NY Strip Steaks with Bourbon Steak Sauce

I purchased a ton of Kingsford Charcoal as fuel for cooking during the Hurricane.  I ended up not needing it all, so I decided to start grilling more with the charcoal grill.  Although it may take a tad bit longer to set up, using a charcoal grill gives you a ton of flavor.  It is pretty much the only way to cook a steak.  I also wanted to use a little Jack Daniel’s love.  On Friday they did the drawing for the Jack Daniel’s BBQ Invitational.  The BBQ team that I compete with, Pork Barrel BBQ received an invitation to the cook-off.  It is a pretty big deal in the BBQ world.  Therefore, I wanted to celebrate it with a little Jack.

NY Strip Steaks with Bourbon Steak Sauce

• 2 NY Strip Steaks, 12oz or bigger
• salt and pepper
• Sauce
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
  • 2/3 cup bourbon, Jack is my friend
  • 1/2 cup water plus 2 tbs for thickening
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup apple juice
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp Captain Thom’s Thai Monkey sauce, or favorite hot sauce
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper

The Steak Sauce

Add the ingredients for the sauce minus the 2 tbs of water and cornstarch.  Whisk together and bring to a boil over medium/ high heat.

Once the sauce starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes.

Once the 25 minutes are up, whisk together the cornstarch and the 2 tbs of water in a small bowl and then pour them into the pan.  Whisk the ingredients together and raise the heat to medium/high.  When the sauce starts to boil reduce it to low and simmer for 3 minutes.  The sauce should thicken just a bit.  Remove it from the heat and let sit until you are ready to use it.

Perfect steaks

Preheat your grill to high.  I start my coals in a charcoal chimney.  It is the perfect way to start charcoal.

Place your coals evenly in your grill so you get a nice even cooking surface.

Season the steaks with kosher or sea salt and then with freshly cracked pepper.  Make sure to season both sides.  Simple will win every time.  All you need is salt and pepper, trust me.

The timing below if for a steak that is roughly an inch thick and you want the final steak to be medium/rare.  For a medium steak add a minute to each side.  For medium well add 3 minutes and for well cook until it resembles shoe leather roughly 4-5 minutes more on each side.  Also you can check the doneness with a meat thermometer or by cutting into the steak.

Then place the steaks directly over the coals or high heat surface of your grill.  Cook for 3 minutes then rotate the meat 45 degrees and continue cooking for another 2 minutes.  This will give you the perfect cross hatch grill marks.

Flip and cook for 3 more minutes.  Rotate the meat 45 degrees and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.

Remove the steaks from the grill and cover with foil and let rest for 3-5 minutes before serving.

Serve the steaks with your favorite sides and the bourbon steak sauce.