Recipe - Lulus Grilled Rib Steak With Artichokes

1 2/3 cup Olive oil
One fourth cup Chopped flatleaf parsley
One fourth cup Chopped fresh winter savory,
or 4 teaspoons dried
One fourth cup Chopped fresh thyme plus 8
sprigs, or 5 teaspoons
dried
2 tablespoon Chopped fresh rosemary, or 2
teaspoons dried, crumbled
2 teaspoon Chopped fresh lavender
flowers (optional)
One fourth cup Freshground black pepper
3 Rib steaks on the bone,
about 1One half inches thick
(about 5 pounds)
One fourth pound Butter, at room temperature
8 Nicoise olives, halved and
pitted
2 Anchovy fillets, or 1/2
teaspoon anchovy paste
2 Three fourths teaspoon Salt
1 Lemon, cut in half
20 Baby artichokes (about 21/2
pounds)
4 Cloves garlic, chopped
4 Bay leaves
2 pound Yukon Gold or baking
potatoes, peeled and cut
into 1/4inch slices
One half cup Dry white wine
One half cup Water, more if needed

* Restaurant LuLu * San Francisco *

1. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the oil, the parsley, savory, the
chopped fresh thyme or 4 teaspoons dried, the rosemary, the lavender
flowers, if using, and the pepper. Trim off the fat from the edge of the
steaks. Put the steaks in a glass dish or stainlesssteel pan and rub them
on both sides with the marinade. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator
overnight.

2. In a food processor, puree the butter with the olives, anchovies and 1/4
teaspoon of the salt. Cover and chill. Remove from the refrigerator 1 hour
before serving.

3. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and add it, along with the lemon
halves, to a large bowl filled with cold water. Working with one artichoke
at a time, remove and discard the tough outer leaves, leaving the
palegreen inner ones attached. Using a small knife, trim around the bottom
of the artichoke below the leaves to get rid of the remaining bits of the
removed leaves. Peel the stem, leaving it about 1 inch long. Cut off the
top third of the leaves. Cut the artichokes lengthwise into 1/4inch slices
and put them in the lemon water to prevent darkening. Repeat with the
remaining artichokes.

4. In a large frying pan, heat 1/3 cup of the oil over moderate heat. Add
the garlic, the thyme sprigs or the remaining 1 teaspoon dried thyme, and
the bay leaves and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the potatoes, 2
teaspoons of the salt, the wine and water. Cover, reduce the heat to
moderately low and simmer until the potatoes are just tender, about 10
minutes. Drain the artichokes thoroughly and add them, with the remaining
1/3 cup oil, to the potatoes. Cover, bring back to a simmer and cook,
stirring occasionally, until the artichokes are tender, about 10 minutes
longer. If all the liquid evaporates, add up to One fourth cup water during
cooking. Set aside, covered.

5. Light the grill or heat the broiler. Sprinkle the steaks with the
remaining One half teaspoon salt. Grill or broil the steaks for 6 minutes. Turn
them and cook to your taste, about 6 minutes longer for medium rare.
Transfer the steaks to a carving board and leave to rest in a warm spot for
about 5 minutes. Reheat the potatoes and artichokes while the steaks rest.
Cut the steaks into thin slices.

6. To serve, put a mound of the potatoes and artichokes in the center of
each plate. Arrange the steak slices, overlapping, on the vegetables and
top with a spoonful of the roomtemperature olive butter.

Substituting Large Artichokes: If you're using large artichokes, cut off
the stems. Remove and discard all but the palegreen inner leaves and cut
off the top third of the leaves. Cut the artichokes into quarters and
remove the fuzzy chokes. Cut each quarter in half from top to bottom.

A spicy young Rhone red such as Chave's Hermitage or a ChateauneufduPape
from Beaucastel marries well with the herby charred beef and the olive
butter.
Posted to MMRecipes Digest by Julie Bertholf jewel1@ix.netcom.com on
Mar 24, 98