Grilled Steak with Garlic Butter

It was about a month ago that Eric got home to find a backhoe digging a big hole in his front yard and our friends Dan and Jenn came to the rescue, inviting us over for dinner. Dan was going to fire up the grill and cook... something, but he wasn't sure what. Eric on the other hand had a great rub ready to go and really wanted to try out making some flavored butters. It was a match made in perfection. Eric brought the rub and the butter and Charisse and Jen handled the rest.

Using a fancy butter on a well seasoned steak is almost always going to be fantastic. The butter melts along the steak as you eat it, almost as an after thought to the flavors in the steak and the rub. The rub gives the steak a kick going down but doesn't hide the natural beef flavors and doesn't overwhelm the other courses. If it tastes like your shooting Tabasco sauce, your doing it wrong. Choosing the right flavored butter is key, and should be picked to be a counter point to the rub. The sweeter the rub, the more liberties you can take with the butter, without the butter becoming the main attraction.

Grilling Rub 42
What you will need:
5 parts Paprika

3 parts Lawry's Garlic Salt (Trust us, this is the brand to use. Right texture, just enough parsley)

2 parts Ground Lemon Pepper

2 parts Ground Cayenne pepper
2 parts Chili powder
1 part Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Paprika forms the base of this rub and should be around 30% of the total mixture. Garlic salt is next, and should be somewhere around 3/5ths the volume of the paprika. Lemon Pepper, Cayenne Pepper and Chili Powder should be roughly equal amounts, and each amount should be about 2/3rds the volume of the Garlic salt. Add some Ground Black Pepper for a little extra flavor in the steak, but no more than half as much as any of the other peppers. You will need to adjust the volume of rub you make to match the amount of steak that you are serving (or whatever meat your rub is destined for). Remember that this is something to experiment with over many tries. You should feel free to add or subtract or substitute any spice you fancy. Rubs are as personal as finger prints and every one turns out a little bit different. If the rub is done like it say above, it should smell sweet, with a distinct hint of hot pepper and black pepper.

Once the rub is to your liking, take it handful by handful and massage it into the surface of your steaks. Don't forget the sides. Do this anywhere from 1 - 24 hours before cooking. The longer the wait the better, it gives the rub more time to saturate the meat with flavor. After about an hour though the rub will have a wet look to it, this is when it is primed for grilling.

Grilled Steak with Rub 42
What you will need
Prepared Steaks
Grill
Instant read thermometer
Cold Beer (or other suitable grilling beverage).

Bring your grill upto temperature and find the areas of nice, even heat for your steaks. Set the steaks on the grill, and keep an eye on the time. A steak around an inch thick should be cooked for 10 - 15 minutes total, depending on your heat and streak size. Since time is a factor of different things, its best to go by temperature. For medium rare (our favorite!) your streak should be flipped after about 5 or 6 minutes and is ready to be pulled off when the internal temperature reads 145*. Place the steaks straight onto a plate, and cover them with tin foil to let them rest. They will continue to cook while the juices inside stabilize and settle into the center. During this time hang around by the grill, enjoy your cold beer and have idle chitchat with your guests (or significant other or whomever is there to keep you company, or just sit and contemplate the universe).

Don't be afraid when the rub blackens on the grill. This is good and adds flavor, but pay close attention because while theres a fast difference in taste = between blackened spices and a charred cow, there is only a few minutes between them.

Garlic Butter
What you will need
1 stick Butter
5-8 Garlic cloves
Garlic press

This one is pretty easy, softly melt the butter in the microwave, the use the garlic press (or very finely mince) to add the garlic to the soft butter. Mix it up good, then put it in the refrigerator to solidify again.

Serve your steaks hot with a pat of this butter on top, letting it melt as you eat it.

Grilling Rub 42 is an original foodies@home recipe.