Monday, December 14, 2015

Grilled Ribeye Steaks with Chorizo and Potato Au Gratin

I ran into the local grocery store to buy a sirloin steak but I got caught by the Siren's song of these beautiful Certified Angus Beef Prime ribeyes.

Deep red color, abundant marbling, and a nice hunk of the cap muscle, I couldn't pass these up.


Quality beef doesn't need much help other than some salt, pepper, garlic, and "coal therapy". But we ordered some Obie-Cue Steakmaker accidentally when doing our last competition supply order and I decided to try it out with these gorgeous steaks. It has a boatload of flavor going on with your typical salt and pepper with strong notes of Worcestershire and lemon. 

We had near record warm temperatures in East Tennessee this past weekend which made it perfect for being out on the deck grilling.  It was too nice to be inside so I did the whole meal on the Grill Dome kamado grill, including a side of fire roasted asparagus and this kicking Chorizo and Potato Au Gratin.

Certified Angus Beef, how to grill steak, ribeye steak recipe, Big Green Egg steak, Kamado steak


Chorizo and Potato Au Gratin

Published 12/09/2015

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces Mexican chorizo (raw, not cured)
  • 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 2 cups half and half
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 cups shredded Colby jack cheese - divided
  • 2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
  • 1/2 cup French fried onions 

Instructions

  1. Preheat your grill to 350°f and set up for indirect heat.  
  2. In a medium sized pot, brown the chorizo (removed from casing) over medium heat, about 5 minutes.  Remove and set aside.  
  3. Add the butter to the pot and saute the onion for 4 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes.
  4. Stir in the flour and stir continuously until a light roux is formed, about 1-2 minutes.  Slowly add the half and half in small batches (about 1/4 cup) and whisk each time until combined.  It will seize up on you at first, just keep adding and whisking until all the liquid is combined. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups of the cheese in small batches.
  5. In a greased 1 1/2 quart casserole dish, layer potato slices, top with about 1/4th of the browned chorizo and a spoonful or two of the cream sauce.  Repeat for 3 more layers.  Top with one more layer of potatoes and the rest of the cream sauce. 
  6. Place casserole in the grill, shut the dome, and allow to cook for 1 hour.
  7. Mix the French fried onions and remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.  Top on the casserole and put back into the grill, dome closed, until the top is golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
Yield: 6-8 servings

It was so nice out that I even did all of my food prep outside, I love nights like this.

Johnsonville Chorizo, Jimmy Dean chorizo
Mexican chorizo is a highly seasoned RAW pork sausage and has to be cooked compared to Spanish or Portuguese chorizo which is cured and ready to eat.  It used to be hard to find but now major producers like Johnsonville and Jimmy Dean offer chorizo sausages.

If you can almost see through the potato slices, you sliced them right. I do them on a mandolin but you could do by hand if you have a sharp knife and the patience of Job.

Char-Broil Commercial Grill
I love the side burner of my Char-Broil TRU-Infrared Commercial grill, it comes in so handy.

side burner grill, Char-Broil Commercial grill
Don't dump all of the cheese in at once or it will cool it down too quickly.  Small batches.  You could also use any cheese you like, Colby jack is just a good middle of the road cheese for just about anything.  Pepper jack would be good here or a blend of cheeses.  I'd stay away from smoked cheese because the dish will get enough smokiness from the burning lump coals.

grill side dishes, potato side dish,
Layer and repeat, layer and repeat, layer and repeat....you get the picture.

Grill Dome kamado grills
The beauty of using a ceramic kamado grill like the Grill Dome Infinity Series is that they hold steady temperatures incredibly well.

Thermoworks TimeStick, kamado indirect, kamado casserole, kamado side dishes, Craycort cast iron
The indirect set up that I used this time was the Grill Dome indirect rack, a 13" pizza stone, and a Craycort cast iron grill grate. You could also use a spider and stone or a plate setter. Set your timer and prep the rest of your meal while this cooks.

Big Green Egg side dish, Grill Dome side dish, Primo side dish, kamado joe side dish
Cook until golden brown.  I added bread crumbs to the topping but I didn't list them in the ingredients because they were not needed, the fried onions and cheese are the perfect topping on their own.
For timing, I did the casserole first and stuck it in the microwave (off of course) just to keep it warm while I made the rest of dinner. 

kamado steak, how to cook steak on Big Green Egg, ribeye kamado joe
Once the casserole comes off, change the set up to direct heat.  Open up the lower vent some to raise the cooking temp to 500°f, it should only take a few minutes.

Grill Dome steak, kamado steak, how to grill steak
At 500°f, I ran it at 4 minutes per side to get medium rare.  Normally I temp check it but this time I just went by touch only.

kamado side dish, easy grilled side dish
I hit the asparagus with a little oil and Meat Church All Purpose Seasoning (it's become my favorite general purpose seasoning).  I grilled a lemon and squirted the juice from one half over the asparagus in the last minute.

The Chorizo and Potato Au Gratin came out just about perfect.

beef ribeye, ribeye steak, grill lemon asparagus, cheesy casserole
Everything turned out wonderfully. I went light on the beef seasoning because it tasted so powerful straight out of the jar.  Next time I'd go with a heavier hand, it was a very good beef rub. I just didn't want to over season.

And how did the steak turn out?  Perfect medium rare.
Grilling a steak on a warm night in the middle of December?  Pretty damn awesome.  

[Standard FTC Disclaimer]  I received no compensation for this post; however, Grill Dome is the official kamado sponsor and Char-Broil is a sponsor of Nibble Me This.