New York Strip Steak with Goat Cheese Walnut Butter

Talk about a mouthful.  Of YUM that is.

Now believe me, I can NOT wait for Christmas.  The extra days off, the time with family, the food, and the activities (whatever they might be) are going to be AH-mazing.  I can’t wait.

 

BUT I have to tell you about this steak.  Because the New Year is coming too and you need to ring it in with a big bowl of black-eyed peas and a big fat steak.  A big, fat, special steak.

 

Oh, and my vegetarian friends?  Don’t worry…steak doesn’t always have to be beef.  In fact, I’d take a portobello “steak” with this butter on it any day.

This dish is reminiscent of a loose compound butter that my mom used to make with blue cheese (HELLO I can’t wait to eat blue cheese again!) and toasted pecans.  At the time I secretly pretended I thought it was gross but loved it.  Probably super apparent to my parents because prior to college I swore up and down I hated steak.  And yet I was scarfing it when she made that butter.

 

Yeah.  I’m sure it was obvious.  Thank goodness they haven’t given me much grief about that…yet.

Our New Year’s dinners usually consisted of ham and delicious side dishes growing up, but I figure it’s time for a more grown-up version of that meal this year.  It’s the new year…there’s a lot ahead!  Treat yourself to something delicious and make it count.

NEW YORK STRIP STEAK WITH GOAT CHEESE WALNUT BUTTER (serves 4)

• 1/2 stick butter, at room temperature
• 4 oz. goat cheese (I used plain but feel free to get herb goat cheese too!)
• 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 4 New York Strip steaks
• kosher salt
• black pepper

First let’s make the butter.  To make garlic paste you can do 1 of 2 things:

1. Take two garlic cloves and grated them over a microplane.  This will make it tiny, shredded and paste-like; OR
2. Take two garlic cloves and mince them finely.  Then use a sprinkle of kosher salt and the back of your knife to crush it to a paste.

I won’t judge you on what you choose to do, but let me just say that the microplane thing is easier.  Using a fork mash together the butter and goat cheese.  Mash in the garlic paste and then finally chop the walnuts and stir into the mixture.  Refrigerate while you make the steaks and whatever sides you like.

 

For the steaks it’s simple:  when you have a great cut of meat you don’t need to add a ton of other flavors.  Preheat your oven to 400.  Season both sides of each steak liberally with kosher salt and black pepper.  In a skillet (cast iron preferably) heat a tiny bit of oil over medium low heat.  You want the pan to get crazy hot, so maybe start this while you make the butter.  Take each steak and, one or two at a time, sear each side in the hot hot skillet for about 3 minutes until it’s golden and caramelized.  If you have a large enough cast iron skillet you can just transfer the steaks to the oven in that.  If not, transfer the steaks to a baking sheet and continue roasting at 400 for 5-10 more minutes until you reach the desired level of doneness.  Let them rest for about 5 minutes, and then serve hot with dollops of the butter on top.

It’s true…butter really does make everything better.  Including New Years, New York Strip steaks, and dinner 🙂