Gas Grilled Steaks Served with Leeks

 

* We linked this page at the Hearth and Soul Hop at Hunger and Thirst *

While Dude2 has convinced me that charcoal is the way to go, I don't think I'm willing to let go of my very nice Weber gas grill.  I'll probably end up getting a small charcoal grill in addition, but in the mean time I was determined to perfect grilling steaks with my gas grill.

Have you ever had a $25-40 steak at a nice steak house and wished you could cook a steak like that at home?  Did you ever decide to splurge on a $15/lb (or more) premium steak at the store only to be disappointed with the results?  Well, that was me and I had almost given up grilling my own steaks.  Thankfully, Dude2 showed me the way; even though it was torture for him to cook with gas : )

The secrets to success with a gas grill are:

1. Buy a nice thick steak (1" - 1.5"), grass fed of course
2. Get your grill as hot as possible
3. Thrown in a piece of lumpwood charcoal* for adding a smoky flavor
4. Sear both sides and then remove to indirect heat (instructions below)

* Note, I said a piece.  Don't attempt to do all charcoal in a gas grill unless you properly convert it by removing all the gas line equipment.  It's probably a good idea to remove the charred wood after each time you use too. That's my disclaimer.

Grilled Porterhouse Steak with Leeks

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs grass fed porterhouse steak (or something similar) cut 1 - 1.5" thick
• 1 piece lumpwood charcoal (I used a cherry wood)
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 3 - 4 leeks
• unfiltered extra virgin olive oil

Leave your steak out on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour to come to room temperature before grilling.

This steak was a beauty.  A porterhouse cut has a bone and is actually very similar to a T-bone steak.  The bone adds flavor and is great for saving and making beef stock. See the round part of the steak that's in the back in this picture?  That's a tenderloin, aka, filet mignon.



Now the tenderloin is in the front in this next picture (below).  The other half of the steak actually has the most flavor, but is not as tender as the tenderloin.  Cover both sides with a generous amount of salt and pepper.  You may not want to go quite as heavy with the pepper as I did.  That's the one thing I'm going to change just a tad next time I cook these.

I decided to soak my piece of wood in water.  I don't think this is necessary if you cook with charcoal because you have plenty of smoke.  But with a gas grill, the soaked wood will actually smoke more.  It will also smoke longer because the wood won't burn up as quick. 



Before you turn your grill on, slide a grate over just enough in order to place your wood in the bottom, or as in my case, on top of the flavor bars.  Don't put your wood in yet because it will be all burned up by the time you're ready to put the steaks on.  It's just easier now to do this before the grates are super hot.  And make sure the grates will easily slide back into place with the wood below.  Alternatively, you may just be able to set the wood right on top of the grate. I just preferred to have the steak over the wood to get as much smoke as possible.

Get your grill as hot as it goes.  My grill has a thermostat  on the lid which is super  handy.  The hottest mine seems to get to is 600 degrees.  I believe it took my grill about 15 - 20 minutes to get up to this temperature. 

After it's up to temp, open the lid and place your soaked wood in the grill below the grates. 



I used my long metal grilling utensils to push the grate back into place.  Please don't try using oven mittens or hot pads.  The grill is super hot and nothing short of a long metal object should be used for moving it.
 
 

Close the lid and let the grill come back up to temperature (600 degrees in my case).  This will also give the wood some time to start smoking.

After it's back up to temp, throw on your steak to sear the first side.  Depending on how hot you manage to get your grill the searing should take between 30 seconds to a minute and a half.  For me it took about one minute.  It has seared long enough if the steak is not sticking and it has a nice brown crust to it.  Flip it over and sear the other side for the same amount of time.



After both sides are seared, flip the steak once more and place it in indirect heat if possible.  I did this by turning off my two back burners and putting the steak in the back of the grill.  If your grill only has one burner just try turning it way down. 

Finish cooking your steak in indirect heat until desired doneness.  I like my steak rare and cooked it for about 10 additional minutes. 

 

The leeks are super easy.  Wash them thoroughly and cut the stalks off.  Then cut them in  half length-wise.  Cover them in a pot with water and boil for about 25  minutes or until tender.  Don't discard the water.  This makes a great tea/broth full of great vitamins. 

Lay the leeks in tin foil and drizzle with oil.  Then wrap them in the foil.  Put the leeks on the grill with the steaks, flipping then once. 



Enjoy!