cooking on the grill - going beyond the burger

A delicious, homemade sauce is one thing that takes steakhouse steaks to the next level. Creating such sauces at home is one way to make your own steaks more reminiscent of those that you enjoy at your favorite restaurants. Here are two steakhouse-style sauce recipes to help you do just that.

Blue Cheese Mornay Sauce

Few flavors pair with steak as well as blue cheese. This creamy sauce is also wonderful on your steak fries or baked potato.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, and whisk to form a roux. Keep cooking the roux over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Then, pour in the milk while continuing to whisk constantly. Stir in the salt and cayenne pepper. Continue to heat and whisk until the mixture begins bubbling. Then, cook for 2 more minutes, still whisking constantly.

Remove the sauce from the heat, and stir in the blue cheese until it melts completely. Serve on top of your steak. Leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated gently on the stove over low heat.

Red Wine Reduction

This boldly flavored sauce is made using the drippings from your steak after you finish cooking it in a skillet on the stove. It's a great sauce for wintertime when you're cooking your steaks indoors instead of outdoors and when you want a sauce that packs some truly intense flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry red wine, such as Merlot
• 1 tablespoon shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 pinch dried thyme
• 1 pinch dried rosemary
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

As soon as you remove your steak from the skillet, pour the canola oil, shallots and garlic into the pan. Saute briefly to release the flavors from these ingredients. Then, pour in the red wine. While cooking on medium heat, use a spoon or spatula to push the red wine around the pan, loosening any drippings that are stuck to the bottom. Add the herbs, salt and pepper, and bring the wine to a simmer. Simmer until reduced in volume by about half -- this takes about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low, and stir in the butter just until melted. Enjoy over your steak.

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