Harter House World Flavors: Alleyway Grillers

This article is a reprint from the blog for Harter House Meats, the online sales arm of Harter House.

When Harter House (thanks Michele!) offered us some New York Strips for our grilling pleasure, we couldn't in good conscience say 'no'. In fact, we couldn't say anything given the amount of drool coming from our gaping maws from just the thought of these delicious, thick-cut heavenly delights reaching our mouths. They arrived a few days later, perfectly sealed in Harter House's special coolers, packed in dry ice and ready for us to start the grilling process.

Have you seen a more beautiful steak?

The first thing you notice about these amazing steaks is how fresh they are. No browning. Just a wonderful color and terrific marbling throughout.

We had to immediately decide how we were going to season these bad boys. We decided to go with Pappy's, which is not a hard choice given the seasonings ability to accentuate the meat, versus overwhelm it. With a light dusting, we were ready to heat up the grill. As always, we pulled out the Royal Oak Lump Charcoal. Because Royal Oak burns clean and produces very little ash (good for a bunch of guys who grill in an alleyway), and the natural wood charcoal burns hotter, searing the meat perfectly.

There is no better charcoal.

It was a beautiful day in the old alleyway today, even if one of the tenants had recently moved out and had obviously thrown away every belonging they owned.

They also left a wonderful green plastic chair I pulled out

of the garbage.

From a rug covered in dog hair to a broken floor lamp left over from the '80's, they had decided to seperate themselves from the clutter. I would like to think they were a hoarder that had gotten help and this was one step closer to recovery.

Perhaps if I do any night grilling I can make use of the lamp. Hopefully, it still works.

After rummaging through the garbage for what seemed like an eternity, I got back to the task at hand: The lighting of the grill.

The fire was awesome. It's a guy thing. If you, dear reader, are a man, take my word for it. Awesome fire.

Awesome fire.

Now, the waiting began. Since we used Royal Oak it didn't take to long for our grill to get up to cooking temperature, but we still wanted to wait until we had those glowing red coals. While we waited, we let the steaks get up to room temperature. About 30 minutes later, the grill was ready to go.

Harter House New York Strips-seasoned to perfection.

Once the cooking begins, it doesn't take to much time at all. Seeing as everyone in the office likes their steaks medium rare, we're looking at roughly 3 1/2 minutes per side.

Let the searing begin.

As the Harter House steaks cooked, we spent a little time evaluating the alleyway.

The rug which might have been used in a murder of some kind.

We decided then to use the stairs to scope out the aerial view.

Sky-chopper view.

Notice the beauty of the meat as it cooks amongst the squalor.

Oh yeah.

After 3 1/2 minutes the flipping began. However, we did not realize we had no spatula. We improvised.

It was either this, or a crowbar.

Notice the wonderful sear on the Harter House New York Strip and how the fat carmelizes. Perfection.

Who doesn't love grill marks?

3 1/2 more minutes and they were ready. And what does an office with no kitchen serve with a perfectly grilled Harter House New York Strip? Easy. Reser's Deviled Egg Potato Salad, Chobani Greek yogurt and Pepsi Max.