Grilled Ribeye with Confit of Piquillo Peppers

The key to a great steak? Fire, salt, and the secret of tempering

Tempering your meat before you grill it makes the very best steaks

To me, grilling is an art. Or maybe it’s even deeper than an art, it is a feeling, the feeling of mastering the fire. And it is something that I have learned from generations of Spanish cooks before me. Come inside my restaurants Bazaar Meat in Las Vegas and Chicago or Leña in Mercado Little Spain in New York, or even into my backyard where I have multiple grills and wood-burning ovens…and you will see how serious I am about fire.

What surprises people the most at my restaurants is how we cook our steaks. We start by tempering them on the grill—bringing it up to a nice warm temperature before we hit it with high heat. Over indirect heat, we slowly bring the temperature of the meat to almost rare, about 105 degrees, then move it over to the hot fire—as hot as you can dream—to sear it. You don’t need the steak to rest for more than a few minutes, then you cut it and you lose almost none of the wonderful juices. The juices stay in the meat where they are happiest!

Of course, you have probably been told to let your meat come to room temperature before you grill it. Yes, that’s important, but tempering allows the meat to cook more evenly, while still letting you get a nice char on your steak. It works unbelievably well for the people, like me, who like steak rare or just at the edge of medium-rare. I tell you, it will change your whole steak game.

And whatever you do, never salt your meat before you grill it; only after it comes off the grill and is sliced. This is the best way to bring out the flavor of the meat. When shopping for your steaks, look for ones with a bright red color and marbling through the meat. And seriously, people: Always, always on the bone!

Alongside a great steak, I love to serve a confit of Spanish piquillo peppers. (The sweet and smoky roasted peppers also make a perfect tapa on sliced bread.) In Spain, we like to confit vegetables and meats in olive oil. By cooking these peppers slowly, until they are tender and just falling apart, they become an amazing sauce.  You can keep leftover piquillo pepper confit in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Grilled Rib Eye with Confit of Piquillo Peppers

Serves 2