Hickory Fired Surf & Turf on the Cowboy Fire Pit
Ingredients
3 Boneless Ribeye Steaks
2 lbs of Raw Clams
1 Whole Lemon
1 Stick Unsalted Butter
4 oz Jerk Sauce
2 oz Olive Oil
Beef Rub of Choice
2 Tbsp Salt
Preparation
Prior to starting any fires, make sure to burp your clams. This is important as the burping process helps removes any interior and exterior silt/sand. You can do these several ways, in this case placing clams in cold water and agitating water for 1-2 minutes. Allow 20 minutes for the sediment to settle, then repeat once more.
One of the things that stands out about the Barebones Cast Iron Dutch Oven is the build quality, it's sturdy but doesn't weigh a ton. In the Dutch oven add 2 cups of water, a pinch of salt, the freshly burped clams, and your aromatics.
In this case, I am using fresh lemon slices and jerk compound butter. Compound butter is simple to make. Just start with a stick of unsalted butter that has been out of the fridge for 15-20 mins, this makes it malleable. Finely minced fresh herbs such as rosemary, garlic, or your personal favorites. Add a teaspoon of salt, mash, and whisk the ingredients together with a fork. If you are a stickler for the presentation you can lay the butter mixture on a piece of saran wrap and roll it into a cylinder and place it in the fridge to harden.
Let’s prep the Cowboy Fire Pit for open fire cooking. Get your coals and wood set, for this cook im using hardwood coals and hickory splits. One side will be fully fueled and heated by the coals that beak down, the other by the dried splits of hickory which the steaks will be cooked over.
Sheed Tip: When making steaks, take steaks out of the fridge 20-30 minutes prior to cooking. This allows the steak to slowly come up to temp. An ice-cold steak leads to improper cook.
Start by pat drying your steaks removing any excess moisture. Typically with boneless steaks, I bind them, this helps during the cooking process. With a piece of butcher's twine bind the steaks firmly, but make sure not to cause a bulge on either side.
Lightly drizzle the front and back of the steaks with olive oil, making sure to cover the edges as well. The olive oil will work as the binder for the American Prime rub seasoning. Once the binder is applied, coat the steaks front, back, and edges with a generous amount of American Prime rub, or your steak rub of choice. Once seasoned, the steaks are ready for the Cowboy Fire Pit.
Though the Dutch Oven is cooking over direct heat as it sits on top of the bed of coals. The steaks will be cooked indirectly by the hickory wood splits. When cooking this way going by touch can work however it's always best to confirm internal temps using a meat thermometer. In this case, I am looking for an internal temp of 120, which will allow the carry overheat to bring the final temp to 125. The clams should take roughly 20 minutes. I like to open the lid at the 15-minute mark to allow the clams to get a gentle kiss of smoke.
