New York Strip - Half Way Home

There is something about "half way" that speaks to me.  On long road trips, half way is a milestone.  It's all "downhill" from there.  If your favorite team is leading a basketball or football team at halftime, you're feeling good.  If you're doing 100 push-ups, 50 feels pretty good.  And if you're cooking 60 cuts of meat over the course of a calendar year, cooking the 30th one in the 5th month of the year has you feeling great.  And that is where I sit today.

Let me give a shout out to the Half Way Cafe in Dedham, MA.  I don't know for sure how they got their name, but my suspicion is that it's because it sits on the border of Boston and Dedham.  At least, that makes the most sense to me.  But it's a great watering hole, has awesome Boston bar food (steak tips, turkey tips, steamed clams), is great for viewing local sports and provides free popcorn while you wait for your food, after you finish your food and before/after every drink you have.  Good times, to be sure.  I have a trip to Boston planned in July, and I might just have to go get me some tips.  Yum.  And hey, their name reminds me of good things, including where I sit today.  Can't get better than that!

But alas, the 30th cut of the year of cooking the entire display case of Paulina Meat Market is not steak tips.  Rather, it was the New York Strip.  Now, I'm making this up now, but let's say that the New York Strip appeals to the Filet Mignon fan in that it is on the leaner side of the Ribeye, and it appeals to the Ribeye fan in that it is on the more marbled side of the Filet Mignon.  It appeals to all, and that makes it a versatile steak to be sure.  So, with all the steaks I have to cut this year, how do I differentiate?  Simple!  Rubs and marinades.  For these New York Strips, insert a 5 star marinade recipe I found online.

But first, let's start with the meat.  I went to Paulina and had my eyes on a gorgeous and ridiculously thick New York Strip.  It was 3 inches thick, no lie.  So, turning that into two 1.5 inch steaks was an easy endeavor.  Andy (one of Paulina's most interested employees in the Year of Meat) helped me turn this 24 oz monstrosity into 2 perfectly sized 12 oz New York Strip steaks.  Yum.  In a glass baking dish, I mixed olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, crushed garlic, dried basil, Montreal seasoning and Italian seasoning (which I mixed myself here).  I pierced the steak a dozen or so times with a fork on each side, and marinated them for 2 hours (one hour on each side) in the refrigerator.  I took them out for 45 minutes to bring to room temperature.  Meanwhile, I got the Big Green Egg nice and hot, about 650 degrees, and cooked the steaks for a little over 4 minutes per side.  In hindsight, I should have gone about 3.5 minutes per side, as they turned out Medium compared to my preferred Medium Rare.  Anyhow, off the grill they went to a plate under foil (tented, not tight) for 5 minutes.  Served the steaks with crispy potatoes (which my wife concocted on a whim, and were phenomenal) and Michael Symon's watercress, radish and blue cheese dressing which we had made previously with grilled Ribeyes.  Washed it down with Pezzi King Cabernet Sauvignon, and we had a Memorial Day meal for the ages!  Half Way never felt so good!

30 down, 30 to go!