Leather Storrs: How to Make the Best Grill Paste

Thursday, April 09, 2015

Leather Storrs, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Men like fire and burning stuff. When it’s bad it’s arson, when it’s good it’s grilling. My brother in law Brooks is a good cook and an extraordinary “Gaucho”- he’s a grilling savant. There is some primordial connection between him and fire which makes him fearless when it comes to placement of protein and ember maintenance.

My friend Max is a scientist and he delights in the opportunity to apply his meticulous thinking to a variety of proteins at once. He orders oddly shaped ingredients into columns and rows to yield expert grill marks and even browning. When he’s coming to town, the first text I get is always “mixed grill!”

Though their approach and motivation is different, the paste that binds these men together is “The Paste”: a gutsy, aggressively seasoned rub for grilling that they learned cooking with me. I have been doing this goopy rub for years, it is infinitely malleable and it adds a level of savor and complexity that improves almost anything.

“The Paste”-base:

1 yellow onion, peeled, rough chop
6 cloves of garlic
½ cup Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon Fish sauce
Small pinch of chili flakes
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon fresh ground pepper
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped (optional)
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped (optional)
½ cup olive oil

Method:

Put all but the oil in the hopper of a blender or food processor. Buzz smooth and stop the machine. Add the olive oil and pulse just to combine (fast moving blades compromise the flavor of olive oil, lending a bitter quality). Massage the paste all over your grillable items. Use all of the paste. I put the pasted meats and vegetables in a zip-loc until I’m ready to grill.

Variations:

Lamb: Add one seeded ancho chili, softened in hot water and 2 teaspoons each of coriander, cumin and caraway that have been toasted and ground. Add one tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram or oregano.

Fish: Add ½ a fennel bulb and the zest of two lemons (squirt the juice on after). Omit the rosemary and substitute 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley.

Vegetables: Omit the fish sauce to make the paste vegetarian. Add 1 raw carrot, 1 tablespoon parsley, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh savory, the zest of an orange and the zest of a lemon.

VA (vaguely Asian): Add 2 tablespoons light miso paste, 2 tablespoons minced ginger, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, a squirt of sriracha, a tablespoon rice vinegar and 3 scallions. Omit the thyme and rosemary.

Gaucho: Add two softened, seeded ancho chilis, 1 tablespoon each toasted and ground cumin and coriander, the zest of 2 limes and a big handful of cilantro.

The rate limiting factor on the paste is salt. The longer you marinate, the saltier and potentially tougher your meat becomes. 2-4 hours for thinner cuts and refrigerated overnight for larger roasts is a good rule of thumb.

Pro tip: Halfway through grilling, roll your meat in the left over paste and return it to the grill for a flavor boost.

Leather Storrs is an Oregon native who has served 20 years in professional kitchens. He owns a piece of two area restaurants: Noble Rot and Nobleoni at Oregon College of Art and Craft, where he yells and waves arms. He quietly admits to having been a newspaper critic in Austin, Texas and Portland.