Grilled T-Bone with Lemon Garlic Crawfish

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I’m not much of a red meat eater anymore. Mostly because I can’t seem to digest red meat like I use too. This doesn’t mean I no longer eat red meat, it’s not a weekly thing anymore. This past weekend was truly an Autumn day. After torrential thunderstorms on Thursday, it left us with a weather weekend to remember! The temps had dropped to the low 70’s so it was a good day to fire up the old rusty and I mean rusty charcoal grill. By next summer I’ll have a new one. What I have works just fine!

Normally I prepare steaks with lots of seasonings and marinade but this time I wanted to keep it simple. Grilling for some is an art. For others it’s just to get it cooked and devour it. I prefer the art with a ‘what-ever’ attitude. What I mean is, I do not take my grilling too seriously. As long as I watch the meat enough and not burn it…it’s a good day. I usually cook on the downside of the fire. Not at the height of optimum heat. I place my meats, whether steak-of-the-day, chicken, burgers or fish to the outer realm of the fire. I keep my bottom vents opened halfwa and my top lid vent opend about a quarter to a half. Enough to smoke the meat and bring the juices to the top. I prefer to only flip my steaks once. Keeping them on the grill till the top of the meat starts to turn brown.

While the steaks are on the grill, I went back inside to prepare the crawfish. Because I live in the suburbs it’s rare to see a pickup truck parked on the side of the road selling shrimp or crawfish out of an Igloo cooler, so I had bought some frozen peeled crawfish at my local grocery store. Now before you go yuck, let me help you out here. Yes I prefer fresh, this is the next big thing. Because I prefer to eat healthy and at times hearty…one trick is to thaw the crawfish in a bowl of hot water. Take them out of the pack and then rinse them real good under coldwater to rinse away much of the saltiness.

I love crawfish. No it’s not a Southern thing for me. I prefer crawfish over shrimp as it’s much more tender and flavorful. I can’t get enough of it! Okay, now back to cooking! I have my big skillet on the stove set to medium to medium high heat. Pour some olive oil in the skillet and let it get to temperature. With my crawfish in a bowl (yes, I’m running back and forth checking on the steaks!) I douse them with a bit of Worcestershire sauce (love the stuff), red crush pepper, black course pepper, basil and orgeno…and cannot forget a couple of splashes of hot sauce. Oh! We cannot forget Jim Beam’s Garlic & Lemon Sauce. I used the whole 5 ounce bottle. I’ve cut up a few cloves of fresh garlic. With my olive oil to temp, I throw my fresh garlic in to get it roasted just enough, the throw my crawfish in stirring them around. I have to say, I rarely time anything on the stove, so I’m guesstimate would be around 5 minutes.

By this time, steaks are done. Now I only flipped them once on the grill. I prefer to try to slow cook my meat, saying betwee 20 to 30 minutes on the grill. This time around I dont think they grilled for no more than 15 minutes. I’m like Flash Gordon between my grill and my kitchen at times. If you notice, my steaks are cooked a perfect medium. Or shall I say, MY perfect medium! So tender, my steak knife was useless and lonely.

Now I’m sure you’re thinking, what did he prepare for a side dish? Well, I do like to eat light, so I did prepare a pot of green beans. Doesn’t matter if they are fresh or canned. Here is how you prepare green beans and keep everyone asking for seconds! This time around I used canned. I wasn’t impressed with the local stores ‘fresh’ produce of the day. Rinse them and place them in a quart size pot, add water about 3/4 of the way up the beans. Cut up a few fresh cloves of garlic and add it in. Next I added some Tuscany seasoning, black course pepper and red crushed pepper…and if you have a bottle of chardonnay opened pour some in, then top off your glass. Turn the temp up to about a boil. They’ll be ready when the steaks are done.

The three t-bone steaks were large enough feed six people. It’s not quantity folks, it’s quality! Top your steak off with the crawfish, add some green beans and pour yourself a glass of La Noble Merlot 2004 for a wonderful relaxing mid-afternoon meal.

…Don’t forget to set the table! It’s wear all the action is!

Enjoy!

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