NASCAR Made Us Grill

Race Weekend in Richmond. And even non-NASCAR fans can celebrate by firing up the grill (charcoal, not gas). I wanted steaks. Westbury Pharmacy had ribeyes, NY strips, and T-bones all for $6.99 a pound! This is generally where I go for steaks. If Westbury is having a bad week (or a good week because all of the good beef is already gone), I can then check out The Fresh Market (good steaks, but pricier). I chose two gorgeous NY strips. Once I got these babies home, I rubbed freshly ground salt and pepper into them, placed a couple of sprigs of rosemary (I used dried sprigs from our rosemary bush because they were there; fresh rosemary would probably impart even more flavor) on both sides, and wrapped the steaks in bacon to hold the rosemary against the steak. I inserted plenty of toothpicks to hold the bacon together and placed the wrapped steaks in the refrigerator for about an hour while I had a glass of refreshing but innocuous white wine. My husband fired up the grill. I took the steaks out and let them rest at room temperature for ½ an hour. When the coals were glowing (hubby left a very short distance between the coals and the grill), he cooked them for about 5 minutes on each side. Perfect for medium-rare. The beef had a smoky bacon/grilled taste. The rosemary was very subtle. We also ate some of the non-charred pieces of bacon – this is where the rosemary really shined. The steaks were served with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted red bell pepper slices drizzled with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan cheese. We enjoyed our meal with a bottle of Chateau St. Jean 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma County. Let’s all raise a glass to race fans who kept us at home so we could have a fantastically grilled steak!