us, made to grill
Blue cheese makes an elegantly traditional topping for a steak, particularly tasty when blended with sweet onions. We favor Iowa's creamy Maytag blue, developed by a washing machine scion whose Holstein hobby got out of hand. If you can't find it locally, substitute another domestic or imported blue cheese. The recipe calls for T-bone steaks-much like porterhouses except for a smaller section of tenderloin-but works well with heftier porterhouses or smaller strip steaks, cut like the T-bone from the short loin.
Servings: 4 or more
Four 1 to 1 1/4-pound T-bone steaks, 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick, at least choice grade
Kosher salt or other coarse salt
Sweet Onion Topping
2 large sweet onions, such as Vidalia, Maui, Texas 1015, or Walla Walla
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons dry red wine
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or other coarse salt
3 ounces Maytag blue cheese or other blue cheese, crumbled, at room temperature
Sprinkle the steaks lightly with salt, cover them, and let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Slice the onions in half from end to end. Slice each half into 3/4-inch to 1-inch wedges, cutting through the root end so that the wedges hold together. Melt the butter with the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions to the skillet and gently turn them over in the butter to coat all sides. Cover the skillet and let the onions cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until crisp-tender with some brown edges. Uncover the onions and add the wine and salt. Raise the heat to medium-high and continue cooking until the onions color lightly and the excess liquid evaporates, frequently scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Keep the onions warm.
Fire up the grill for a two-level fire capable of cooking first on high heat (1 to 2 seconds with the hand test) and then on medium heat (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
When grilling T-bones, it's important to keep the smaller, more tender section of the steak angled away from the hottest part of the fire. Grill the steaks uncovered over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Move the steaks to medium heat, turning them again, and continue grilling for 2 to 3 minutes per side for medium-rare doneness. The steaks should be turned a minimum of three times, more often if juice begins to form on the surface. If grilling covered, sear both sides of the meat first on high heat uncovered for 2 to 3 minutes; finish cooking with the cover on over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, turning the steaks once midway.
Transfer the steaks to plates, scatter blue cheese over each, top with the warm onions, and serve hot.
