When I asked several friends if they’d ever heard of a Tomahawk Ribeye Steak, they all said no. That made me feel better for not knowing anything about the strange cut of meat.
I was introduced to this ribeye, when Russ and Deb showed up at the farm with a chunk of meat attached to a long bone, making it look much like an ax or tomahawk. On the grill, I thought it looked more like a misshapen violin. Deb thought it resembled “an Alaskan pork chop on steroids.”
The Tomahawk Ribeye is sometimes called a Cowboy Steak or just a bone-in ribeye.
Russ also grilled butterflied shrimp after marinating it in Italian dressing for 30 minutes—no more than that, Deb says, or it begins to “cook.”
Steak, Shrimp, Sauce and Sides
Meanwhile, Deb concocted her wonderful, green sauce that’s good enough to drink from a straw. The sauce is her riff on Salsa Verde, a recipe she found in Marcella Hazan’s Northern Italian cookbook. It’s made in the blender with parsley, spinach, garlic, red wine vinegar, anchovy paste, and olive oil.
Ready to whirl. Salsa Verde is great served with either meat or vegetables.
A Side Dish: Sprinkling Panko atop Scalloped Potatoes for the final minutes of cooking.
Russ carves the meat from the cooked Tomahawk
Leftovers the next day: Beef Fajitas
The Long Bone Makes a Showy Presentation
The tomahawk look is achieved by “frenching,” that is, cutting away the meat to expose the bone. Some chefs think the exposed bone adds depth and complexity, while others think there’s little difference.
But there’s no question, frenching the ribeye adds to the price. A prepared Tomahawk Ribeye at the posh Ruth’s Chris steakhouse is listed on line at $310 !! Russ got ours from Harr’s Farm, a seller at Soulard Market. On sale it was $40. We got a dinner for four one evening and used the leftovers to make beef fajitas the next day. Plus, my grand-dog, Bella, got a special treat.
Good to the Bone
