Edition: U.S. / Global

THE MINIMALIST; Steak Sauce With Bite

By Mark Bittman
Published: October 20, 1999

THE best-known steak and cheese combination in this country may be the Philadelphia cheese steak, but the French know there is a more elegant way to combine these two foods: top a steak with a simple blue cheese sauce. It is the kind of dish I crave from time to time -- a good steak served with something powerfully salty and rich; anchovy butter or a combination of butter, soy sauce and ginger also do the trick.

One classic blue cheese sauce is essentially cheese melted in milk or cream, or stirred into a milk-based white sauce. To use such a sauce on pasta you need the added fat of milk or cream, but when I tried these combinations with steak, they were near disasters -- richness on top of richness, with no contrasting sharpness. It was clear that the cheese alone provided enough fat, and that the other ingredients should provide lots of bite. This led me to combine shallots and vinegar, and to augment the sauce with a little cayenne. The result is a wonderfully mouth-watering combination.

My favorite blue cheese for this sauce is Roquefort, but Stilton, Gorgonzola, Maytag blue or any high-quality, fairly soft blue cheese will work equally well. Don't try to make this sauce with commercially produced domestic blue cheeses like those sold precrumbled for salads. The taste will be inferior and it will not provide enough creaminess.

As for the steak, the usually too-lean and mildly flavored tenderloin (filet mignon) will do fine. Its tenderness will be welcome, and the sauce will more than compensate for its blandness. A good strip steak or rib-eye would be chewier and more flavorful, but also fattier. The choice is yours.




Time: 20 minutes

1 tablespoon butter or neutral oil, like canola

4 tablespoons minced shallots

2 tablespoons white wine or cider vinegar

6 ounces crumbled Roquefort or other blue cheese

Pinch of cayenne

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 to 2 pounds strip or rib-eye steaks, or filet mignon

Minced fresh parsley or chives for garnish, optional.

1. Start a charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill or broiler; the fire should be quite hot, and grill rack no more than 4 inches from heat source.

2. Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; when butter melts and its foam begins to subside, add shallots and cook until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add vinegar, stir, and cook until it is just about evaporated, 1 or 2 minutes. Turn heat to low and stir in cheese, cayenne and a few grindings of pepper. Stir occasionally until cheese melts, then taste and adjust seasoning. Keep warm while you grill steaks.

3. Season steaks well with salt and pepper, then grill or broil about 3 to 4 minutes a side for medium-rare, longer or shorter according to your taste. Serve steaks with 1 or 2 spoonfuls of sauce over each, garnished with parsley or chives if you like.

Yield: 4 servings.