Thursday, I grilled a couple of grass-fed filets that I had gotten from the farmer’s market.  Filet’s are not the best steaks for grilling because they are so lean, but they are among the tenderest cuts.  Before putting them on the grill, I rubbed the filets with Milwuakee Avenue Seasoning from the SpiceHouse which contains:  salt, hickory smoke powder, Hungarian sweet paprika, garlic, Tellicherry black pepper, and marjoram.

I prepared the charcoals for two-zone grilling.  In order to get a good sear, I needed the grill to be as hot as I could get it so I raised the charcoal to within an inch of the grill grates and let them get raging hot.  I then put the steaks directly over the charcoals to sear.  I seared three minutes for each side giving the steaks a quarter turn halfway through the sear so I could get a nice diamond-shaped cross-hatch of grill marks.

Afterward, I moved the steaks off the charcoal and let them cook on the cooler side of the grill to an internal temperature of about 130 degrees.  The searing carmelized the exterior of the filets and then the indirect heat slowly cooked the inside to about medium to medium-rare.  We have some rosemary growing by the grill so I snipped off a couple pieces, brushed them with olive oil and then put them on the grill for about a minute to garnish the steak.     The steaks were accompanied by couscous and fresh cherries.  Now even Tommy likes steak.

Check back in a couple of days because this Sunday I’m going to try grilling a coffee-rubbed brisket with chocolate-cherry barbeque sauce.  It should take 4-5 hours to smoke slowly in the grill.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.