I had a gift card to Kelly’s Butcher Shop in Troy IL.  I have always gotten good steaks from there, and with it being almost 40 degrees today, I decided it was a good idea to get the grill out.

I have tried these at other steakhouses, and wanted to see if I could recreate it today.  I started with two Filet Mignons that are triple wrapped in bacon.  They looked fantastic, but I couldn’t help but wonder what this would be like on a NY Strip.

Of course, I chose the bigger one.  My wife wanted a steak, but she can’t handle the heat from this one.  To make the pepper stick to the steak, I chose to add Chipotle Tabasco.

While I allowed the Tabasco to soak in, I decided to run a bunch of peppercorns through a grinder.  I did a mix of high and medium grounds to give it a dust.

I then took the steak and dipped both sides into the pepper.  This gave it a really nice crust.

I put these back in the fridge while I got the grill going.  I lit the chimney and prepared the Landmann for a hot fire.  Of course, this isn’t a post without a booze reference, so I opened a bottle of Alamos Malbec, which is perfect with beef.

Once I got the grill as hot as I could get it, I dropped this straight on the coals.  These steaks are really thick, so, they do take some time to cook.  I ran these 4 minutes on each side and then rotated them 1/4 turn for another 4 minutes on each side.  This put my steak at exactly 140 degrees.   Add a baked potato and another glass of Malbec, and you are set.

 I absolutely loved the flavor this steak had.  It wasn’t nearly as spicy as I thought it would be, but you can never beat fresh ground pepper.  My wife tried it and wasn’t completely against it.  I am sure I will do this one again, but try bigger pepper grounds.

As always, if you have any questions, send me a message on facebook at www.facebook.com/cbque or on twitter @cbque