Bistecca alla Fiorentina

The other thing that we tried from Mario Batali’s show was the Bistecca alla Fiorentina.  It is basically Florentine style steak – which got Hubby eyeing the cost of tickets to Florence!  I know, when it comes to discovering food, there are no boundaries on the globe.  Especially when it involves beef!  But, instead of flying over the North Atlantic Ocean, instead we cooked our own Bistecca alla Fiorentina.  Although, then we still don’t know how it really supposed to taste, since the few articles I read about this Bistecca alla Fiorentina, it is supposed to be made from Chianina Beef.  Now, where in the world would we find this Chianina Beef in Houston, Texas?  Although when I look at this Chianina cattle, it reminds me of Brahman cattle in Indonesia, since their color is the same.

We did two try-outs on this Bistecca alla Fiorentina, since the first one was done on a grill pan on top of the stove, and the result was not quite what we looked for.  And we also used different cuts of steak.  So please don’t be confused if the pictures change from a porterhouse to a bone-in ribeye…  🙂

The ingredients involved in this Florentine style steak were a porterhouse, rosemary, garlic, salt pork, salt and pepper.

 

Before we started doing anything, Hubby left the porterhouse on top of cutting board to come to a room temperature.

 

For my part, first, I cut up the salt pork into chunks.

 

Then I dumped them into the food processor.

 

Added the rosemary needles and garlic cloves.

 

Buzzed the food processor until I got a toothpaste consistency.

 

Then Hubby slathered the herb paste onto the porterhouse steak.

 

And after he finished, he salted and peppered the steak.

 

And he grilled it using the grill pan on the stove top.  The problem with the stove top was that Hubby couldn’t get the heat as high as the outside grill, and most of the herbs ended up sticking to the grill pan.  So that’s why we redid it using bone-in ribeyes.

 

With the bone-in ribeyes, Hubby used his charcoal grill outside.  Smoke just floated on the air when the hot grill touched the steaks and sizzles could be heard.

 

Aren’t they looking good?

 

After about 5 minutes, Hubby flipped the steaks over…  Nice grill marks!

 

Then, after another five minutes, they were done.  Hubby brought the steaks inside and laid them on top of a cutting board.  He covered them with a piece of aluminum foil and let the steaks rest to redistribute their juices.

 

Up close….

 

First he cut the bones off…

 

Then he sliced the steak very thinly…  Yum!  Nicely done, where the inside of the steak was still pink.

 

We served the steak along with the Tomato Salad and French fries.  Yum!!

 

The steak was tender and juicy, and we could taste the rosemary and the garlic.  The fat from the salt pork created those nice crusts and tasted almost like bacon…  🙂  We liked it, but Hubby still prefers to eat his steak as is, so he could taste the meat.  With this preparation, he could taste the herbs, but somehow it covered the flavor of the steaks.  So!  Until my next post!  🙂

 

Print recipe here.

Bistecca alla Fiorentina
Recipe courtesy Mark Vetri of Vetri
Show: Ciao America with Mario Batali on Food Network

Ingredients
1 cup cubed pork fatback
6 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
1 (24 to 28-ounce) bone-in rib-eye steak
Salt and pepper

Directions

Put the fatback, garlic, and rosemary into a food processor and blend until it is the consistency of toothpaste.

Tie the rib in the correct way so that it is tight and will cook evenly.

Rub the fat mixture all over the meat and season with salt and pepper. Place it on a very hot grill. Cook the steak on 1 side for about 8 minutes. You can move it around a little bit to find the right heat. Turn it over and cook it a little bit less on the other side, about 6 minutes.

When it is finished, take it off the grill and let it rest for 5 to 7 minutes. This allows the blood to circulate and allows the juices to distribute evenly.

* Restaurant Recipe

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. Food Network Kitchens have not tested this recipe in the proportions indicated and therefore cannot make representation as to the results.