Prime New York Strip Steaks - And Then There Were None

All good things must come to an end, right?  So it is with the Year of Meat.  A 61-cut endeavor that started in early January, and truth be told, was questionable to complete in one calendar year, is now over.  In just over 9.5 months, yours truly cooked the 61 cuts on display in Paulina Meat Market.  And when you are cooking Veal, Pork, Lamb and Beef, and the taste preferences of Braise, Broil, Grill or Roast vary, there is truly no way to "save the best for last".  So, each meal, I just kept looking at the list and picked what sounded good for the next cut.  And lo and behold, as the year evolved, and the past few weeks passed, I was left with one cut, one final meal to complete the year.  The cut?  Prime New York Strip Steaks.

After having learned so much about steaks this year, I have learned what to season and what to leave well enough alone.  When it comes to New York Strip, it's a steak that could use some help on the outside (e.g. a char, a rub, a flavor step) while being sure to cook it to medium rare/medium and no more.  So, my idea for the final cut was to take a page from many a steak-house's book and go with a blue cheese theme.  Thus, I found a recipe for Blue Cheese Butter here.  Now, the recipe suggests putting this on a filet.  But I was just fine with using the Butter on the New York Strips.  Simple enough.  Blue Cheese, Butter, Thyme, Salt and Pepper.  Deliciousness.

As for the steaks, I got 2 12 oz Prime New York Strips from Paulina.  I seasoned them on both sides with Kosher Salt, Cracked Pepper and Cajun Seasoning.  Not too much, but enough to "blacken" when placed on a hot skillet.  Speaking of which, I got a large cast iron skillet good and hot over medium high heat with some butter and olive oil.  Once hot and ready, I seared the steaks for about 5 minutes per side (it really depends on how thick they are).  I took them off, good and blackened and test the temperature and found them at the perfect 125 degrees I sought.  I then let them sit under foil for a minute or two, and place a good size tab of the blue cheese butter on top.  Meanwhile, my wife made her signature hashed brown potatoes (thank you, Julia Child) and a new favorite, crispy brussel sprouts.  My goodness gracious, this meal was going out on top.  We ate this meal with a bottle of Robert Biale Black Chicken Zinfandel, and I am still ooing and awing over the crazy tastiness of everything we had.  So good.

As the Year of Meat is now over, I look back at two questions people keep asking.  1)  What were my favorites? and 2) What lessons did you learn?  Well have no fear.  Those will be my last two blog entries coming soon.  For now, let me just savor the wonder of tonight's meal, and look forward to starting the "greatest hits redux".

61 down, 0 to go!