WHAT KEEPS US going here in the test kitchen, besides the unending intake of calories, is the pervasive sense that everything we think we know for sure is up for reconsideration, retesting, revision, and refinement.
Take, for example, our recipe for Grilled Bourbon Steaks on page 11 of this issue. When this idea first came up for discussion, most of us dismissed it as nonsense. After all, we’ve grilled thousands of steaks over the years with excellent results. Why would we take something so perfect and simple as a grilled rib eye and clobber it with a boozy, potentially cloying marinade? Balderdash.
But our executive food editor, Bryan Roof, saw possibility. With photographer Steve Klise in tow, Roof made a beeline for Jesse’s Restaurant in Magnolia Springs, Alabama, 1,500 miles…