We stopped by Kinderhook Farm last weekend to see what they were about, and had a leisurely personal tour from Lee and Georgia (see pic). Charlie loved the baby lambs who were jumping all over him and "Oriole" the junk food cat in the barn; Jack enjoyed giving high fives to everyone (see same pic); Lori thought the whole place was beautiful (me too); and I walked away eager to grill the porterhouse steak we picked up.

First thing Lee asked me was if I'd cooked grass-fed beef before. Now I knew that I had, and after staring at him blankly for a minute, I recalled some specifically from last summer... But usually it's been roasts, briskets, ribs, that type of slow cooked meat and not a beautiful porterhouse. We did get a few from Sun "something" farm at our local Windsor Terrace farmers market... but honestly i couldn't remember how well they turned out. Anyway, Lee's point was to not overcook, and pay close attention to it on the grill. 

Which got me researching online for methods. First thing I learned: everyone has their thoughts on this. The consistant thread was it's leaner and therefore requires a slight adjustment to grilling approach. People mostly pointed to there being less/different fat involved, with solutions ranging from adding more moisture through a marinade or cooking over lower heat, etc.

Lower heat was not appealing to me because I love that crisp sear I can only get from high heat. And marinating such a beautiful cut like this seemed sacrilegious. I mean look at this:  

So, i opted for a very simple preparation. Above you'll see a 1.4lb porterhouse, about an inch and a half thick, coated in a tablespoon of incredible olive oil, half a tablespoon of barely-cracked sea salt, and half a tablespoon of coarsely cracked black pepper. I heated the gas grill (in brooklyn for this meal) as hot hot hot as possible and included a foil tin mixed full of Miller High Life (the champagne of beers) for moisture, and a shot or so of Sherry mixed in for flavor on the grill. I left this to get all steamy and hot, then scraped the grates clean, oiled 'em up, and tossed on the porterhouse. Here it is on the fire... (it got late... why don't iphone's have flashes yet?) 

I kept one side of the grill as hot as possible, and cooked the steak there for 6 minutes per side, rotating it 45 degrees after 3 minutes to get those nice grill marks (funny because i'm ultimately going to slice this steak, so I'm doing this purely for my own cooking satisfaction when i take it off the grill). I watched this thing like a hawk making sure there were no significant flare-ups, and kept testing the firmness to confirm i wasn't overcooking. After that 12 minutes passed, i tested quickly with a thermometer and we were at 120, but I wanted to get to 140/145. I generally hate using a thermometer because i feel like a cooking geek ala Cooks Illustrated, but in this case i really didn't want to overcook. So i moved to the low heat side of the grill, and kept it there for another 6 minutes or so. Having done this now, I think i get it and can continue my cowboy admiration of testing doneness by touch. Here it is just coming of the grill:

After letting it rest under some foil for 5-10 minutes, i separated the meat from the bone: 

And sliced it up for serving; "strip" on the right, "tenderloin" on the left: 

While the steak was resting, I grilled up an oiled and salted portobello for about 5 mintes. Here it is after grilled, sliced up: 

I chopped up the portobello into bite size pieces, and tossed it with 1 tablespoon each of Sherry, melted butter, and parsley, with salt and pepper to taste. Here is that mixture in a bowl:

I then plated the steak, and tossed on the portobello mixture on top with a little of the juice from the butter/sherry mix... but not a lot. I really wanted to taste the beef and sherry can be a bit overpowering. I served with a grilled "baked" potato (complete with chives from the garden, a little crumbled bacon and some sour cream), and simple steamed broccoli with parmesan. Here are a couple shots of our plates: 

The steak was delicious. Meaty, tender, crispy exterior. I usually prefer a strip to a tenderloin, but this tenderloin was really phenmomoal. Strip was great as well, but the tenderloin had a really significant flavor that I feel is usually completely missing in the beef we typically purchase. I loved the mushrooms as well, though next time would maybe try oyster mushrooms for a little more contrast. The portobello is so "meaty" in itself, that it was maybe a bit too close to the actual meat on the plate. 

I was very pleased overall. I think a lot of the pleasure came from knowing exactly where the meat came from, meeting the people who raised the cow, and the experience of touring Kinderhook Farm. Though it was a really really great tasting meal, so that couldn't have been the only reason. Indeed it was a great piece of beef, and I was happy with my choice in preparation. Also good to see Lori and I sharing this steak compared to my typical 1+ pound strip or rib steak per person. That's just too much food... this was perfect.