Steak On A Stone

Monday, October 21, 2002

A Trenton family has transformed a cooking method discovered in South Africa into an unusual, exciting eating experience for customers of their new catering business. Kelly and Roni Wertz created "Sizzling Rock Creations," after Kelly ate "beef on a brick" during an international LEAD seminar in Mozambique and Swaziland. The LEAD program is designed to prepare and motivate those involved in agriculture toward more effective leadership, and Kelly's international project in 1997 included the trip to South Africa. In a restaurant in Mozambique, LEADers were presented with "beef on a brick." "We had no idea what to do with this," Kelly said. It was a big chunk of meat, probably a pound or two, served on an "almost hot rock," he said. The group learned they were to slice up the meat, put it on the hot rock, and let it cook.

The experience stayed with Kelly, and back home, he and his wife, Roni, started experimenting with all types of stone -- bricks, marble, paver tiles. They ended up with granite -- a square that weighs four pounds. "We'd invite Kelly's folks over," Roni said, "And they'd say, 'It's not quite right. Try it again.'" So they continued trying, and in 2000, they served their own version of "beef on a brick" -- called "Steak on a Stone" -- to their family reunion. "It just took off from there," Roni said. Each granite square is heated to 450-500 degrees, and then placed in a cut-out on a large wooden tray Kelly designed especially to hold the large, super-heated stone. A seasoned New York strip steak is placed on the hot granite -- and it sizzles to perfection. About 2 1/2 minutes on each side, and you have a perfect medium-rare steak.

The diner is in control of his/her own steak. "Cut into it," Kelly said. "If it's not done yet, put it back. If it's too done, don't blame me." Even well-done, the steak is juicy, Roni said, because the stone's heat sears in the juices. The diner can also grill the mushroom and onion slices and toast the homemade buns on the stone. With "Steak on a Stone," the Wertzes serve cheesy potatoes, corn pudding, a green salad and homemade rolls, and homemade cheesecake for dessert.

Other items on their menu are:

- Pitchfork Barbecue -- New York strip steaks cooked fondue-style in a 30-gallon kettle, stirred and served with a pitch fork. Served alongside are cheese sticks, breaded 'shrooms, fried potatoes, onion petals, bread, salad, tea and dessert.

- Cream Can Supper -- Corn on the cob, onions, carrots, potatoes, cabbage and polish sausage cooked in a cream can and served from a specially-designed trough.

- Prime Rib of Beef -- Prime rib seasoned with Kelly's special secret rub and roasted over a wood fire. Served with baked potato, lettuce salad and dessert.

- Roast Beef Dinner -- Marinated roast beef, rubbed with Kelly's special rub and cooked over a wood fire. Served with veggies and baked potatoes.

- Fajitas -- On the stone, grill the veggies and meat and heat the tortilla. Top everything with cheese, salsa, olive slices and sour cream, fold and eat.

- Pancake Feed -- A stack of pancakes or a Sizzling Rock corncake, served with sausage and eggs, coffee and orange juice.

Other specialties include: Pork ribs that the Wertzes call "bacon on a stick"; slow-roasted beef brisket and pulled pork, from the Wertzes' specially-designed smoker; pork loin marinated in a special sauce and served on a bun; New York steaks, steak sandwiches and 1/3-pound burgers; and "loaded potatoes," covered with pulled pork or brisket and topped with potato bar favorites.

Dessert can be cheesecake, brownies, cookies or cherry or raspberry bars.

"Sizzling Rock" has traveled all over Nebraska sharing their special meal experience. Kelly and Roni have served supper, and then stayed to fix breakfast the next morning, taking all the preparation and clean-up worries out of a family reunion, branding, field day, party, wedding reception or rehearsal dinner.

Sizzling Rock's largest catered event served a pitchfork barbecue for 400 for the John Deere dealership in Lexington. Steak on a Stone can be served to about 70, Kelly said.

All foods are prepared on site (a process that will be easier once the family finishes its "kitchen on wheels," in a reconfigured shuttle bus).

"We can come in," Roni said, "cook, clean up, and they can enjoy their event or their family."

Family is important to Kelly and Roni, and "Sizzling Rock Creations" capitalizes on the skills and personalities of Kelly's parents, Verna and Wendell, and Kelly and Roni's children, nine-year-old Keelan and seven-year-old Kelsi.

"We're a family operation," Roni said proudly.

Kelly learned to cook from his mother, who was a home economics teacher at Trenton schools. His mother also credits 4-H projects for instilling in Kelly a love of the art of cooking.

During a recent LEAD dinner in Trenton, Verna prepared the cheesecake and Wendell assisted Kelly with the hot stones and trays. Wendell also photographs the operation for family scrapbooks.

Keelan and Kelsi help set the tables and are the operation's "official greeters." Bashful, these two are not.

Keelan is quick to explain to diners how to eat the steak -- it's very hot, don't eat the steak right off the stone and don't put your fork in your mouth after it's been on the stone.

"It will burn," he says.

Kelsi -- all smiles -- tells diners how the corn pudding is prepared. Her personal favorite, however, is the cheesy potatoes, she giggles. And, the cherry cheesecake, and the one with the strawberries.

Each meal prepared by Sizzling Rock involves the diners in the experience. They cook their own steaks on stones, they hold the pitchfork and stir the sizzling steaks, they help dump the cream can supper into the lined wooden feed trough. "Each crowd is a little different," Roni said. "Lots of people are skeptical about the steak and the stone, but they're our biggest fans afterward." She added, "It's fun to watch their reactions to the sizzle and the stone."

"It's a unique dining experience," Roni said. And Kelly added, "It's all a little different, and fun."

-- Sizzling Rock Creations can be contacted at P.O. Box 186, Trenton, NE 69044; (308) 334-5400; or kwertz@gpcom.net

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