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Porterhouse Steak
Mix on a dish one teaspoon salt, half teaspoon pepper and a light tablespoon oil. After procuring a nice, tender porterhouse steak one and a quarter inches thick, cut from the short loin, lightly flatten and trim, then turn in the seasoning repeatedly all over. Arrange on a broiler and broil on brisk charcoal fire for twelve minutes on each side. Remove, dress on a hot dish, spread a maitre d'hotel butter over, decorate with a little watercress and serve.
A plain charcoal-grilled steak with a compound butter. The only thing here that needs real correction is the cooking time.
- The timing is the problemTwenty-four minutes total over brisk charcoal will take a 1¼-inch steak well past well-done. For medium-rare, figure 4 to 5 minutes per side over a hot fire, then check the center: 125-130F for medium-rare, 135F for medium. The time given here is long even for its period.
- "Broil" means grillThe "broiler" here is the gridiron or hinged wire holder set over live coals, so the heat comes from below. Under a modern overhead broiler, put the steak 3 to 4 inches from the element; on a gas or charcoal grill, build a hot direct-heat zone.
- Porterhouse and short loinA porterhouse is cut from the rear of the short loin and includes a generous section of tenderloin alongside the strip. A cut with only a sliver of tenderloin is properly a T-bone. Because the two muscles cook at different rates, angle the tenderloin side away from the hottest coals.
- Flattening and trimming"Lightly flatten" means a few taps with the flat of a heavy knife or mallet to even the thickness, not tenderizing. Trim the outer fat to about ¼ inch so flare-ups stay manageable.
- Maitre d'hotel butterThe book assumes you know it: softened butter worked with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then chilled. A rough ratio is 4 tablespoons butter to 1 tablespoon parsley and 2 teaspoons lemon juice. Slice cold coins onto the hot steak.
- Rest before servingNo resting period is mentioned anywhere in the instruction. Give the steak 5 to 8 minutes on the warm dish before carving, or the juices run out onto the platter.
- YieldA porterhouse of this thickness runs 1½ to 2 lb bone-in and serves two, or three if carved off the bone and sliced.
The porterhouse takes its name from the porter houses of the early nineteenth-century American seaboard cities — taverns serving porter and other dark beers along with plain hot food — and the large loin steak is traditionally said to have been named for one such establishment in New York, though no single house has ever been documented as the source. By the time this book was compiled, the thick loin steak grilled over coals and finished with maitre d'hotel butter appears to have been a familiar restaurant steak on both sides of the Atlantic. The pairing is worth noting: beurre maitre d'hotel is one of the simplest of the classical compound butters.