Blue Cheese Butter Steak Sauce

The craving: Entice me with meat and thrill me with edge.

The palate: racy but creamy.

The dish: New York Strip with Blue Cheese Butter Sauce

What has some folks running for the hills attracts many foodies like no other lover: blue cheese. Add steak to the lineup and you have two elements that pair beautifully with wine as well as with each other. But since blue cheese’s “stinky feet” reputation proves difficult for some to overcome, measures can be taken to wean one’s way from resistance to tolerance to liking then loving. Perhaps haters can start with a dressing lightly flavored with blue cheese, then spread a creamy brie version (like Cambazola) on toasted, buttered bread. Next, Gorgonzola crumbles on crackers with prosciutto. Finally, full-on, hard blue cheese cut with butter on a New York strip steak.

To avoid scaring the tenderfoot, mixing the blue cheese with the butter in a 50/50 ratio is low risk. Chef Dave Beaulieu says “I find using only blue cheese to be a bit strong and the steak actually gets drowned out. But if you want more or less, feel free to change that ratio.” Beaulieu also advises adding the blue cheese butter sauce to the steak when it’s almost done so it melts into the steak, but doesn’t run off the meat.

Blue Cheese Butter Sauce usually includes blue cheese, unsalted butter (due to the inherent saltiness of the blue cheese),  parsley and fresh ground pepper.

Variations for Blue Cheese Butter Sauce:

• substitute herbs: chives, tarragon, basil, oregano, thyme
• vary blue cheese: Gorgonzola, Stilton or Maytag
• saturate flavor: garlic salt, onion powder, shallots, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce
• add tang: lemon juice, lemon peel
• introduce spirit: port