BONE-IN COWBOY RIB-EYE WITH PINTO-WILD MUSHROOM RAGOUT AND RED CHILE ONION RINGS

Steps:

• Thoroughly combine the salt, dried chiles, paprika and sugar in a mixing bowl and dredge the steaks in mixture to coat evenly. Let marinate for 12 hours or overnight, refrigerated.
• To make the sauce, place the beans in a saucepan with the broth or water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until tender, checking every 20 minutes or so; add more broth or water as needed to keep the beans covered. When the beans are tender, season with salt and pepper and reserve.
• Heat the clarified butter or oil in a large skillet or pan over medium heat until lightly smoking. Add the shallots and garlic, and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the mushrooms and corn. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and reduce the liquid by 3/4 over high heat, while scraping the pan with a spatula to dissolve the solidified juices. Add the demi-glace, chipotle puree, sage, reserved beans and tomato. Reduce the liquid by one third, add the basil, whisk in the butter and season with salt. Keep sauce warm while grilling steaks and preparing onion rings.
• Prepare a medium-hot fire in a grill with charcoal briquettes. Grill steaks to desired doneness, about 5 to 7 per side for medium rare. Serve with sauce and onion rings.
• Pour enough canola oil in a frying pan to come 3 to 4 inches up side of pan. Heat to 350 degrees F.
• For the onion rings, pour enough milk in a large mixing bowl to cover sliced onions; let soak for 20 minutes.
• Thoroughly combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, except salt and cayenne. Shake excess milk off the onions and toss into flour mixture until well coated. Fry in canola oil until golden. Remove from oil and season with salt and cayenne to taste.
• To prepare smoker:
• Soak 6 to 8 small chunks of aromatic wood (preferably hickory) for 20 minutes in water.
• Build fire in smoker with hardwood charcoal briquettes and electric starter (avoid chemical starters since they impart unpleasant flavors in the smoke). When briquettes are still glowing but somewhat gray (about 20 minutes from starting fire), add soaked wood chunks. Let burn for 5 minutes. The temperature of the smoker should register about 180 degrees.
• Place chiles and vegetables on grill over water pan and cover with top of smoker. Smoke ingredients for 20 minutes. Remove ingredients from smoker and place in a 2 quart saucepan with the veal stock. Bring to a boil and reduce liquid by 1/3. Whisk in mustard. Strain and set aside.
• In small saucepan, whisk together the vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil and continue cooking until mixture becomes syrupy, about 3 minutes. Add syrup to the strained veal stock and whisk in the catsup. Strain sauce through fine strainer.