What’s Pressoir Cooking? Chillin’ and Grillin’
Who cares if it’s 18 degrees outside? Of course, my buddy Bobby Flay did his cooking show in beautiful sunny 75 degree weather. But Last week in Brooklyn, we had no such luck. In fact, it was below 32 with about 16 inches of snow still in the back yard.
I’m not sure how many of you have tried finding lump charcoal after Columbus Day but most of the stores in my neighborhood don’t replenish their stock because they tell me “no one grills after the summer” BS. I am a year round grill master!
I had just returned from 3 weeks in France and after days and days of butter, cream, and cheese and more butter, cream, and cheese I was craving a good piece of American aged beef.
I don’t like the propane grills. I take the time to build a lump charcoal fire with the chimney and plenty of newspaper. I then empty the red glowing coals into the Weber and put the grill on. After about 3-4 minutes I’ll drop on my salted and peppered NY Strip steaks with plenty of fatty marbling. 4 minutes on each side and then 15 - 20 minutes of resting time and you have the perfect juicy, tender steak dinner. All you need is a baked or roasted potatoes and a salad and Voilà!
Oh, don’t forget to give your bottle of Beaujolais or Chambertin about 15 minutes in the snowbank to bring it to the ideal temperature.
One more thing. If you’re suffering butter withdrawal like I did, a few chunks of French style butter on the baked potato will do the trick.
Bon Appétit
