Quick Ribeye Steaks

One of the best items you can cook on your grill is a steak. There is something magical that happens. I have had neighbors poke their heads over my fence just to smell the beef cooking over a hot flame. If you want to impress people, cook them a steak.

Here is one of my favorite recipes for cooking a ribeye steak. It is quick and easy. When you have cooked as many steaks as I have, you learn a few things. The one thing I have learned is KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle with steaks.

Too many people starting adding way too many things to their marinades and rubs. Remember, you are cooking a steak not a rub. For some, anything more than salt and pepper on a steak is sacrilegious. I think there is a happy medium that can be achieved. Check out the recipe below.

Ingredients
4 rib-eye steaks, about 1 inch thick
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Olive oil

Directions
Combine rub ingredients in a small bowl. Allow steaks to come to room temperature before grilling. Preheat grill for high heat. Apply olive oil to steaks and add rub. Place steaks on grill and cook for 7-10 minutes, turning once. Remove from heat and serve.

Simple and great tasting.

Cooking Salmon Saturday Night!

My wife loves salmon. So, when I find it on sale, it is a special night for cooking. Salmon is a fatty fish and stands up very well on the grill. When I say fatty, I'm talking about the good fat, the omega-3 fatty acid.
There are a number of ways to cook salmon on the grill. There is direct grilling. When I do that, I leave the skin on so I can easily flip it. Another method is plank cooking. I enjoy that if I want to add a smoky taste to the salmon. I use cedar planks especially created for this. Don't buy just any cedar for this. If you go to a home improvement store, you will find cedar, but it has been treated for outdoor use. DO NOT BUY IT! It is not for cooking. Another favorite method of cooking is pouch cooking. It is a very good method for cooking salmon and it guarantees a moist salmon.
When you grill salmon, I recommend having the salmon cut into steaks. Alton Brown, one of my absolute favorite chefs, has an episode of "Good Eats" which shows you exactly how to make a salmon steak. I have included a link to the video for your convenience. The actual segment is about 5 minutes into the video. Click here for the link. Once you get your grill up to temperature and oil the grates, you are ready.
As for cooking a fillet, I recommend flesh side down first to give your salmon great grill marks and then flip over to the skin. Yes, I said, "Skin." I recommend that you leave the skin on the fish for a couple of reasons. The first is that most of the omega-3 fatty acids are near the skin. In fact, it is in the layer between the skin and the fleshy part of the fish. The second is when you cook fillets with the skin with the flesh side down first, when you flip the fillet, you are now cooking the oil into the meat. That's right. The fat is begin pushed up into the meat due to the heat. The third reason is that the skin keeps everything intact. You don't want your salmon falling apart.
What about seasoning? I am a purist when it comes to seasoning. A little salt, pepper, maybe some dill. My wife likes her salmon with lemon pepper. That's why I buy a whole fillet. I cut it to sizes for my wife and myself.
Safety tip. Before you cook, check for bones. Small bones called pin bones are sometimes messed. Just use a small pair of CLEAN needle nose pliers or a hemostat (you can buy them at tackle stores and most culinary stores). Pull them out and you are done.
As for sides, I prefer to saute some green beans in REAL butter with garlic and server with grilled new potatoes.
As I always say, no matter how, what or when you cook, it's all good.

What's for Dinner? STEAK, BABY!

What's for dinner? Steak, baby! That's right. At the Johns household, chicken, pork and seafood are good. But, if you are looking for something special. Steak is what's for dinner. You add a big bake 'tater that is fully loaded to that and maybe some sauteed mushrooms and onions with some Southwestern seasoning and you have got all of the makings for a perfect meal.



In this case, the meal was a ribeye steak that I had purchased on sale in bulk. If you find meat on sale, you need to buy and break it down yourself. By doing that, you save money and you can have steak almost every night. I know. My doctor is probably rolling his eyes and about ready to send me a dirty note about my cholesterol. (It is sad when you are able to spell "CHOLESTEROL" and the names of most of your medications.) Oh, well. Back to the steak.



Take a close look at the steak. You see the diamond sear marks on the steak. You can do the same thing. It just takes a little practice. When you put your steak on the grill. A very hot grill is an absolute must. How hot is hot? 500 degrees or better. Do not take your burner all the way up with the lid down. You will cause damage to your grill. When I preheat my grill, I set the controls to about medium. That will get you there. Once you open the lid to start cooking, you can put the spurs to her and turn your gas jets to wide open. You can then put the steak on the grill at a 45 degree angle and after about 3 minutes or so, you can rotate it to 45 degrees in the opposite direction. That will give you the sear marks you are looking for. Your friends will think you are a chef.



As for seasoning, I have made my own and tried a ton of different ones. The one I'm using now is the Chicago style blend from Webber. It has some bite to it and it gives the steak a great favor. If you ask me what do people love consistently on their steaks, I would say salt, pepper and some butter. If you are a purist, that's all you need.



Some people have asked about the potato. My daughter loves a good baked potato and my wife loves a good baked sweet potato. Well, there are some secrets to that, pilgrim. Let me tell you how to bake a great potato. First, select a good solid potato for baking. When I look, I look for fairly good sized potatoes. The other thing is that all of the potatoes should be the same size. Don't pick big ones and small ones. That will throw the cooking time off. Next, wash them good and dry them with a paper towel. After that, poke a few holes in them. Place each potato on a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Rub them down with cooking oil and salt them. If you like your potatoes to have a crispy skin, you can forget the foil. If you use the foil, wrap them up semi-tightly and place them on the grill. If you are preheating for your steaks, a good 450 degrees would be perfect for both the steak and potatoes. Place them on the warming rack and close up the grill. It will take about 1 hour to cook most potatoes. Use a knife to check for doneness. If it goes through the potato without resistance, you are done. As for the sweet potato, you can do the same to it except you don't need the full hour. I usually give the sweet potato only 45 minutes and I do use the aluminum foil. Since it has a higher sugar content, it burns easily. So, use the foil. Plus, the skin comes off easily when you use the foil method.



There you go. One top-notch steak dinner. Remember, you don't need a lot for seasoning when it comes to a steak. Salt, pepper and butter are great.