Grilled NY Steak

The standard texts say that though the New York steak is tender, it is a little less tender than the ribeye steak, its near neighbor (see "Parting Facts," below, for more on locations).

"A little less tender" -- In fact, not so as you would notice.

At any rate, this is a classic steak, something to be particularly relished by those in search of a hearty meal. The challenge is to grill it properly, accompany it with imagination, and eat it with gusto. Are you ready to accept this challenge?

Here we have a prime example, if you will pardon the pun. Drizzled with a little EVOO, in the pan, ready for the grill.

(For EVOO, click on this link.)

Footnote: this steak is sometimes referred to as a strip steak. There are other names also. But New York Steak is pretty common, at least in the eastern United States.

Won't take long. Looks beautiful on the grill. We are only doing one on this occasion, but for a party you might load a bunch of them on your grill -- and that would look really beautiful.

All this -- especially if you like your steak rare, or even medium rare. Obviously the time is affected by variables such as -- how cold the steak was when you put it on the grill -- hot long the grill had been preheated -- how thick the steak is. we always preheat our grill, do we not?

Anyway, we are getting this started.

On a grill that has been preheated and which is sizzling hot. Maybe three minutes on this side.

Take a whiff when you are turning it over on the grill. The aroma is terrific. It also looks great, of course.

Maybe three minutes more after it has been turned. Maybe less.

If you like, after the three minutes, take the steak off, put it on a plate and slice into it. That tells you for sure how ready it is for the plate. Try not to lose any of the juices inside the steak, however, or capture them for the sauce we are going to be making.

Essential are the following:

- EVOO (For EVOO, click here).

- soy sauce, a bit

- red wine, a dash or two

- a smashed clove of garlic or two (go for two)

- coarse ground black pepper (of course)

Optional ingredients (but recommended) are - a bit of vegetable broth, - some dashes of hot sauce. These add to olive oil, soy sauce, etc. essentials touches of flavor that, particularly if you have used the basics before, vary the experience in interesting ways.

Slosh the ingredients around in the grilling pan to mix them and blend the marinade/sauce into a more or less unified liquid.

Dip the steak into this before transferring it to the grill, and put the pan containing the liquid on the top shelf of the grill while the steak is cooking. The liquid will begin to sizzle, and we want it to sizzle enough that it blends, but not so much that it evaporates.

Corn goes great with steak of any kind, and an interesting way to match up this combo is to grill some polenta.

There are many types of polenta. Soft polenta, cooked in the slow, traditional way, requiring constant stirring. There is "instant" soft polenta, too. Places like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and others sell polenta in a tubular shape, meant to be cut into disks.

These disks are perfect for grilling. They take longer than you might think, at least if you want the attractive grill marks to appear. But it is worth the wait. In fact, it is a good idea to grill these first and keep them warm while grilling the steak.

(The disks can also be pan fried. In the pan the outer surface turns a satisfying yellowish brown color).

That is a big piece of steak, grilled to perfection. The meat is hot, the juices are still inside.

Your mouth is watering.

Wait! Just a second! We need the polenta!

The perfect main course for a meat eater.

The juices from the steak will not only flavor the meat itself, but will flavor the polenta as well. Melt a dab of butter on each polenta disk, if you like.

Don't forget to add coarse ground pepper and salt to the steak.

Grilled tomatoes and grilled corn on the cob.

These, too, make great partners with NY steak.

Although New Yorkers will probably not concede this, there is in fact another name for the New York Steak, a name that evokes a place closer to the meat's place of origin: Kansas City Strip Steak. On your new trip to Kansas City, try ordering a New York Steak. (On the other hand, the Kansas City name is likely to draw a blank in Manhattan).

I was a bit started to learn that this delicious, tender steak from the loin of the animal is not from the tenderloin. It is from something called the short loin. It is also reputed to be a little less tender than a rib-eye steak, but whether this extra tenderness is an advantage or not can be debated. Certainly the NY Steak has a great many adherents. Looking at the picture above it is not difficult to see why.

Pictures, pictures, pictures

Series within series, actually. Food & Cooking, for example, then -- within that -- series on vegetables, fruits, seafood, meat, etc. Books, too. Ideas, too. Travel, too. Key virtues:. pictures, clear step-by-step text. Delicious -- whether foods or ideas! All of the series, and all of the items in each series, can be found, organized by floor, at this link: Lee White's Department Store. Happy shopping! -- everything is for free.

Real Meal. Unlike fancy food mags, where images are hyped and food itself is secondary, all pix shown here are from a real meal, prepared and eaten by me and my friends. No throwing anything away till perfection is achieved. This is the real deal --- a Real Meal.