We stopped by Kinderhook Farm a few weeks ago to stock up our new garage freezer with some local meat. I had received a call from Georgia a few days earlier with word that her 80-day Freedom Ranger Chickens were processed (by Georgia herself!), and while that was the reason for our visit of course I can't walk away without some beef in hand. We nabbed a flat iron steak, ground beef, that 5 lb freedom ranger chicken, and the most beautiful 1.7 lb porterhouse steak. Everything else went into the freezer for another day, but that night the porterhouse would be consumed! 

Continuing with my quest to learn from Bobby Flay, I had read a recipe for a rib eye steak done the "Bar American" way in his "Grill It" cookbook, and while I had a huge porterhouse in hand now I thought I'd give that preparation a shot. Flay is big on flavor, and remembering how insanely good the last porterhouse I had grilled up from Kinderhook I figured this steak could handle the rub and sauce. 

It starts with a rub heavy on ancho chili powder. In my younger days I only thought a pepper was a pepper if it packed some serious heat. But as I mature I'm realizing the less hot peppers have some really amazing flavors, and the ancho pepper falls right in line here. Quick gallery of the rub's ingredients and the final result: 

Flay marries this chili-heavy rub with a a surprisingly sweet steak sauce featuring a mustard and molasses base. It has a bit of a "cocktail sauce" vibe thanks to some ketchup and horseradish, but there is a ton of sweet added with the molasses. Another quick gallery of key ingredients and the final result:
While the sauce is chilling in the fridge, I got a charcoal fire going. I decided to break out the bag of Stubb's Charcoal i picked up a few weeks ago. I've been using hardwood for about 3 years straight, so i wasn't sure about going back to a briquette. But it was some decent stuff. It was on sale for 5 bucks a bag... marked at its usual 8 bucks and I'll pass but at $5 its not a bad bag of coal to have around. 

Anyway, while the coals are getting hot I rubbed the steak all over with a little canola oil and a few pinches of kosher salt. Flay then instructs to rub just one side of the steak with the rub.... something I've never considered doing but I'll follow along for now:

Meanwhile I got the dutch oven going with some oil to make up a batch of french fries: Once the coals were ashed over, I tossed the steak rub-side down onto a cleaned and oiled kettle grill. I opted to keep the steak on the edge of the heat as burning this $40 steak would be insanely frustrating. I grilled this for a total of 17 minutes, split pretty evenly per side. Here's a few shots of the grilling progress: After sitting under a foil tent for 5 minutes or so I was left with this beauty: I then sliced up the strip and tenderloin separately:  I served the strip and tenderloin on the plate separately, along with fries and a simple side of balsamic glazed green beans with a bowl of the Bar American steak sauce on the side: The table setting also included three dipping options for the fries: straight ketchup, a chipotle/ketchup combo, and a chipotle mayo combo. I opted for the chipotle mayo, and lori picked the straight ketchup... neither of us wanted the chipotle/ketchup combo:

As expected, this Kinderhook steak did not disappoint. Their beef has such a wonderfully rich beefy taste to it. The tenderloin was again very flavorful, and the strip was just about perfect. When I tasted the BA sauce straight up I was really surprised how sweet it was and I thought I might not even use it. But combined with a sugar-free rub that is heavy on ancho chili... well its a really amazing pairing. The two items really become a separate taste when combined. 

Again, I pulled this entirely from Bobby Flay's "Grill It" cookbook, so I can't take any credit here but its definitely worth a shot if you're jonesin for a great steakhouse meal:

For the steak sauce:

• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup whole-grain mustard
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 Tablespoons ketchup
• 2 Tablespoons honey (this is Bobby Flay after all!)
• 1 Tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• Mix everything together in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to a day in advance. Bring to room temperature before serving. 

For the Rub:

• 1/4 cup Ancho chili powder (i couldn't find any, so i found some dried ancho's and ground them in a coffee grinder)
• 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1 Tablespoon kosher salt 
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• Mix this all in a bowl, you won't use it all but it should keep for a few months in an airtight container

For the steak:

• 1 1.5-2 lb porterhouse steak (mine was 1.7 lbs)
• 1 Tablespoon canloa oil
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Rub the steak with the oil, and then the salt on all sides
• Rub about 2-3 Tablespoons of the rub on one side of the steak
• Grill on the edge of medium-hot coals (rub side down first) for 15-20 minutes splitting time evenly on both sides until the steak is done to your liking. I did mine for 17 minutes, and it was on the rare side of medium-rare. 
• Let the steak sit on a plate tented with aluminum foil for 5 minutes
• Cut the meat from the bone, slice, and serve immediately with the steak sauce on the side