Author Topic: Mesquite Baja Mex style Grilled New York Steak ! (My Valentines day dinner)  (Read 980 times)

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Offline DoomsmokeBBQ

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Mesquite Baja Mex style Grilled New York Steak ! (My Valentines day dinner)
« Reply #-1 on: February 15, 2018, 06:44:02 PM »
 
  It's good to be back  ....and I can't wait to share a lot of the cooks I did while I was gone but let me start by sharing the steak dinner I made for my special someone last night. For our steak dinner last night I took inspiration from the Baja region of Mexico which is the part of Mexico where my family hails from.

A BIT ABOUT BAJA MEXICO

  I have endless memories of my childhood of when me and my family use to go down to Baja and visit relatives ,every single one of these memories are as vibrant as the next filled with lots of music , colorful homes , fiestas at ranches in the middle of the desert , tropical beaches and of course ..a whole lot of eating and almost every single piece of food I had down there was cooked over a screaming hot mesquite wood fire. In case you aren't so familiar with authentic Mexican cooking...fire roasting & charring plays a major role in preparing sauces , salsa , mole's and classic Mexican dishes such as Cochinita Pibil (Yucatan style pulled pork) , Barbacoa (Oaxaca pit roasted whole goat or cows head up northern Mexico.) and the infamous Carne Asada ( Grilled thin flap meat, most common in the Baja region). In Tijuana there's a street known as "Taco Alley" ...my dad always took us down there and it is just an endless stretch of taco stands ..some better then others...some extraordinary and very gourmet and some just classic and simple , I cant recall which ones I liked best...it's been too long and frankly I was too young and far from interested at the time , I was just hungry for some dang ole carne asada tacos ! however the things I do remember from our days in taco alley was the smoke and fire , the smell of mesquite that really penetrated the air and even though not all the carne asada was placed over a wood fire (most were done on comals or griddles) that smell mixed with a warm coastal air truly captures the essence of Baja. like all regional BBQ woods...the mesquite grown down in Baja is different then the mesquite grown in south Texas and other parts of the southwest and Mexico just like the coastal red oak in central California differs from Oak grown other regions of the country , there's a slight distinction in taste and fragrance caused by the climate of the regions the wood is from. In our dinner last night , I went the extra mile and used Mesquite from a SoCal area brought to me by a friend who lives in San Diego which is right next to the border of Tijuana! ...the smell of the fire was very nostalgic to me but also very unique.

SOME OF THE FLAVORS OF BAJA

   Mexican cuisine is one of those types that is easily judged by it's most common interpretations ..such as tacos , enchiladas ..moles.. chips and salsas but once you dive deep into the real thing your hit with unlikely Surprises in each region such as Baja having lots of Japanese and Mediterranean influences in it's roots. The infamous Baja fried fish Taco is said to have originate from the Japanese tradition of tempura batter and you'd be surprise to find soy sauce and soy beans being common ingredients in the Baja kitchen , Which explains why my mom actually always kept a stash of soy beans in the pantry , I was never too sure on what she made with those!. The Mediterranean influence hails in the region in Baja known as "Valley de Guadalupe" which is known for being a world wide Wine country destination along with some very upscale fine dining restaurants. Grilling and smoking with grape wood was something my mom once always mentioned to me when I started getting into barbecue ....she eventually explained that some of the BBQs my uncle hosted at his ranch in Mexicali was done with wine barrels and grape vines from the wineries of the Valley de Guadalupe.  Seeing yourself one day grilling up carne asada with grape vines or wine barrel's as your fuel source is actually quite the real thing my friends!.


THE STEAK

  Even if I wanted to take my lady out to a dinner on valentines day ..she'd decline instantly because she knows her chef of a boyfriend can whip up something better at home ! .. and by this she means steak and potatoes ! . Earlier in January I came about a very neat deal for two Prime Grade New York strips, I immediately snagged them and hid them in the freezer with Valentines day in mind. That gave me an entire month to think of how was I going to prepare them, originally I thought I could just do the balsamic Garlic marinade she loves so much on tri-tip that I made years ago but as of recently I have been having a lot of Mexican flavors running through my head , the week before I prepared a Pasilla glazed chicken that was an extremely delicious hit followed by an immense craving for some good grilled shrimp marinated with lots of garlic ,beer and chiles.. I came to terms with myself and admitted that I been missing good ole Baja Mexico , so I immediately used it as my inspiration.

 I prepared the marinade for the steaks with roasted serrano chiles , onion, garlic , balsamic vinegar & Worcestershire sauce , touch of dark soy sauce , some dark Mexican brown sugar and olive oil. I pureed it till smooth...reserved half for basting and marinated them overnight. The following next day before cooking I removed the meat from the marinade , patted them dry and seasoned them generously with sea salt & black pepper ..and allowed to air dry in the fridge until ready to grill . I reduced the remaining marinade in sauce pan just to allow it concentrate all the flavors briefly then set it aside to make the Tomatillo & Chipotle salsa.

 I roasted tomatillos directly over the burning Mesquite fire  in my chimney starter to give them that damn good wood fire flavor and pureed' them with roasted garlic and chipotle chile puree with a few pinches of sugar and seasoned with salt. I used this salsa to also flavor the scalloped potatoes that I served along side the steak as well as some fresh salsa for her as she awaited her food with fresh chips !.

 Once the fire was ready to go... I grilled the steaks to a nice medium to medium rare , basting frequently with  the reserved reduced marinade which formed a very neat glaze on the crust of the steaks. I also placed a small cast iron pan on the fire to heat up and poured some of the salsa on the bottom of the hot skillet to give it a sizzling effect and layered the sliced steak over it with a grilled green onion the side. The dish alone smelled incredible as it sizzled it's way to the table ....and once she took a bite out of that steak every single worry in the world was gone :) .....felt pretty dang proud of myself I do say so myself ! XD.



 

 

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Offline smokeasaurus

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That'll work.
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Offline tomcrete1

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Looks Fantastic! Thanks for Sharing!  :thumbup:
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Offline TentHunteR

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Great informative post!

That steak looks great, and I can almost smell the roasted tomatillos  (I love salsa verde).
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Offline tlg4942

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Nice! That steak looks pretty awesome...
Terry "Way down in Alabama"

Offline Pappymn

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Mesquite Baja Mex style Grilled New York Steak ! (My Valentines day dinner)
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2018, 06:54:13 PM »
That looks fantastic


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amazing
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