Recipe: Char-Grilled Texas T-Bone

May 1, 2002 -- Where's the beef? If you ask cowboy-turned-chef Grady Spears, he'll tell you it's deep in the heart of Texas.

Born and raised in Texas, Spears worked as a cattle broker before taking restaurant jobs that led to his new calling as a chef. In 1998, his book A Cowboy in the Kitchen was released. It became a best seller.

Spears loves barbecue as much as the next Texan, but he never thought he'd be cooking it for a living.He once said, "Back when I was punching cows, if you'd told me I was going to be a chef someday, I'd have fallen off my horse."

Spears joined Good Morning America during our trip to Houston, and he shared some of his best recipes with our audience. Try his recipe for Char-Grilled Texas T-Bone with Caciotta Cheese Enchiladas below. And if you want to cook up his recipes for Calf Fries With Cracked-Pepper Gravy and Pan Seared Rib-Eye Steaks With Cowboy Coffee Pan Blend — Click Here!

Ingredients: Char-Grilled Texas T-Bone

• 8 caciotta cheese enchiladas• 4 T-bone steaks (about 16 ounces each)• 2 tablespoons olive oil• 2 tablespoons Reata Grill Blend (ingredients & recipe below)• Kosher salt to taste• Freshly ground pepper to taste(cooking directions below)

Ingredients: Caciotta Cheese Enchiladas

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil• 8 (8-inch) corn tortillas• 2 cups red chile sauce• 4 1/2 cups (about 3/4 pound) grated caciotta or Monterey Jack cheese(cooking directions below)

Ingredients & Directions: Reata Grill Blend

• 4 tablespoons kosher slat• 3 tablespoons Pasilla Powder (ingredients & directions below)• 2 tablespoons dried granulated garlic• 2 tablespoons sugar• 2 tablespoons ground cumin• 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper• 1 tablespoon ground thyme

Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl, blending well to evenly distribute the spices. Be sure to break up any chunks that appear.Store the blend in an airtight container. Shake or stir it again before each use.

Ingredients & Directions: Pasilla Powder

5 pasilla chiles

Prepare the pasilla chiles by removing the stem and the seeds. Toast the peppers in a skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes, turning them frequently until they are dry and crisp, but not burned. Puree the peppers in a coffee grinder until they become a fine powder.

Directions: Caciotta Cheese Enchiladas

1. Lightly grease an 11 3/4-by-7 1/2-inch glass-baking pan. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a small skillet over low heat, until it's hot enough to sizzle when a tiny piece of tortilla is dropped in. Using tongs, dip a tortilla into the hot oil, removing it quickly and letting excess oil drip off.

3. Dip tortilla into the chile sauce and lay it on a flat surface. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cheese down the center of the tortilla from one end to the other. Lay the enchilada in the prepared pan with the seam down.

4. Repeat the steps with each tortilla, fitting them tightly into a pan. Pour the remaining chile sauce over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle them with the remaining cheese. Prepare these as close to serving time as possible. To finish the enchiladas, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake them for 12 minutes.Serve at once.

Directions: Char-Grilled Texas T-Bone

1. Prepare the enchiladas and heat the grill.

2. Rub the steaks with the oil and seasonings and set aside at room temperature while grill heats. When the grill feels medium-hot when you hold your hand 5 inches over the fire, it is ready to use.

3. Place the steaks on the grill and cook them for 5 minutes on each side for medium.

4. At serving time, place the steaks on 4 plates and top each steak with 2 hot caciotta cheese enchiladas.

Recipes courtesy of Grady Spears, A Cowboy in the Kitchen, © 1998