One of the good things about the very mild winter is that the fresh herbs in our front yard are already in full production mode.
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Sage, thyme and tarragon in my front yard. |
On the other hand, so are the critters.
- The good - I've already seen the first lightning bug of the year,
- The bad - I've also already seen my first flying vampire - a mosquito,
- The ugly - this little dude was hanging out in our driveway
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Tiny little guy, about 6-7" long. |
I didn't know what kind of snake it was but I was glad that I let it live. It was a Northern water snake, non-venomous and beneficial (unless you're a bug or small furry critter). In fact, of all the 23 types of snakes in East Tennessee, only 2 are venomous.
Enough snake, more steak!
One of the things I like to do with grilled steaks is serve it with a compound butter. Tonight I just used some tarragon, parsley, and thyme from our front yard. Plus....a secret ingredient that makes your butter better.
Grilled Ribeye Steak with Front Yard Butter
Source: Nibble Me This
Ingredients
- 4 ribeye steaks, left at room temperature for 1 hour
- Steak seasoning* to taste
- 8 Tbsp butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp parsley finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp anchovy paste*
Instructions
- Pick your herbs from my front yard. Just watch out for my guard snake.
- Mix the softened butter, herbs, garlic and anchovy paste together thoroughly. Form into a log or roll and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat a charcoal grill to 500f (high heat) and just before grilling, make sure the grates are clean and lightly oiled.
- Season the steaks and then grill until they reach an internal temp of about 130f for medium rare, about 4 minutes per side.
- Remove steaks from the grill and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Place each steak on a warm plate*, top with a scoop of the compound butter, and serve.
- Quantity - This makes almost twice as much butter than you need but you'll find other uses for it.
- Steak seasoning - A simple rub of salt/pepper/granulated garlic (2:1:1 ratio) works fine. Tonight I was testing out a friend's new beef rub that is about to hit the market.
- Anchovy paste - I know, I know. I HATE fish! But slipping a little of this in your compound butter gives it a umami flavor that goes great with steaks and NO ONE will ever guess it's in there.
- Warm plate - a cold plate makes the butter and steak juices congeal faster, not pretty.
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We splurged on a whole ribeye last week. Hand trimmed it into 14 steaks. |
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Not blurred for witness protection program...I'm testing out a prototype grill grate for someone and can't release pictures just yet. |
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Served with a steak side classic - creamed spinach. |
The creamed spinach that I served with it was one of the better ones I have ever had. You can find that recipe at Chef John's site, Foodwishes.