There is nothing more perfect than a simple, well-grilled steak, but if there was ever a reason to mess with perfection, this is it. Sometimes the best way to bring out the flavor of a piece of meat is to press, or "rub," in herbs and spices. By coating the steak with a mixture of mashed garlic, roughly-crushed black peppercorns, and grainy kosher salt, you actually create a seal that picks up on all the charred goodness of the grill while letting the meat cook nicely in its own juices.

Ingredients

• Six 8-oz. ribeye or skirt steak portions
• 4 heads garlic (that's right, four heads)

• 1/2 cup whole black peppercorns
• 2 tbsp. kosher salt

Instructions

1. This recipe is short on ingredients and doesn't need to be made in advance, but it does call for a little muscle (or the wizardry of modern appliances). Peel all of the garlic and mash the cloves into a paste; the traditional way is to use a mortar and pestle, but you can use a blender (roughly chop the garlic and add 1 tablespoon olive oil to get the mixture moving), as long as you mash most of it into a messy, sticky paste. Crush the peppercorns so that they're cracked apart but not pulverized, more like fine gravel than sand--the mortar and pestle will also work here, and so will a clean coffee grinder (be sure to pulse it so that it doesn't get too fine), or if all else fails, use the bottom of a frying pan and a cutting board. Mix the peppercorns and salt in with the garlic, and press the mixture into your pieces of steak, covering both sides with a nice, thin coat. Now just grill your meat according to your liking.

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• BBQ |
• Grilling |
• Ribeye |
• Rubs |
• Skirt Steak

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• Grilling Ideas |
• Sauces