© by Mike McColl, with styling by Mia Bachmaier
SERVES 4 TO 6
Early summer is cherry season, and there is nothing like marrying up the flavours of a big, meaty steak with the deep, dark taste of cherries, especially when the cherries are cooked a little. This recipe requires a little grill management because of the substantial fat cap on the steak, but other than that, it’s dead simple, lots of fun, and looks and tastes spectacular.
1 CULOTTE STEAK (ABOUT 3 POUNDS), FAT CAP ON (PICANHA-STYLE)
1 TEASPOON SALT
1 POUND CHERRIES (ENOUGH TO FILL A HEAPING CEREAL BOWL), 8 PITTED AND SQUASHED
1 TEASPOON LIQUID HONEY
USING A SHARP BONING KNIFE or chef’s knife, trim any excess from your culotte’s fat cap to 1/4 inch thick. Score the fat cap in both directions, right down to the meat, to create a crosshatch pattern. Sprinkle salt liberally all over the steak, rubbing it into the crevices of the fat cap. Rub the squashed cherries and honey all over the steak, especially in the fat cap. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare your grill.
PREPARE YOUR CHARCOAL GRILL to one-third cooler than peak heat, or heat your gas grill to medium-high (preheated on High for 10 minutes, lid closed). For charcoal grills, gather the hot coals to one side of the grill bowl. For gas grills, turn one side of the grill completely off; if you like, place a cake pan with a little water in the bottom on the unlit side, under the grill, to catch any fat drippings.
GRILL YOUR CULOTTE until medium-rare (approaching 120°F when checked with a meat thermometer, or pinky-red inside when tested with a small incision), turning as necessary. The crosshatched fat will blacken and shrink into chewy, sticky nodes of taffy-like goodness. It will also cause some fairly major flare-ups when the culotte is fat-side down on the grill. Watch for this, and simply move the steak to the unfired half of the grill and close the lid—you can cook fat-side down as you need to, roasting the steak with ambient heat. Let steak rest loosely wrapped in foil for at least 10 minutes while you grill the remaining cherries.
PLACE WHOLE CHERRIES (with pits) directly on the grill, and cook until softened and blistered, and they begin to expel a little juice.
USING A VERY SHARP KNIFE, cut your steak into 1/4-inch slices across the grain and transfer to a serving platter or serve on your carving board. Scatter grilled cherries overtop. Drizzle some of the juices from the foil over the steak, and serve the rest in a small bowl on the side.
TIPS: Charcoal grills will get hotter inside for a while, then start to cool as the coals suffocate. Gas grills don’t suffer from this. In both cases, you will want to raise the hood when you grill the lean side of the culotte, to manage the cooking properly and allow the other side to cool somewhat between turns. For a steak this big—culottes are thick and get thicker as they ball up while cooking—longer grilling time works well. Use one side of your grill for direct grilling, and the other side for ambient-heat cooking (with the lid closed) and fat-cap management.
CHERRY WOOD SMOKE
Closing your grill hood while cooking presents a terrific opportunity to add more smoky flavour to your food. Try throwing some cherry wood trimmings or pellets (soaked first) directly on the hot coals. For gas grills, put the soaked wood in a pouch of aluminum foil, puncture it a few times to let out some smoke, and place on the burner or heating plate. You only need a few minutes of this smoke under the grill hood to impart real cherry wood flavour to your meat.