INGREDIENTS:

2 14 ounce rib-eye steaks
1 Portabella mushroom, stems and gills removed
6 sun-dried tomatoes
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
Sea salt - to taste
Fresh ground black peppercorns (Tellicherry)  - to taste

STEAK SAUCE:

1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh ginger, finely chopped
1/4 cup shallots, finely chopped
1/4 cup carrots, finely chopped
1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine ginger, shallots, carrots and celery in a saucepan over a medium high heat.  Caramelize/ sauté until browned slightly. Slowly pour in balsamic vinegar, stirring.  Reduce by 1/2 and add beef broth.  Bring to a boil.  Season to taste.  Meanwhile, preheat your grill.  Grill steak.  Season mushroom with salt and pepper and place on grill.  Grill steak to desired doneness and mushroom until tender.  Remove everything from the grill.  Cut mushroom into small triangles.  Skewer mushroom pieces with sun-dried tomatoes on to rosemary sprigs.  Place grilled steak on plate.  Top with rosemary skewers and sauce.  Serve with your favorite sides; baked potato, salad, garlic bread or fresh yeast rolls, etc..

A little history and back ground of the Delmonico Steak:  In 1827 the Delmonico brothers opened the first modern restaurant in the United States.  It was the first place you could go and order what you wanted instead of what was prepared  that day.  What started out as a small café, with the novelty of serving what the customers wanted,  quickly grew into a full service restaurant that became the place to eat in New York.  Abraham Lincoln dined there and was particularly fond of the Delmonico Potatoes.

Which Cut?  Somewhere around 1850 steak was added to the menu.  There is some controversy as to what cut of steak this was.  Over the years, a total of nine different cuts have come to be known as a Delmonico steak.  Now, while some people insist that it is a top sirloin, if you go to a well-educated butcher and order a Delmonico steak you are probably going to get a rib-eye steak.  Of course, most people will tell you that the rib-eye is the perfect blend of flavor and tenderness, and therefore just about the best steak you can get.  Regardless of the cut of the Delmonico steak, if you ordered one in the late nineteenth century, you would get a large and flavorful cut of meat.  The recipe for the Delmonico steak was very simple and delicious.  The steak was lightly seasoned with salt, basted with melted butter and grilled over a  live fire.  You would typically find it served up with a thin, clear gravy and a good helping of potatoes.   Basically this was the perfect restaurant steak.  Folklore:  For many years, the Delmonico steak was item 86 on the menu.  Folklore suggest that the expression "86’d" was invented by the chef at Delmonico's to let  the staff know that there were no more steaks to cook that day.  Ultimately, there were several Delmonico's Restaurants, but the last of them closed down in 1923.  Any restaurant (or Hotel) found  with that name today isn't truly authentic, just imitations of the original.  The ultimate cause of Delmonico's downfall was prohibition.  People were unwilling to sit through a long formal dinner without alcohol, so the final Delmonico Restaurant closed it's doors unable to convince people that bottled mineral water was good enough to drink with such a fine steak.

Bill aka Mickey Porter's favorite steak is grilled Porterhouse or T-Bone steak.  IMHO, I think the bone in adds a little extra flavor to the steak and I do not use any steak sauce; I want to taste the steak, not any steak sauce!

YIELD:  2

Will post sequence pixs at a later date.

Web posted by Bill aka Mickey Porter 07-17-12.

LEAVING ON A SPIRITUAL NOTE