Grilled New York Strip Steak With Mushroom Cream Sauce

Grilled New York Strip Steak With Mushroom Cream Sauce

Backstory

My birthday is the last week of November every year. This year, my wife and I agreed she wouldn’t buy me any gifts in exchange for hosting a birthday party in which I would cook for a few close friends. We hadn’t had dinner guests since I prepared the Barbecued Tri Tip With Caramelized Red Onions using the Red Wine Barbecue Sauce over Memorial Day weekend six months ago and I was itching to host a social gathering again. (Technically, Christopher was a dinner guest when I prepared the Gnocchi Alfredo, but it was a working dinner, not a party.)

When I planned a menu, I was actually inspired by a question on the MasterChef casting application and made up my mind to prepare a prime rib roast. Then when I went to purchase it, I was a little shocked by the price. The butcher at the local supermarket noted that New York strip steaks were on sale that day so I purchased them instead.

Recipe

I adapted this recipe from Thomas of The Cooking Husband and his recipe for New York Strip Steak with Bourbon Mushroom Sauce to omit the bourbon because none of my guests had some that they could bring and I don’t drink hard liquor often enough to justify the purchase. I also had to adjust the ingredient amounts for the sauce because I had more steaks than the original recipe allotted.

Ingredients

6 New York strip steaks, bone-in, about 1 inch thick

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound cremini mushrooms

6 sprigs fresh thyme

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper

Method

1. Season both sides of each steak with salt and pepper and set aside. Preheat grill. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat. Once heated, add mushrooms and saute for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add thyme and garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Sautéed Mushrooms

2. While the mushrooms reduce, grill the steaks about 8 minutes per side for medium rare over high heat if using a gas grill. Once removed from the grill, let them sit for 5 minutes.

Steaks On The Grill

3. Add cream, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer an additional 5 minutes. Plate by spooning the sauce over the steak and serve.

Notes

1. Cooking method. I altered the recipe to grill the steaks instead of preparing them in a saute pan partially because I didn’t have a saute pan big enough to fit 6 steaks and partially because I do not have the room on my stovetop, as I already had three out of the four burners occupied with other food. This created a problem I had in the tri tip recipe referenced above in that I was unable to manage both a grill outside on my porch and the stovetop with fire under a skillet and a Dutch oven. Thankfully, one of my guests this evening was Chef Dasalla who graciously volunteered to prepare the steaks while I attended to the sauce and carrots. As you might have guessed, he also plated the finished meal and made the accompanying mashed potatoes.

MasterChef Evaluation

Taste: 8

Ease of Preparation: 6

Sophistication: 7

Bottom Line: Yes

Final Thoughts

With many of my other beef recipes I’ve prepared on the grill, in addition to many of the recipes I’ve reviewed online, I’ve resisted just seasoning my food with just salt and pepper because I have been so focused on exploring and adding layers of flavor to my food. I use a lot of marinades for this reason. I let it slide this time because I used the accompanying sauce. However even without the sauce, the steaks were so flavorful on their own. I suspect it’s because I had a professional watching over them. Some of my guests hadn’t met each other before attending, but they all left friends with each other due to good food and great conversation. Those carrots on the plated dish above also have a story behind them and will be the subject of my next post.

Enjoy!