Sunday, September 24, 2017

Steak & Lobster: Ribeyes with Gorgonzola Butter and Lobster Tails with IPA Butter

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  We are proud to be sponsored by Certified Angus Beef and received the Cattleman's package free of charge.  We also received the Dizzy Pig IPA Seasoning as a free sample.

Early fall is a perfect time of year for grilling in the evenings.  For starters, it's comfortably warm, not offensively hot.  Also, It hasn't started getting too dark, too early yet.  The chorus of cicadas and katydids is nature's soundtrack.  We took full advantage of this and grilled up a magnificent surf and turf last night.

Steak and lobster featuring Certified Angus Beef

The "surf" was lobster tails seasoned with IPA compound butter.  The "turf" was Certified Angus Beef ribeye steaks crowned with a Gorgonzola-Black Pepper compound butter.

This is more of an idea post than a recipe post, so here's what I did with the steak and lobster tails.

Ribeye Steak with Gorgonzola Butter
  • Made the butter by mixing together 1 stick of softened unsalted butter, 1/4 cup of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, 1 teaspoon of 16 mesh black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of Hawaiian red clay salt.  I left it out at room temp because I wanted to keep it soft and easy to melt.
  • Tempered the steak by leaving it out at room temperature for a little over an hour.
  • Preheated a kamado grill with natural hardwood lump charcoal to 500°f.
  • Seasoned the steaks.  Just before grilling, I patted them dry, put a light coat of high temp cooking oil and seasoned them with my Umami Steak Seasoning recipe.
  • Grilled the steaks at 500°f for 4 minutes a side.
  • Rested the steaks on a cooling rack when they came off the grill and then immediately 
    • seasoned them with finely ground Umami Steak Seasoning and
    • topped them with copious amounts of the Gorgonzola butter
Lobster Tails with IPA Butter
  • Made the butter by mixing together 6 tablespoons of softened unsalted butter and 2 teaspoons of Dizzy Pig IPA seasoning.  I left it out at room temperature since we were grilling within the hour.
  • Preheated a small kamado grill with a raised cooking rack to 350°f.
  • Prepared the lobster tails for grilling by snipping down the back with scissors and straightening the tails with a bamboo skewer.
  • Grilled the lobster top side down until pink, about 5-7 minutes.  
  • Flipped the tails, pulled the shell open a bit and stuffed about a tablespoon of the IPA butter inside.  
  • Put the tails back on the grill, top side up, and grilled until the meat was white, about 4-5 more minutes.
  • Removed tails from the grill, exposed the meat, and squeeze grilled lemon and lime over them.  I seasoned with more IPA butter and then finely ground IPA seasoning over the top.



Certified Angus Beef Cattleman's Premium Collection
We usually buy our Certified Angus Beef from Food City.  But this was the Cattleman's Premium Collection that C.A.B. sent us last week.  It has 4 ribeyes, 4 filet, and 4 N.Y. strip steaks, all individually wrapped.  It came shipped to our door in an insulated package with dry ice.  


A good pair of kitchen shears makes quick work of opening up the shells.

Lobster tail on a Big Green Egg mini-max kamado grill
I used a raised grate for the lobster tails in order to balance out the heat and make the cook a little more gentle.  Seafood proteins are delicate.  

Dizzy Pig IPA seasoning used on lobster tail
I thought the idea of an IPA seasoning was odd, who puts beer in a rub?  Dizzy Pig, that's who.  But then I tasted it. It has a mildly sweet start then a blend of earthy and bright flavors come through - perfect for seafood.

Certified Angus Beef ribeyes with compound butter
Starting with quality beef like Certified Angus Beef means you don't have to do much. Kosher salt and coarse black pepper are fantastic.  I used my Umami seasoning which has salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, dried shallot, four ground chiles (cayenne, ancho, guajillo, red bell) and three types of dried mushrooms (shiitake, portobello, and porcini).  It sounds like a lot but it enhances the beef taste without over powering the natural flavor.


Certified Angus Beef ribeyes on a Big Green Egg kamado grill with Craycort cast iron grates
I love the smell when steaks hit hot cast iron grill grates. 


Certified Angus Beef ribeyes with gorgonzola compound butter
Hit the steaks with the butter as soon as they come off of the grill

 Here's one of my favorite tricks.  Chef Adam Perry Lang is big on using a "board dressing" where you pre-season your cutting board with seasonings, oil, and maybe some acid.  When you cut your food up, the juices blend with the seasonings for a flavor party.  Well, the compound butters I used kind of fit that bill so I used them as "board butter".

On the left side was the IPA butter and on the right, the Gorgonzola with some fresh chopped Italian parsley.

I squeezed a grilled lemon onto the IPA butter to make it pop just that much more.


Seasoning lobster tail with Dizzy Pig IPA seasoning finely ground
Re-seasoning the lobster with the Dizzy Pig IPA Seasoning but using it in a pepper mill  to get it finely ground.  I did the same thing with the steaks using the Umami seasoning.  The finer grind let's it quickly dissolve in the foods juices and delivers a flavor boost.

What a fantastic meal to welcome Fall.  

Speaking of Certified Angus Beef, our friend Chef Micheal Ollier did a Facebook Live video this week about the best cuts of beef for smoking.  Here it is if you missed it.



Happy Fall, everyone!