How To: Grill the Most Amazing Steak

Home-grilled steaks can often be over cooked and lacking flavour. But this recipe will give you an amazing steak with very little effort. The recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen and it’s called Grilled Argentine Steaks.

It’s simple: thick cut, boneless strip steak, prepared with two ingredients and cooked quickly on a very, very hot grill.

What You Need

4 large (450g/1-pound) strip steaks

15 ml / 1 tablespoon of corn starch

60 ml / 2 tablespoons of kosher salt

I get my steaks from Costco – the pack of New York strip steaks that costs about $40 is perfect but you can get the cheaper “top sirloin” steaks and it will work as well.

Mix the corn starch and kosher salt together and then rub it onto the steaks. I always think there isn’t enough, add more and then think “huh, my steak is just a bit salty.” Stick with the recipe, especially if you are going to make the chimichurri sauce (I’ll give you the recipe below).

Once the steaks are seasoned – put them in the freezer for 30 minutes. Yes… Do it! It helps get a nice crispy coating on your steak while keeping the inside juicy and perfectly cooked.

Grilling

The best way to grill is on a charcoal grill using natural lump charcoal. If you don’t have natural lump charcoal, America’s Test Kitchen suggests putting un-soaked wood chips around the perimeter of your lit charcoal to add that woody smoke flavour. I’ve also done this recipe on a simple gas grill …that cut out halfway through cooking and had to be relit!… and the steaks, while not perfect, were still incredibly flavourful and delicious.

Make sure the grill is nice and hot and then put the steaks on the grill and put the lid on for 3 minutes.

Take the lid off, flip the steaks, and keep the lid off and cook for another 2 minutes.

Flip the steaks again and cook for 2 minutes. So far, it’s been 7 minutes. Check the internal temperature. Take them off when they are rare or medium rare (130F -135F) Depending on your grill and the thickness of your steaks, they may be ready after 7 minutes. If not, flip one more time and grill for another 2 minutes or less.

New York strip is the preferred cut. But, these are the less expensive “top sirloin” and still, they tasted amazing!

Serving with Chimichurri

This steak is super flavourful on its own but it perfect with chimichurri, which is a delicious fresh green sauce from Argentina.

Here’s the recipe:

In 1/4 Cup hot water, add 2 tsp (10 ml) of dried oregano and let sit for 5 minutes.

In the mean time, roughly chop parsley to get 1 1/3 cups. Roughly chop cilantro to have 2/3 cup.

Press or mince 6 cloves of garlic

In a food processor, add the parsley, cilantro, water and oregano, garlic.

Add 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes and  1/4 cup of red wine vinegar

With the processor running, add 1/2 cup of olive oil.

Blend together and then set aside.

If you make it the day before, refrigerate it but take it out an hour or two before serving.

Even if you don’t like cilantro, try this sauce. You’ll probably love it. 

Cut up the steaks and serve with a spoonful of chimichurri on top.

Enjoy!