Delmonico's steak butter

Cold, Hard Football Facts for Oct 04, 2008

Steakhouses use a lot of tricks and techniques to make their steaks taste better than the ones you cook at home.

Dry-aging the steaks is one of the better-known techniques. It helps break down and tenderize the meat. Of course, you probably don't have the space or the controlled climate at home to age steaks yourself.

But you can easily take advantage of some of the other classic techniques used by steakhouses to create a rock-star, steakhouse-style tailgate. One of their best and easiest tricks is to melt beef fat or compound butters over the steaks just before serving. It adds more savory flavor to the meat.

We were recently sent a copy of "Dining at Delmonico's: the Story of America's Oldest Restaurant" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2008) by Judith Choate and James Canora. It's a hefty book full of tons of classic steakhouse recipes from one of the most famous restaurants in American history, Delmonico's of downtown Manhattan.

You can easily make their steak butter at home to use for your next tailgate. Here's how they do it.

Delmonico's Steak Butter

3 fresh bay leaves

1 Tablespoon fresh thyme

2 Tablespoon sea salt

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

Combine the bay leaves, thyme and salt in a spice grinder and blend until powdery. Place the butter in a mixing bowl. Add the powdered spices and, using a hand-held electric mixer, blend well. Scrape butter onto center of sheet of plastic wrap. Pull the wrap over the butter and, with your hands, form the butter in a roll about 1¼ inches in diameter. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. Cut into ½-inch thick slabs and melt on top of hot steaks. Makes 1 pound of butter.

By Kerry Byrne

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