Batali's Porcini Rubbed Ribeye - Best Steak Ever?

 

When I saw this recipe in Mario Batali's Babbo Cookbook I was a little more impressed with his call for 2-inch thick ribeyes than I was the seasoning choices. I also was dismayed to see the instruction calling for wrapping the crusted steaks in plastic and letting them sit overnight in the fridge. I was going to eat steak an hour or two later no matter what.

I created the rub, slathered it on two steaks and stored one in the fridge for the next day. cooked the other after about an hour of marinating time. A side-by-side comparison would be interesting.

The result? AMAZING. The sugars,  garlic and spiciness were out of this world. The flavor of the dried porcinis came through nicely. It was, perhaps, the best steak I'd ever made.

Only there were two things I didn't do. The first batch of steak didn't sit overnight, nor did I use a 2 inch thick steak that first time around.

As for thing 1: The next day I opened the refrigerator and immediately was punched in the face with the earthy smell of porcini. The second batch of steaks was remarkably better than the first. Noticeably better, remarkably better, no doubt - even better.

As to thing 2: Would two inch steaks make a difference? A few weeks later there was a sale on boneless ribeye, so I had the guy at the meat counter cut four 2-inch thick steaks. See above how they dwarf my big chef's knife?

Oh yeah. You WANT to find a 2-inch ribeye, put this rub on it and grill it the next day

 

Side note - By the third time I made this dish I ran out of porcini and tried dried shitake. Don't bother. If you don't have dried porcinis to grind up, just use the rest of the ingredients and reduce the olive oil by a tablespoon.

Batali's Porcini Rubbed Ribeye

Note: a great accompaniment to this dish would be this recipe for Mushrooms with Maple and Lime Juice

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

5 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped

1 tablespoon dried red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

4 tablespoons dried porcini mushrooms, ground

   - In Houston, the Specs Liquor downtown superstore has good quality dried porcinis at a fair price.

4 tablespoons olive oil

A 28 ounce ribeye steak, cut 2-inches thick

Balsamic vinegar for drizzling over cooked steak

1. Grind dried porcinis in a spice grinder or coffee grinder.  use the grinder for whole black peppercorns separately.  Add all remaining ingredients and combine.
2. Spread the rub evenly on all sides of the steak(s). Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for 24 hours. 
3. Grill the steak over high heat for 5 minutes per side, including standing the steak on edges - about 20 minutes total cooking. You can / should use an instant read thermometer to measure internal temperature - get to 125 for medium rare. 
4. Let steak rest for 10 minutes after cooking. 
5. Serve with a drizzle of good quality balsamic vinegar. 

 

I encourage you to buy the Babbo Cookbook. Some dishes are involved and excotic. But as you can tell from this recipe, some are out of this world, and not too difficult at all.