This has been a crazy week patched together by time spent in Chicago, Washington D.C. and St  Louis. On our last night in D.C. we took Paul to dinner at  Olde Ebbitt Grill across from the Whitehouse.  Paul ordered a steak that we all agreed was the best steak any of us had ever tasted. I decided to attempt to recreate the recipe.  After thourally questioning our waiter and doing a little research and testing the recipe my family agrees that I have nailed it.  This recipe is now our ultimate all time favorite way to eat steak.

Mark and I  spent four days in DC to see our son Paul perform as Adam and Noah in Children of Eden at Catholic University.  On opening night the play was good and even earned a standing ovation!  The second night the music soaked furthwer into me and the story took root.   The third day’s performance I was hooked.  The story is a beautiful and the students conveyed the relationships so well that I felt their struggle.  The music still floats in my head a week later.  The moral of the story is that somethimes you need to see something 3 times to truly appreciate it.  I only need to hear Paul sing once though to fill my heart with joy.  I’m sure there’s an element of proud Mom no matter how he sounds but I really think he’s good and has a passion on the stage that will take him far.

 

While in D.C., we spent time in the Basilica on campus.  It is such a Holy place.  I feel happy there and I’m even happier to know that my son has access to it daily. Every tile gives glory to our maker.

We enjoyed the beginings of spring, fantastic oysters and much needed time together without a schedule.  

Our selfie skills are no match for our phone savy snap chatting children but we had fun trying. 

Now, about that steak…When choosing your steaks consider Heinen’s dry aged ribeye.  I paid a little bit more per pound but the quality of these steaks made for a delicious grilled steak worth every penny.

The rub is simple.  Just a few ingredients combined in your blender.  The dense, earthy flavor of the dried porcini mushrooms coupled with the sweet sugar and spicy red pepper flake make every bite delicious.

Ribeye with porcini Red Pepper Rub

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz dried porcini
• 1/2 T red pepper chili flakes
• 1/4 C sugar
• 2 T kosher salt
• 2 T freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• good quality olive oil
• Two 1 pound bone-in rib-eye steaks (about 1″ thick)

PORCINI RUB DIRECTIONS:

• Roughly chop the porcini, and then grind in a blender – slowly at first, and then gradually increase the speed.
• Add in red pepper flakes and blend to mix.  Mix salt, pepper, and sugar together and then add the porcini-chili flake mixture together.
• You will have plenty of rub left over to make these steaks again – and you will want to!

RIB-EYE DIRECTIONS:

Dust and rub your rib-eye with the rub.  Drizzle on some olive oil and rub that in too.  The rub will turn into more of a thick paste with the consistency of wet sand.

Flip the steak and repeat.  Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate 12 hours or overnight.

About 1 hour prior to grilling, remove the steak from the refrigerator.

Pre-heat a gas grill or grill pan.  If you are going to use a charcoal grill, preheat that but use enough coals to keep the fire going for about 20 minutes.

Put the steak on the hottest part of the grill.  I use a Weber grill and start with all burners on high. I sear the steaks on each side for about 90 seconds.  Then I turn the heat to Medium indirect heat.  That means I turn off the front and back flames and leave only the center flame on medium.  I cook the steaks for 4 minutes per side at this medium temperature for medium-rare doneness.  The internal temperature should be 127-128°F .

Transfer to a carving board, cover loosely with foil and let it rest for 10-20 minutes or more.  My husband is often anxious to get dinner started at this point but the resting step is an important one.  If you cut into your steak right away all those delicious juices will run all over your cutting board.  If you can patiently wait at least 10 minutes the steak will reach the perfect temp and when you slice it the juice will be in the bite you take not on your plate.

Our favorite way to enjoy steak is on a bed of sautéed greens.  Today, kale, chard and garlic.

As you can see, with a rested steak there are no running juices when it’s sliced.  They’re all there though, in each bite!

I hope you’ll give it a try and leave a comment to let me know what you thought. I think I’m going to try some of this rub on lamb chops. I’ll keep you posted.