0 Getting Ready For Guests On this particular day, the Huffs were busy preparing the meal for their evening guests. Steve rolled out 16 porterhouse steaks, with 12 for the raffle winner’s meal and the other four reserved for a later meal with their own friends. “These are great looking steaks. They knew right away, when they took them out of the locker,” Steve said. “But you still trim off the porterhouses at home, to get rid of some spots like blood vessels. You get it ready to go on the smoker as soon as you want.” However, some fat is a good thing, Steve said. “These are very thick. There’s marbling around the edges so it doesn’t get dried out,” he advised. In this case, Steve was refrigerating the steaks until the guests arrived for the social hour. At that time, they could state their individual preferences for how well done they wanted their steak, and he would adjust the grilling times. “My Traeger smoker can go up to 400 degrees and my Louisiana smoker can go up to 650 degrees. I’m using the Louisiana today,” he said. “The guests will arrive at 6 p.m. tonight, and we’ll put the steak (on the grill) at that time. In the meantime, they’ll have a beer or other drink. “We’ll offer them a fruit and cheese tray with Dimock cheese, cherries and grapes.” Steve remains a huge fan of cheese made at the dairy plant in Dimock, a small town 15 miles south of Mitchell or about 70 miles north of Yankton. The Dimock dairy uses farm-fresh ingredients and the old-time way of making cheese, Steve said. “There are some certain types of cheeses that just seem to me to be naturally awesome,” he said. “I like the garlic and parsley. And Dimock makes Colby longhorn cheese. You see Colby and longhorn, but hardly see Colby and longhorn together. You also have the goat pepper cheese, jalapeno cheddar, horseradish cheese and a bleu cheese to die for.” But back to the steaks for a minute. Steve planned to use his own rub for grilling, and he prepared grilled onions covered with oil and rub. He put the onions on toothpicks for sampling with the rest held back for the grilled meat. The meat isn’t the only start of the meal. Steve’s “salad” isn’t your standard bowl of lettuce. He again redefined the opening course by putting together a vegetable combination sure to please. He grilled 12 ears of farmer’s market, non-GMO sweet corn for some brown coloration. The kernels are cut off the cob and combined with banana peppers, chileno peppers and green peppers. “This salad is pure vegetable,” Steve said. “I used banana peppers from the (Hutterite) colony. They were really sweet. The chileno and green peppers are what you see mostly in the Hispanic culture and cooking. It’s all a nice contrast, and you get some crunch.” When it came to the corn-and-pepper salad, Steve was left with a couple of pre-dinner decisions. “With this crowd (coming for the meal), I didn’t’ know if I wanted it on the high end of spicy,” he said. “I’m also not sure if I want to serve it cool or warm it up. I put it in the fridge, but I might want to put it back on the smoker.” Despite the warm weather, the Huffs were excited to host the party on a summer evening. For Steve, it wasn’t just about the weather. “In the summer, you look at all the fresh food out there, like the cherries right here (on the counter),” he said. “You can be outside and have the world at your feet for raw ingredients (from the garden). And if your nights are too busy, start earlier. Get some bacon on the smoker and have breakfast together as a family. It’s not hard at all.” While Steve tended to the steaks and salad, Tracy worked on the just desserts. vHIS EATS continued on page 21 No Mess! No Hassle! Great To-Go Meals! 2809 Broadway Ave., Yankton 605-665-9884 Monday-Thursday 11AM to 9PM Friday & Saturday 11AM-10PM Sundays 10:30AM-9PM jodeans.com Family Owned Since 1971 Call & Order Ahead 665.9884 4 $ 00 Dinners To Go Choose from... •Chicken •Catfish •Walleye p Pick Unthly Mo ith Your ar W Calendcials! Spe Includes mashed potatoes and gravy and steamed vegetable Our ck Out Go! Che s To Salad HISVOICEvSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018v15