No Bourbon, but Still...

Doesn't it look like a meal fit for a king?  Or at least for a 20-something amateur blogger with limited time on his hands?  I had a good dinner tonight, and while I generally groan in disgust at the snore that is most food blogs, I thought this might be a nice change of pace.  Also I've had an insanely busy month at work.  Also there's alcohol to discuss.  So let's get to it.

These beauties have been hibernating in my *gasp* freezer for the past month.  I got them on sale and didn't find a suitable night until now to treat them properly.  The freezer did no damage to them, trust me, they were delicious.  About 1 1/4 - 1 1/2" thick, these are bone-in New York Strips.  I'm starting to love the bone-in versions a lot better, not least of all because they are cheaper.  Anyway, with the bone-in steaks I like a simple, natural flavor, so I minimize the seasoning.  I make a really good marinade with Worcestershire (it took me 5 minutes to figure out how to spell that stupid word) sauce, red wine and various kinds of seasoning, but not for these.  For these, I used Bourbon-seasoned black pepper, Bourbon-aged Worcestershire sauce, a little fresh garlic, and of course, a buttery spread.  Any variation of buttery spread or butter probably works just as well.  Also, I managed to talk about bourbon in a post about a night on which I didn't drink any bourbon... I know it sounds like a sad tale, but it gets better.

These are the two key ingredients.  Seriously, that's about all you have to do.  With pepper and Worcestershire sauce all you really need is to pour it on the steaks and press it into the meat with your fingers just before you grill, no need to wait for a marinade to sink it.  Those above, as far as I know, can only be bought locally or online here: http://bourbonbarrelfoods.com/shop/sauces-marinades/bourbon-barrel-worcestershire-sauce.  That company is doing some fantastic things with bourbon and the used barrels; and by fantastic things I mean they are basically covering everything in bourbon and selling it and it's awesome.

As far as how to grill the steak, that's up to you.  I turned the heat up all the way then slightly down right before I put the steaks on; I'd recommend having water nearby if you put the butter on the steak pre-grill like I did, there will inevitably be some excess flames, which makes the outside layer char quite a bit faster, but as long as you don't keep it on too long you can still cook it rare-to-medium-rare which is right about where these two ended up (because of the thickness).  

So, if I didn't drink bourbon, what did I drink?  Good question.  I have been known to open a bottle of red wine from time to time.  Yes, yes, primarily it's all bourbon, but red wine is just as classy and it's delicious, and goes great with red meat.  Also less calories than beer.  This is probably one of my favorite wines; if you can't read the picture it's a merlot from Napa Valley.  I won't pretend to be a wine connoisseur, and I definitely don't know the lingo.  I'll refer you to this website, where the author describes wine as if he knew what he was talking about.  All I know is I like a dry wine with a full flavor, rose or other floral notes and maybe hints of blackberry or other dark red fruits.  There.  That was my lame attempt at a wine description.  But seriously, if you like red wine, try this one out.  

Anyway, tonight was a pretty successful grilling night with one of my roommates, and I'm glad you're still reading this boring food post.

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