Recipe: Elbow Room Porterhouse Marinade

Elbow Room Porterhouse Marinade
From: Family Circle Magazine, 1971
Source: jdelaney60, 08-02-2003

Note from source: The recipe was originally printed in Family Circle Magazine in 1971. It's the "not so secret" Porterhouse recipe from the famous "Elbow Room" in the block long town of Jamesport on Long Island.

Steak Marinade:
1 cup soy sauce
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, halved
1/4 cup bottled gravy coloring
(Kitchen Bouquet or Gravy Master)
2 teaspoons Beau Monde Seasoning
(Beau Monde (salt, onion & celery seed) is a product of Spice Islands & can be found at any grocery store that carries that line of spices.)

To Marinate:
Arrange steak, steaks, or chops in a shallow glass baking dish; pour 1/2 marinade for each steak and 1/4 cup marinade for each chop over the meat. Allow to stand at room temperature for 2 hours or cover dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours, then bring meat to room temperature before cooking. For the less expensive meat-cuts, sprinkle with instant meat tenderizer, following label directions, just before broiling.

Now here is the real secret...

To Grill or Barbecue:
Prepare a fire basket filled with hot coals that have turned to white ash. Grill steak 3 inches from heat, 5 minutes for 1-inch and 10 minutes for 2-inch steaks per side for rare, or until done as you like, basting with marinade when turning.

Last but not least...
Over the years, we have refined this recipe. We use a quart blender and use 2 bottles of Kikkoman Steak Sauce as a base. (Kroger/Publix) We also use 1 (15 oz.) bottle of soy sauce. The onions, (Vidalia's are exquisite) garlic and Beau Monde follow the original recipe. We also add 3 or 4 dashes of Powdered Worcestershire Sauce (A wonderful, flavorful secret that no one knows even exists.) Add A little Lowry's Lemon Pepper to taste. Then you may add 3 or 4 dashes of some Spice Island Italian Seasoning. Everything can be done in the blender. Blend all ingredients for about 3 or 4 minutes until it becomes a light beige color. Pour over steak in a glass dish (not plastic) for 3 to 4 hours and when you finish marinating, you can save, refrigerate & reuse the marinade. Why use porterhouse? It's virtually the same price per pound as a T-Bone, but you get a larger filet as a bonus. We get them specially cut between 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches, sear them one minute each side on the grill and cook 4 to 7 minutes each side for rare to medium rare, or longer as you prefer.