How to grill a steak

Grilled Filet MignonI have a very small niche talent, but it is a point of personal vanity.  I can grill the perfect steak. Medium rare. Every time. Even after a few glasses of Chardonnay. Especially then.

IMG_1030A few years ago, King Daddy and I were going to sell the house we’ve lived in for 20 years. We have a very odd house. It has four full bathrooms, but a kitchen the size of a postage stamp. It has odd rooms that serve no discernible purpose. I think King Daddy and I had a few too many cocktails before we put in an offer, which was quickly accepted. But the house has one thing going for it that no other home in our fairly densely populated suburb has – a completely private deck surrounded by woods. After the house had been on the market a couple of months, it occurred to me one day as I was grilling out on the deck that it was quite possible – even highly likely – that our new place would not be so private. That we might not like listening to our new neighbors…or their screaming children. I would lose my private grilling space. We took the house off the market.

But I digress. So I’m going to tell you how to grill the perfect steak in one paragraph. That’s how easy it is.

Start by heating the grill to medium high. Let’s just use a 1-inch-thick filet mignon as an example as that is my favorite steak. Let it come to room temperature and then apply a liberal coating of Montreal Steak Seasoning (available at every supermarket in America). Spray the hot grates with oil and slap the steak down. Spray the top of the steak with oil. Now, let it go for 3 minutes. Turn it a quarter turn to get those grill marks and let it go another 3 minutes. Flip and repeat. Now touch it. Does it feel like a soft tennis ball? Then you’re done. Take the steak off the grill and let it rest, covered with foil, for 10 minutes.

This is what you get:

Perfectly grilled filet mignon topped with herb butter

Perfectly grilled filet mignon topped with herb butter

The important thing here is the touch test. You can use a digital thermometer and take the steak to 135 degrees internal temperature. But if you learn the touch test, you’ll just look like such a Grill Goddess. Here’s a guide.


2 Comments

  1. Curt
    May 18, 2013 at 2:57 pm

    Catherine, I love doing steaks, but I’ll let you grill one for me like this any time you offer!

    • Catherine Mayhew
      Catherine MayhewReply
      May 22, 2013 at 5:36 pm

      It was pretty tasty. Hard to go wrong with a filet.

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