Mocha sundaes

Steaks make Memorial Day a celebration, especially when they’re flavored with an herb rub and horseradish sauce

This will be a Memorial Day like no other.

This year, in addition to honoring the men and women who have died serving in the military, we also will celebrate the heroes on the front lines fighting this pandemic.

Our sisters, nieces, nephews and cousins who’ve worked countless hours clothed in personal protective equipment to help others.

Normally, cooking has been my go-to approach for honoring these loved ones. However, we must practice social distancing, so our family of nurses, therapists, educators, 911 dispatchers, retirement home activity directors, social workers and hospital security guards are all in our hearts, if not at our table.

In these United States, nothing says holiday more than steak on the grill. Memorial Day is, after all, the official start of the grilling season.

So I’m grilling steak. Our extended families will do the same at their respective homes.

Everyone will purchase whatever steak their market has available; we’ll all use the same steak seasoning rub for a shared sense of the meal. The red wine will flow as our yards and decks fill with the aromas of hardwood charcoal. Our tradition dictates that we also serve plenty of vegetables, so kitchen helpers will work the stove. Dessert will be do-ityourself ice cream sundaes.

For celebration cooking, I like the rich decadence of beef ’s middle cuts, such as New York strip, rib-eye, porterhouse and T-bone steaks. I look for sales at the supermarket meat counter and local butcher, and buy enough to freeze a steak or two for a later meal.

For everyday steak eating, skirt steak can’t be beat for its meaty, beefy flavor and perfect toothsomeness. This cut can be difficult to find in the best of times, so we often opt for lean, quick-cooking flank steak as a more available substitute. Sirloin steak, with its modest price tag and bold flavor, proves a delicious, if slightly chewier, alternative.

These days, many prominent steak restaurants are selling their steaks online (uncooked) for delivery and pickup. These premium, well-curated steaks likely will be the best (and perhaps priciest) you’ve ever cooked. Part of the reason for the high price is the aging process.

Most supermarket steaks are wet-aged — that is, the beef is vacuum sealed in plastic to preserve it for transport and resale. Because the plastic prevents breathing, these steaks can taste a bit sour.

Steakhouses typically dry-age their beef, which allows water in meat to evaporate, making it taste beefier and richer. However, this evaporation causes weight loss; therefore dry-aged steaks cost more.

At home, you’ll want to treat your steak investment carefully for the best possible outcome. Always season the steaks in advance, properly heat the grill and set a timer to prevent overcooking.

Good steaks deserve high-heat cooking and the flavor of hardwood smoke. After all, that’s what we enjoy at our favorite steak joints. At home, select natural charcoal so the meat doesn’t taste like chemicals.

Alternatively, for gas grilling, soak natural wood chips in water and then make a foil packet of them (pierced with holes) and place it over the heat source to add smoke.

To accompany the steaks, make mashed potatoes or baked potatoes in the oven and hold them warm while you prepare the grill. Then prep whatever vegetables you have on hand to make a stir-fry that you can finish while the steaks grill.

The mocha sundaes here take their inspiration from the whipped coffee recipes we see all over the internet. A stash of instant coffee and unsweetened cocoa powder means you can have mocha sauce at any time. Serve the sauce over ice cream topped with whipped mocha cream for a real holiday celebration.