Bobby Flay's porterhouse recipe perfect for July Fourth weekend

            It’s July Fourth weekend and time to pull out the grill for some outdoor cooking. Here’s a lovely recipe for a porterhouse steak with balsamic-rosemary steak sauce and grilled Treviso from “Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction” by Bobby Flay with Stephanie Banyas and Sally Jackson. Flay calls this cut of meat a “showstopper of a steak.”

             “Grilled on the bone and traditionally served rare, this cut gives you fantastic beefy flavor on the strip side as well as a tender fillet,” he writes in his new cookbook. “A rich blend of Tuscan ingredients such as fragrant rosemary and sweetly acidic balsamic vinegar blend into a mouthwatering steak sauce. Treviso is a mild variety of the Italian lettuce radicchio. Its long, deep red leaves have a crinkly texture and a slightly bitter, nutty flavor that mellows with the grill’s heat.”

            This recipe serves four to six.

Tuscan porterhouse with balsamic-rosemary steak sauce and grilled Treviso

From “Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction”

1/4 cup canola oil, plus more for drizzling

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

2 (16-ounce) porterhouse steaks, each 11/2 inches thick

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Balsamic-Rosemary Steak Sauce (recipe follows)

2 heads Treviso

Balsamic vinegar

Extra-virgin olive oil

4 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola

Fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, for garnish

Fresh rosemary, for garnish

            Directions: Marinate the steaks: Whisk together the canola oil, garlic and chopped rosemary in a large baking dish. Add the steaks and turn to coat in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.

            Soak 1 cup almond wood chips in water for at least 30 minutes. Remove the steaks from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Heat your grill to high for direct grilling. Add the drained wood chips to the coals in a charcoal grill or put them in a smoker box of a gas grill. Close the cover and let smoke build for 10 minutes. Remove the steaks from the marinade and pat dry. Season both sides liberally with salt and pepper.

            Grill until charred on both sides and cooked to medium, 5 to 6 minutes per side. Remove the steaks from the grill and drizzle with a little of the steak sauce. Tent loosely with foil and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

            While the steaks are resting, drizzle the Treviso with canola oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until slightly charred and wilted, about 1 minute. Flip over and grill for 1 minute just to heat through. Put the Treviso on a platter, drizzle with a little balsamic and some olive oil, and add the Gorgonzola. Top with slices of the steak and drizzle with more steak sauce. Garnish with parsley and rosemary.

Balsamic-Rosemary Steak Sauce

2 cups balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1 large grilled or jarred roasted red bell pepper, peeled, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

2 tablespoons clover honey

1 tablespoon molasses

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

            Direction: Combine the balsamic vinegar, garlic and rosemary in a small saucepan and boil over high heat until reduced by half. Remove the rosemary sprigs and let the mixture cool to room temperature. Put the roasted peppers, horseradish, honey, molasses and Worcestershire in a blender, add the cooled balsamic mixture, the olive oil and red wine vinegar and blend until smooth; season with the salt and black pepper.

Cheré Coen is a Lafayette freelance travel and food writer. She is coauthor of “Cooking in Cajun Country” with Karl Breaux and author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Tour of Historic Acadiana.”