Grilled Pork Shoulder Steak with Honey Garlic and Thyme Glaze

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Time for a recipe. I have a large collection. Actually, I’m working on something akin to a cook book except it’s never going to be a book so I don’t know what to call it. More on that another time. For now – the glories of pork shoulder steak. Fat haters – ignore this one entirely. But for those not cowering in fear at the thought of eating some reasonably healthy pork fat, read on.

First thing you need to do is go to your local supermarket and buy a pack of pork shoulder steaks. They aren’t hard to find, and you get a big pack for roughly $10. They’re a cheap cut, because people fear them. Pork chops, people know. But pork shoulder? Oooooh. Or they just fear the fat, which is a shame for them. When it comes to pork, I’ll take shoulder over loin any day.

The only tough bit, and it’s not tough: Make the glaze. Use your mortar and pestle if you have, and if you don’t, improvise as best you can. Grind a small pinch of whole cumin and a half a dried chili per steak [if you like heat], maybe a bit of salt to act as an abrasive. Once it looks fine enough that you’re not going to be chewing on any whole bits of spice, add 1 clove garlic, and a half dozen or so small twigs of thyme, leaves picked. Add about a tbsp of honey to loosen the mixture. That’s it. If you do not normally use whole cumin or dried chilis – you should. You can likely buy whole cumin in a bulk aisle for a few cents, and a bag of dried chilis for a buck or two should last half a year. Both are excellent on grilled meats. And if you don’t have your own little herb pots to steal thyme from, you should. But store bought is fine, just more expensive.

Get the bbq nice and hot, and grill the steak(s) with a decent amount of kosher salt and fresh black pepper. Check it periodically, and when it looks nice, flip it and do the same thing. The focus isn’t doneness at this point. One thing the high heat is doing is getting the fat going and caremelizing. Yum. Once both sides look semi-cooked/seared, turn the heat right down, and liberally brush on the glaze, flip the meat and let it ‘set’ and caramelize. Use your intuition here. It should look good, not burned. Flip, and glaze the other side as you did the first. Repeat if desired – the more you do this glaze and flip deal, the more the flavours in the glaze will come through. Luckily, because of lots of intramusular fat, it will be tough to really overcook the shoulder steaks to the point of toughness. What would cremate a loin chop, will be just dandy for a shoulder steak.

Do whatever it is you do to test for doneness. I either press on it with my thongs, or use a meat thermometer if I’m not sure. Cut into it if you want. Enjoy.

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