Grilled Irish Whiskey Steak & Leeks in Cream Mustard

Grilled Irish Whiskey Steak & Leeks with Cream Mustard go so well together I couldn’t just give you one recipe without divulging the other. So here they both are. Add a small side salad and you’ll be set for a great St. Patricks Day dinner.

Now let me give you a few tips on the steak preparation and grilling method. In the marinade, I used Jameson Irish Whiskey, as I so often do, I seem to have a clear bias. You can marinade your steaks for as little as 1 hour, but I usually try to let them marinade in the refrigerator overnight. You can use any cut of steak you prefer such as flat iron, ribeye, new york strip etc. but make sure you check grilling times depending on how thick your steaks are and how well you like them cooked. The directions for grilling the steaks assume you are using a gas grill. I think steaks grilled over charcoal are better, but I just can’t be bothered messing with a charcoal grill. A gas grill is so much more convenient, I will actually use it more frequently. And the ability to more easily control the temperature of the flame gives us much more consistent results.

What a second, who am I kidding here?! I never do the actual grilling. I think that is “man’s work” , what with all that lighting the grill manually when the supposed “automatic lighter” inevitably doesn’t work (hey…I once lost a good portion of my lovely fringe to a temperamental gas oven, so I admit I have some baggage here), and the braving of the hoards of mosquitos (alright, not so much in winter, but most of grilling season in Virginia they are hanging around just waiting for you to set foot outside your door so that they can pounce and drain you dry!). Thank goodness my husband indulges me in this and does a masterful job manning the grill!

The Leeks in Cream Mustard are really yummy as well. I’m sure ya’ll have figured out how we are about leeks around here by now. I cooked these up in little individual gratins, but you could make this in a larger casserole dish if you wished.

And I must admit, the bit where I cut the leeks into perfectly sized bits to go into my ramekin and tied it up with kitchen twine…

well, I was being a bit artsy here. I thought it might look nice in the photos of the finished dish. There is no reason to do this if you don’t want to. It would be far easier to just pre-cut the leeks, par-boil them, place them into ramekins and then spoon the sauce over them. I’ll let you decide how fiddle-y you wish to be on this one.

There is actually a story about St. Patrick and leeks. It seems there was a dying woman that St. Patrick was tending to. She told the Saint that she had seen a vision of an herb and that she thought that unless she could find it and eat it, she would surely die. She described this healing herb to Saint Patrick as something that looked like rushes. The Saint then went outside and blessed the rushes so that they became leeks. He fed them to the woman who became healthy once again! I told you leeks were good for you!

Grilled Irish Whiskey Steak

recipe adapted from: allrecipes

serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons Irish Whiskey
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced green onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
• 4 (8 oz.) steaks

Directions:

Combine the olive oil, whiskey, soy sauce, green onion, garlic, pepper, parsley, thyme and rosemary in a large Ziplock bag. Seal and shake bag to combine ingredients. Add the steaks to the marinade. Seal the bag. Refrigerate for 1 hour minimum, but overnight is preferable. One hour before grilling, remove steaks from marinade and allow them to come to room temperature.

Preheat the grill to as hot as you can get it. Clean and then lightly oil the cooking grate.

Place steaks on to grill only when the grill has reached its hottest temperature. Sear the steaks, approximately 2 minutes on each side and then turn the grill down to medium heat to finish cooking. Check internal temperature of the steaks after they have cooked for 8 – 10 minutes per side for a 3/4″ – 1″ piece of meat. The internal temperature for a steak cooked to medium is 140° F.

Remove steaks from grill and cover with two layers of aluminum foil. Allow the meat to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes prior to serving.

Enjoy!

Leeks in Cream Mustard

recipe from: Le Creuset’s Mini Cocotte cookbook

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 leeks – about 1.5″ (3 cm) diameter
• 3/4 cup (200 ml) chicken stock
• 3/4 cup (200 ml) heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoon wholegrain mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F (190°C)

Wash the leeks. Use only the white part. Cut the white stalks in half and carefully rinse with cold running water. Cut each stalk into 5 pieces. Tie the individual peieces together with kitchen twine, so that they don’t fall apart during the par-boil. Or if you don’t want to be too fussy, just slice the leeks into smaller pieces and don’t worry with the twine.

Bring the chicken stock to a boil then let it cool. Whisk in the cream, mustard, nutmeg and parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Par-boil the leeks for 3 minutes in salted water. Stop the cooking by rinsing them under cold water.

Divide the leeks between 4 mini cocottes or ramekins. Pour several spoonfuls of the mustard and cream mixture over the top of each one. (until leeks are mostly covered) Bake for 20 minutes or until top is just starting to brown a bit. Serve hot and bubbly!

Enjoy!