Artist’s Kitchen: Let grilled steaks help welcome soup season

I‘m not sure there’s a better spot in the country to spend late summer and all of autumn than right here, where we’ve all landed for our various reasons or lack thereof. There’s been a nice mix of summer and fall of late, with evenings cool enough for a jacket while sitting out on the patio.

But let’s not forget about the grill just yet. I’m nowhere near done with grilling season – not that it ever really ends for me. It seems like everyone and their dog had rib-eyes on sale during the week before and just after Labor Day. So I grilled two just-this-side-of-obscene steaks not just once, but twice in the same week.

A passing storm made one of the preparations an adventure, as 40 mph or so winds hit just as I put the meat on. Rib-eyes have a nice amount of fat, and the flames pretty much engulfed my two slabs of beef. What to do? What to do? I grabbed my longest tongs and flipped the steaks, barely visible in the flames – no exaggeration … well not much, this is like a fish story – over and back a few times, losing the hair on my hands, just like back when I was the main man on the grill at McDonalds in high school.

They were perfect, medium rare on the inside, and charred to a fare-thee-well, courtesy of the all-bluster, no-beef storm. The pair I grilled five days later weren’t quite as good, sans the incredible crust of the previous two.

So I was looking at four leftover, meaty rib-eye bones. Fortunately, the kitchen’s been cool enough to cook in of late and I had soup in mind, a fresh garden cioppino.

One of the nicer things about making stock for a specific use is the ability to tailor a bouquet garni to the dish. I dumped the steak bones into a large saucepan, added a little salt and 6 1/2 cups of water and went outside for herbs. I took a few cuttings of thyme and rosemary sprigs, some lovage, a little parsley, and tied it up with kitchen twine, and submerged in the pot.

Voila, about an hour and a half later, I had 6 cups of good stock, ready to chill for fat removal, to use the following day. I stripped the meat from the bones, froze ‘em, and they’re ready for a third use, roasted for another stock, or more likely, demi-glace.

Autumn arrives bright and early Sunday morning, so why not slap a few steaks on the grill Friday or Saturday, to see summer out, and save the bones for a light cioppino on Sunday. Full of fresh seasonal ingredients, it’s a nice way to celebrate the beginning of soup season.

Summer Garden Cioppino

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, minced

6 medium scallions, including green tops, thinly sliced

2 stalks celery, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced

1/2 preserved lemon, preferably Meyer, blanched, fruit and pith scraped out, minced (see note)

1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

3 large red paprika (or other mild banana style) peppers

3 tablespoons minced parsley

6 cups homemade beef stock

1/2 cup red wine

2 tablespoons honey

20 ounces whole washed cherry tomatoes, preferably Sun Golds

1 pound small yellow and green summer squash, (such as pattypan and zucchini)

1 pound steamer clams, rinsed

12 (10-15 count) shrimp, sliced down the back, deveined, shells on or off, your choice

1/2 cup thinly sliced lemon basil

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add garlic, sauté 30 seconds, add scallions and celery and sauté until slightly soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add lemon, rosemary, peppers and parsley and sauté another 2-3 minutes.

Add stock, wine, honey and tomatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer 30-45 minutes. Add squash and cook to desired doneness, 5-10 minutes. Bring back to a boil, add clams, shrimp, and basil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until done, another 3 minutes or so. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Note: Two teaspoons of lemon zest can be substituted for preserved Meyer lemon. If not using preserved lemon, add additional salt, to taste.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving (based on 6): 277 calories, 7 grams fat (1 gram saturated, 23 percent fat calories), 25 grams protein, 25 grams carbohydrate, 73 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams dietary fiber, 966 milligrams sodium.