Labor Day is traditionally a grill day so luckily we had perfect grilling weather today after a stormy Sunday evening. I simplified this recipe from one in the June 2014 Bon Appetit magazine that I found in the waiting room when I went for a haircut. Waiting rooms are great places to look for recipes in all the magazines that you don’t get at home. You know that I’m a Hungarian that loves cooking with paprika, so this recipe definitely caught my eye.
The original recipe said to strain the paprika oil “through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth.” I would suck at cooking school because I can’t imagine bothering with something like cheesecloth – I got over doing things the hard way after I had about twenty other things to do at the same time. I did dump mine through a little strainer just so I could try to figure out what the point was, but I would skip that step next time. And I used smoked paprika for the last ingredient because that’s what I have in the cupboard.
The recipe calls for the vinaigrette to be made at least an hour ahead for some reason (mine was dark red soon so just give it enough time to cool), and you can make and chill it up to two days prior. For four people, I bought 2 1-lb rib eyes without the bone from the farmer’s market (about an inch thick) — this recipe calls for about $60 worth of beef and I’d rather not have meat as the largest part of the plate. Therefore, I cut the other steak ingredients in half. I did not cut the vinaigrette in half because I like a lot of sauce, and we barely had any left.
Here are photos of preparing the meat and in the grilling process with the rub.
Here are photos of the paprika oil before and after waiting an hour for it to cool.
Here are photos of the meat before topping with the vinaigrette, and the whole plate (more side dish recipes coming this week).
Happy Labor Day – I hope you got the day off! What did you make?
Grilled Rib Eye with Paprika Vinaigrette
Paprika Vinaigrette
½ cup avocado oil
2 T paprika
1 large shallot, finely chopped
⅓ C coarsely chopped capers
¼ C chopped fresh parsley
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T crushed red pepper flakes
Sea salt
Steak
2 32-oz. bone-in beef rib eyes about 2” thick (see my note above)
2 T avocado oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 T light brown sugar
2 T piment d’Espelette or whatever paprika you have
Heat oil and paprika in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan a few minutes until warm. Remove from heat and let stand until it’s cool and turns dark red, 1–1½ hours. Stir and strain the paprika oil into a small bowl. Mix in shallot, capers, parsley, vinegar, and red pepper flakes. If you make vinaigrette ahead and chill, add the parsley just before serving.
Let steaks stand at room temperature 1 hour before grilling. Prepare grill for 2-zone heat (for a charcoal grill, bank coals on 1 side of grill; for a gas grill, leave 1 or 2 burners off). Rub steaks with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook steaks over direct heat, moving to a cooler area if flare-up occurs, until charred, about 4 minutes per side. Using tongs, hold steaks vertically to sear edges, about 1 minute per side. Move steaks over indirect heat, turning occasionally, until a thermometer inserted into the center registers 125-130. Transfer steaks to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes – keep grill hot.
Mix brown sugar and smoked paprika in a small bowl. Sprinkle over steaks and grill over direct heat 1 minute per side to caramelize sugar. Transfer to a cutting board and slice. Serve with vinaigrette.
