Peppered Steak and Leeks on the Grate
Skirt steak in a cracked pepper rub, seared over coals with halved leeks alongside.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 58
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 5, scales
- prep
- 35 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 50 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Skirt steak | 2 lb | packed frozen, thaws in the cooler over a day |
|---|---|---|
| Coarsely cracked black peppercorns | 6 tsp | |
| Coriander seed | 1 tsp | cracked, not ground |
| Crushed red pepper | 3/4 tsp | |
| Kosher salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Canola oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Leeks | 4 medium | halved lengthwise, washed at home |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Lemon juice | 2 tbsp | bottled travels fine |
Method
- Mix the pepper, coriander, red pepper, and salt. Rub it over both sides of the steak and let it sit in the cooler at least 30 minutes.
- Build a hot bed of coals and set the grate close over them. A cast iron pan on the grate works the same way.
- Lay the leeks cut side down over the cooler edge of the fire. Brush with olive oil. Turn once. Ten minutes gets them soft with charred edges.
- Move the leeks off. Wipe the grate, oil the steak, and sear it three minutes a side over the hottest coals. Skirt is thin and goes from rare to grey fast.
- Rest the steak five minutes on a board, then slice across the grain. Squeeze lemon over the leeks and serve them under the meat.
This is a car-camping dinner because skirt steak needs a cooler and real heat. Nothing about it is dehydratable. What makes it work on a fire rather than a griddle is timing: the leeks cook long and slow on the edge, the steak cooks fast and hot in the middle, and they never want the fire at the same moment.
The rub is cracked, not ground. Whole peppercorns broken under a pan bottom form a crust that survives searing; ground pepper burns into bitterness in the same three minutes. Skipping the blanching step the home version uses is deliberate — a pot of salted water is a second pot and a second cleanup, and coals do the softening if you give the leeks the ten minutes.
Packing
Cracked pepper, coriander, red pepper, and salt go in one small jar at home. Wash and halve the leeks before the trip and wrap them in a towel; grit in the layers is the thing that ruins this in camp. Steak stays frozen at the bottom of the cooler.
Variations
- No leeks in the cooler? Halved onions take the same treatment and hold longer.
- A pan on the grate catches the fat, which is worth spooning back over the sliced meat.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/pepper-crusted-skirt-steak-with-leeks