You know, I like steak. And I like blue cheeses. Top a steak with blue cheese? Yeah, it’s all right. But when I have a steak, I want to taste the meat. Blue cheese is a little strong for the meat. (This is why I prefer American cheese on cheeseburgers. It’s not strong enough to overpower.)
A friend of mine insists on A-1 Sauce. Now, I ate at his place as a teen. I had a steak at his mom’s a couple of years ago. I can see why he likes the A-1 Sauce. Me, I buy good steaks. It doesn’t need anything but salt (or garlic salt) and pepper.
So blue cheese? Sure. Just not on the steak. Mushrooms? Of course. But not on the steak. Steak au poivre? OK, you’ve got me there. I like steak au poivre.
Before the grill, I brush on olive oil and lightly season with cracked black pepper, celery salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. I grill to medium rare with the poke test - firm but yielding. Then, the steak has to sit for a few minutes, and it’s good to go. Sometimes I’ll drizzle a little melted butter on at that point. It’s a steakhouse trick that does contribute to the depth of flavor significantly.
I rub mine with olive oil, garlic (fresh of course) and kosher salt/pepper. I only put sauce on it if it’s not a good cut or my sisters, who like beef cooked beyond reasonable recognition, are the grillers.
I am not a steak snob. I will enjoy cheap steak as well as good steak.
However, I tend to stick to just salt with most any steak.
The blue cheese sounds great, btw. But that’s probably because blue cheese = salt and I love me some salt, mmm.
Go ahead and spit on me now, because my favorite beef is…top round, or london broil, or whatever you want to call it. Love it!
The better the cut of meat, the less I like on it, but once in a while I don’t mind a cheap steak with A1 and a mess of grilled onions and mushrooms on it. It’s just a different meal, more like a hotdog or mac and cheese comfort food meal.
Usually plain or with black pepper, but I’m very willing to make exceptions, like Beef Oscar with a béarnaise sauce or cognac cream sauce and crabmeat.
If it is a cheap assed indifferent steak, I might do the au poivre deal with montreal steak seasoning, mainly to give it some depth of flavor.
Now a good steak needs nothing more than a bit of salt and pepper. I had a killer NY strip of wagyu at a Ruth’s Chris in Hartford for my birthday, and it was excellent though I did ask them to not keep basting it in butter.
I just happen to like the flavor of a good steak properly cooked. I lurves me a maillard reaction
I will perhaps put a dab of A1 on the corner of the plate for my french fries, however …
I normally don’t put anything but salt and pepper on a steak, but a blue cheese or a blue cheese butter works fantastically for me. I don’t think it covers up the taste of the meat at all; I think the flavors amplify each other.
Oh, and I do like the occasional sauce bearnaise, too.
ETA: And filet mignon requires a sauce of some sort–it’s just too, I dunno, wimpy on its own. Au poivre is my favorite preparation for that cut.
Good steak? Nothing. Maybe a little side dish of the jus, but that’s it.
An average steak? Anything. Horseradish, montreal seasoning, Lowry’s, or from my favorite cheap steak restaurant: Asbach Pfeffersteak $19.99Sirloin steak sauteed and finished with brandy, green peppercorns and cream, served with french fries and vegetables.
