Welcome!
It’s the weekend- you know what that means! Grill kits, baby. This one’s specially fabricated to celebrate fatherhood, in every shape that it takes. Growing up, my dad was the grill master at his house, but at my mom’s place, she held the tongs. No matter who’s in front of the grill, this kit’s for you- and we’ve brought you the best of the best steaks for flexing your craft on the masses. Or maybe just your family, or maybe just you. Either way, you’re going to impress yourself with this one.
I have a lot to talk about today, with everything that we need to heat up/prepare- so I’m gonna cut my usual rant kinda short here. Probably going to need two pages. One will be mostly dedicated to the steaks, just FYI. Sorry for the novel! I really wanted to be a writer. A boy can dream! Ok here we go.
For the potatoes:
First things first, we’ll want to get the loaded potatoes into the oven. These bad larrys have been stuffed with all kinds of goodness, and we’ve supplied a smooth and creamy paprika aioli to lather on top.
- On a sheet tray or casserole dish, lay the potatoes face up, and cover with aluminum foil. Pop them in the oven at 437F, and set a timer for 10 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, remove the foil, and transfer the potatoes to the broiler. Broil, on low, for 3-5 minutes, til the tops of the potatoes are golden brown and gooey.
- Place the foil covering back on top, and turn off the heat. Keep the potatoes in the warm oven, covered with aluminum foil, until you’re ready to eat! Once they’re on your plate, give them a few dollops of the paprika aioli. *chefs kiss*
For the ultimate wedge salad:
Having heard so much about pregnancy cravings, I was expecting Rachel to come up with some pretty interesting requests over the past and coming months. However, she’s stuck to these two, relatively mundane vices- chips and salsa, and wedge salads. She can’t get enough. For that reason, we’ve been having wedge fever, and after trying/making so many, we’ve finally nailed it with this one. A wedge is a beautiful mess. It’s like, why not just chop up the iceberg and dress it? I clearly don’t understand wedge salads. But regardless, we’ve got one for you. So, here goes:
- Arrange the iceberg wedges in a big ol’ mixing bowl, with the pointy sides up. Season the lettuce with salt and plenty of cracked balck pepper. Like a lot of pepper. That’s the trick.
- Dump the buttermilk ranch dressing alllllll over those big chunks of lettuce. Rub it all in to the cracks and crannies, making sure to coat each piece of lettuce evenly. This is important. Nothing worse than naked lettuce.
- Next, blue cheese and bacon- sprinkle the container of blue cheese and bacon on top, and don’t worry if some falls into the bowl. We’ll take care of that. Once you’ve gotten as much as you can to stick to the lettuce, it’s time to plate it up!
- Plate the wedge pieces on their sides, and using a spoon, scoop the rest of the blue cheese, bacon, and buttermilk ranch dressing out of the bowl and on top of the wedge pieces. This is the best stuff, and we will not judge you for eating a spoonful of it.
- Finally, veggie time. Scatter the shaved veggies and cherry tomatoes on top, trying your best to keep them from falling off the lettuce. Step back, admire your work, and dig in to crunchy, creamy bliss.
GRILLING TIME!!!
Fire it up. Charcoal, gas, or whatever newfangled contraption they have invented since I last checked the internet. Get it nice and hot, clean it off, and set yourself up. You’ll need some tongs, a seasoning rack, a couple landing trays for the beef and asparagus, and a spoon for the compound butter. Probably a towel or two, and DEFINITELY a nice cold beverage. Gather your stuff, and then continue below!
For the steaks:
Prime, boneless ribeyes. Not much else to say about these- the steaks seem quiet, but boy, do they have a lot to tell you. Mostly how delicious they are. You’ll see. I’m so excited for you to try them. You’ll never see steak the same way again. If you have time, let your steaks temper for about 30-45 minutes before you grill them- this means leaving them outside of the fridge, to let them come up slightly in temperature. Especially helpful if you’re cooking them rare or medium rare- you will not need to apply as much heat to get the steaks warmed inside, which means that you will have better texture and flavor throughout. It’s totally fine to leave them in the packaging until you’re ready to cook them. Steaks are tempered! Ok, let’s do this.
- First things first, open up the steaks, and pat them dry with some paper towels. Drying them off will produce a much better sear, and help the salt and pepper to stick really well.
- Once they’re nice and dry, it’s time to season. I use one type of salt for seasoning meat, and one type only- Diamond Crystal Kosher salt. Big red box. Throw away any iodized salt (Morton’s, get outta here), and go get some kosher salt. I insist. Black pepper, I’m not so much of a snab when it comes to that. Just as long as it’s freshly ground, I’m happy. First, crack some black pepper on there. Don’t be shy! A lot of this will probably fall off, so give it a nice even coating. Once the steaks have been peppered, time for a salt storm. Grab a big pinch of salt, and make it rain! Seasoning from high above the steaks will cause the salt to fall more uniformly, and give you a more consistent season. Make it rain that salty goodness, press it into the steak, flip, and repeat. Okay. We’re ready to grill.
- Grab a steak, and pop it right on the grill. I like to go at a 45-degree angle with the pattern of the grill- for some reason i have it in my head that 45 degree angle positioned meats sear better and taste better. I don’t know. I’m crazy. Once they’re all on there, over high heat, step back, take a drink, and observe the magic.
- Now, I’m not gonna micromanage your grilling. You probably know what you’re doing. I will say this, however. The trick to a really good sear is to keep changing the s;ot that you flip your steak to. Don’t just flip it right onto the same spot it was at- move it! And don’t flip until you’ve produced a really strong sear on the first side. I’ll usually go like this- sear the first side for 3-4 minutes, rotate 90 degrees, sear for 2 more minutes, flip, sear for 3-4 minutes, rotate 90 degrees, and sear for 2 more minutes. If you followed that, well done. But again, not going to micromanage! This part should be fun. Put down the instructions. Let your primitive meat cooking instincts take over. Once you’re happy with the cook of your steaks, pull them off on to a landing plate, and let them rest for 2 minutes before slicing.
- When resting steak, it’s important that the beef is not flush with a flat surface. Too much surface contact will cause all the what to be trapped, and end up steaming the meat, rendering it overcooked for some. I like to use a spatula or a couple forks/chopsticks to lay the beef on when I’m resting it, or even better, a resting rack. But we make do with that we’ve got!
- Steaks are rested. Time to slice. Once again, not going to micromanage here. There’s really no wrong way to do this, if you ask me. Let nature take over. While the steak is still warm, after it’s been sliced, scoop some of the compound butter out of the container, and dollop it on top. Gaze in awe as it melts all over the beef… look at what you’ve created. Be proud, and be excited. You’ve done it.
For the asparagus:
Okay this one is really easy, so I left it till last. Not a whole lot needs to be done here. Just find a nice hot part of the grill, and lay out the asparagus perpendicular to the grates. It’s quite young, so it’s pretty thin, and will not take long at all to heat up. Just get some char flavor on there, and pull it right off onto your plate. Boom. Done.
So, that’s all I got. Sorry I couldn’t fit it onto two pages. I edited it for length as best as I could, but I think the numbered bullet points ate up a lot of my precious space.
Thanks so much for ordering grill kits, especially for this special weekend!
Stay tuned for more grill kits coming your way. We love these, and apparently, you do too!
Have a great weekend!
<3, WECO
#weareweco #dinnersolved