Anchovy Tuscan Steak Update

sprinter

Hey all,[p]Last night saw the second of 4 two inch ribeyes hit the egg in attempt to perfect a Tuscan or Florentine Steak. This one called for a mixture of Anchovy and fresh rosemary, fine ground sea salt, and olive oil to be rubbed onto the steak once its cooked. The measurements are as follows (as best as my memory rocollects)[p]6 anchovy fillets
4 TBSP (yes, TABLESPOONS) sea salt
2 TBSP of fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 cup olive oil[p]This mixture (first three ingredients) is ground in a mortar and pestil until they are combined well. Then olive oil is added until a somewhat thick paste is made. Set this aside.[p]I rubbed the steak with fresh ground pepper and a little bit of salt and set it aside. The grill was stabilized at about 550. I threw on the steak and cooked it for about 9 minutes a side, directly above the hottest part of the fire, turning once. When it was time I took the steak off and brushed on the anchovy mixture and let it sit for about 5 minutes, sliced it thin and served it.[p]Overall the steak was good, fairly rare but thats the way I like them. The anchovy mixture was VERY VERY salty, almost too much for me. The wife liked it but said it was a bit salty for her as well. I would definitely cut way back on the salt next time or just salt the meat before cooking and leave the salt out of the paste as the anchovys are fairly salty by themselves also.[p]Of the two methods we've tried so far I like the infused olive oil method the best. It imparts a real nice flavor to the meat and in that its near boiling when you add it to the steak it cooks the meat a bit as you add it to the steak so those who like more medium steaks get what they like.[p]RhumandJerk has forwarded me a very similar recipe that was in Cooks Illustrated. Its very similar to the infused olive oil recipe I've tried but it uses plain olive oil drizzled cold over the grilled steak with a bit of lemon squeezed over the steak as well. Still trying to find the best Tuscan Steak we can but all of these have been great so far and I'd highly recommend giving it a shot. Talk about an easy steak to cook and the flavors are pretty amazing.[p]Troy

Unknown

sprinter, as for the saltiness, you may want to try salt-packed anchovies which, contrary to what you might think, are LESS salty (once you wash off the salt in which they're packed) than those nasty, oily little things that come in tins.

Chubby

sprinter,[p]Sounds goooood!![p]A bit of info that may be of use.....Try soaking the anchovies in milk overnight before using. It will mellow the saltiness without affecting the anchovy flavor. Then... by using good quality sea, or preferably "Grey salt", justy before pulling the steaks, the flavor will be fresher and not as saline!

Give it a try!![p]Chubby[p]PS...the last minute lemon squeeze...I love it also!! Really cuts through the fat and brightens the flavors!

Gloria

sprinter,
I will chime in and say that the salt-packed anchovies are tops. Your recipe sounded great. We use a coarsely ground black pepper. Question: Did you cook the 2 inch steaks at 550 and then shut the Egg down and let it "dwell"? The thickest we have tried is 1 3/4 inch. Night before last I cooked lamb chops (even though we couldn't get the Egg up to temp......another thread), and we did the olive oil and lemon juice thing on them and they were great. Usually marinate lamb chops in lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic, but just squeezing the lemon over as we ate the chops was great.

sprinter

Gloria,[p]I think I'll give the different anchovys a try next time. I really did like the infused olive oil recipe better but the anchovy and less salt method sounds promising also. So many options yet to try.[p]No, I didn't let the steaks dwell at all once I cooked them over the hiogh heat. The recipe says to build a two temp fire, a hot side and a cooler side and cook the first side on the hot side, then turn and move it to the cooler side for the remainder of the time. Its tough to do that on the egg so I just cooked them directly over the hottest portion of the fire and took the times down just a bit.[p]The wife is not a big lamb fan but I've been hankerin' to try some on the egg, one of the only things I've not cooked on the egg. That cooking and marinating method may be the trick as she loves the tuscan steaks. Thanks.[p]Troy