An old friend was in town visiting, so we decided it was time for a true indulgence: all-natural, grass-fed sirloins from Whole Foods. Never cheap but always outstanding.

For best results, remove the steaks from the refrigerator at least an hour before cooking to let them warm up to room temperature. Immediately unwrap them and coat with coarse granules of sea salt. This extracts moisture from the meat and locks in the flavor and natural juices.

After about an hour of dabbing off the moisture with a towel every few minutes, we wiped the excess salt from the steaks. I'd never tried this salting technique before my visiting friend suggested it. Of course, the quality of the meat was extraordinary, but the pre-salting made the meat exceptionally tasty and succulent.


I placed foil-wrapped potatoes (seasoned with olive oil, fresh garlic, salt, and cracked pepper) alongside skewered onions on the grill as the fire was still warming up. I've found that the longer the potatoes stay on the grill, the better they taste. And unless they are positioned over the hottest coals, you generally don't have to worry about them burning. Onions are best when cooked through and slightly caramelized.

I'm not concerned with serving the onions piping hot, so I remove them when they are done and set them aside until suppertime.


Steaks do best on a very hot fire. When you have to stay at least a foot away from the grill to avoid the heat, it's ready. I sprinkle them with cracked pepper, and we're off to the races!


We were six people on this particular evening, so we decided to pair the steaks with some North Atlantic cod that was on special at Central Market. They threw in a cedar grilling plank with the purchase. I'd never used such a plank before, and I was curious about it.

Following instructions printed on the plank, I soaked it in water for about an hour before placing it on the grill. This creates a cedar-flavored steam effect and also prevents the board from instantly bursting into flames.


Not only does fish not require the extreme heat that's best for steak, my 18.5" Weber grill didn't allow me enough space to place the cedar board directly on the grill. My solution was to stack the fish on top, supported by the potato packs - a perfect solution as it turns out.


I put the lid back on the grill. The smoke created from the steaks and indirect heat worked really well for the fish.

Steak and cod