After a nearly 11-inch rain over the long Thanksgiving weekend, having the sun finally come back out and temps warm back into the high 50’s has felt like one of those Montana spring weeks when winter finally breaks and hope of summer dry fly mornings begins to creep back into consciousness.
My fly fishing daydream was vanquished yesterday by She Who Must Be Obeyed’s wisecracks about how she couldn’t remember the last time we’d grilled thick-cut, bone-in rib-eyes over hardwood charcoal.
In reality it’d been something in the range of seven, maybe eight, weeks, but who was I to argue, except to pull out this old recipe we’ve been enjoying for years – Rib Eyes Diablo.
I can’t even recall at this point what residency mate showed us this nifty little trick when the Hatch chiles were in one early fall, but it’s been a family favorite ever since.
Of course it’s best to roast your own fresh chiles for the sauté, but decent canned chiles will do; spring for the Mexican oregano if you don’t stock it and get a nice provolone sliced up fresh at the deli.
And be sure and slather with the green chiles and top with the cheese well before the desired finish point on your steaks; you’ll still want to end up with that perfect grill and not overcook these.
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, small dice
1/4 cup fresh garlic, fine chop
1 cup green chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded and stemmed, chopped
1 tsp. Mexican oregano
Kosher salt to taste4 decently-sized rib-eyes
8 deli slices provolone cheese
Make fire. Set the steaks out to warm to room temperature, sprinkle with kosher salt, and fire the grill (this one needs hardwood charcoal).
Get your green on. Heat the olive oil in a medium pan; add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions are translucent.
Add the green chiles, oregano and salt; sauté for another five minutes or so, then set aside to cool.
Grill. Grill the steaks until they’re roughly 2/3’s of the way to your desired finish point – we’re medium rare folks, so that’s only about 4 to 5 minutes per side for a nice thick cut ribeye.
Now melt and cover. Spoon the green chile mixture over each steak and quickly cover with the provolone slices; cover the steaks for another minute or two until the cheese is melted and the steaks have finished.
Serve after a short rest and go to it.
Enjoy.
