Beef on the Coals in a Thunderstorm

Tuesday July 8

Lois has an amazing recipe for a two-inch thick slab of meat (London broil type, which can be sirloin, round, or flank) that is slathered with mustard (golden, yellow, mixed), plastered with rock salt (as for ice cream making) and placed directly on hot coals. To acquire said slab, we went to the Old Time Meat and Deli, where after long consultation and discussion, the butcher cut us a slice off the shoulder that looked like something you'd throw to a lion.

Unfortunately, by dinner time, uncertain midwestern skies had decided to let loose with a temper tantrum: thunder, lightning, and drenching rain, which made the other guests (colleagues Bill and Martin) arrive umbrella'd and squelching. They were warmed with drinks ("biciclette") and one of the many specialties of this house, crepas de huitlacoche -
because now Holt and Barbara are smart enough to pick up cans of corn smut every time they visit Jungle Jim's, and bring a couple every time they see Jon and Lois.

One dish for dinner was prepared indoors and ahead of time: a creamy but peppery potato gratin, baked with queso anejo and poblanos from a local taqueria, which we'd managed to visit both yesterday and today without eating anything - probably because we were always full.

But the other main dish could be prepared in no way but on fresh coals, so Jon went out in the pouring rain and labored to light charcoal in, and then cook on, a grill that was only partially protected in the lee of the garage. He came in intermittently to change his soaked clothes, and at the end of three outfits, he triumphantly bore in the enormous, bloody, perfect slab o'beef. With that, the gratin, and lashings of some very tasty Greek red wines (including an Alpha 2003 from Thessaloniki and an Aivalis (Αϊβαλής) Monopati 2004 from Nemea ), he probably ended up feeling warm and good, as we all did.

We ended the meal with a bounty of Lois' home-made cookies, and many chocolates, including the very appropriate katzenzungen brought by Bill and Martin.