Bone-In New York Strip - Twice in a Lifetime

My wife and I went to Banff, Alberta, Canada this time last year.  It was an absolutely amazing place, with nature as its primary allure.  Glacial lakes, glacial hikes and eye candy far and wide.  I had the good fortune of having gone to a destination wedding there ten years ago, and knew the day I left that I would return.  Going there last year was the return of which I spoke, but we said the same thing when we left.  We would return.  And we will.  Nothing planned as of yet, but we know we intend to visit again.

A side benefit of the trip, and we weren't necessarily expecting this every night, was the amazing cuisine we had there.  I knew I'd get my share of game, from elk to venison to buffalo, but what I didn't expect was the quality of the preparations, the pairings and the flavors.  I was sort of expecting a traditional meat and potatoes experience.  However, the experience was nothing of that sort.  Our favorite restaurant there was a place called The Saltlik.  And a funny thing happened on our first night dining there (yes, we loved it so much, we returned for our last dinner).  I wanted to order a steak, and I found a New York Strip that sounded amazing.  I believe it had a peppery rub and blue cheese butter.  And when I ordered my steak medium rare, the waiter asked me a question I had never previously been asked, "do you want your medium rare traditional or 'Chicago Style'?"  To which I replied, "what is 'Chicago Style'?".  What I learned by going to a steakhouse in Banff, Alberta, Canada far away from my home city of Chicago, IL that 'Chicago Style' is medium rare on the inside but with charring on the outside.  To have my center medium rare is a must, but I must admit I was intrigued by the Chicago style.  I ordered it that way, and I can assure you that the steak I had that night ranks in my top 5 all-time steakhouse steaks.

Since then, I have never quite been able to replicate that steak, either through ordering in steakhouses or through my own grilling.  Until last night.

I made a quick run to Paulina Market prior to closing to pick up two bone-in New York Strips.  I grabbed two large potatoes, knowing full well that my wife would be quite pleased with my choice of sides (and knowing full well that she would take pride in making her signature mashed potatoes).  I put together a rub of equal parts Kosher salt, regular salt, brown sugar, fresh ground black pepper, granulated garlic, red chili flakes, smoked paprika and coffee grounds (yes, coffee grounds).  I put a light coating of olive oil on the steaks and rubbed them until well covered on both sides and let them sit covered at room temperature for a little over an hour.  I fired up the Big Green Egg and got the coals well lit, and after about 30 minutes of ignition, I closed the lid with vents wide open, to maximize the temperature.  When it hit roughly 675 degrees, I put a light coating of oil on the grill (carefully with elbow long fireproof gloves) and set on the steaks.  About 5-6 minutes per side (which sounds long, but if you've seen the thickness of Paulina's bone-in strips, you'd understand), until internal temperature got to roughly 135.  I took them off, tented them in foil for five minutes, added a tab of butter on them at serving with the mashed potatoes, and the rest was history.  Sort of like last year's history in Banff, with my once (now twice) in a lifetime Chicago Style New York Strip.  Like Banff's beauty, this steak was eye (and taste) candy!

41 down, 20 to go!