Author Notes: This is one of my favorite ways to have steak: spice rubbed steak on toast with Gorgonzola cheese. The garlic chips contribute texture and a great flavor combo. I've done this with various cuts of beef, and like NY strip steak that's got some good fat marbling or rib-eye steak the best. Any bread will likely work, but I typically use Pugliese or Ciabatta for the sturdiness and crustiness of the bread.
This recipe is chock-full of flavor, not to mention some great new techniques. We don't know about you, but we both find compound butter lots of fun to make -- and this version, which incorporates smoky chipotles and cilantro, is tasty enough on its own to make a simple steak sing. But ChezSuzanne doesn't stop with compound butter. She marinates the steaks in fresh garlic and coats them with a spicy-sweet rub; once they're broiled, she rests the steaks on gorgonzola crostini before topping them with the chipotle butter and our favorite new garnish: lightly candied garlic chips (a pinch of sugar makes all the difference). There's a lot going on here, but it all comes together somehow. One note: the recipe makes a lot of spice rub, and you're supposed to add some of the leftover to the gorgonzola toast but we recommend skipping this step.
Serves 2
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed and chopped
2 steaks, either NY strips with good fat marbling or rib-eye steaks
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
4 sprigs cilantro, minced
2 slices bread sliced long enough to accomodate the steak
1/4 cup Gorgonzola blue cheese
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 teaspoon kosher coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
pinch sugar
Salt the steaks and marinate them in 3 Tablespoons of olive oil and 4 smashed and chopped garlic cloves while the steaks come to room temperature (about 1 hour).
Make some compound butter by mashing together the butter, chipotle peppers and cilantro. Set aside.
Prepare the spice rub by combining the brown sugar, coriander, ground chipotle pepper powder, salt, pepper, paprika and oregano together. When the steaks finish marinating, rub the spice mixture into both sides of the steaks, reserving 1/3 of the mixture to sprinkle on the cheese.
Broil the steaks under the broiler for 6 minutes per side for medium rare with 1 inch thick steaks. While they're broiling, saute the garlic chips in 2 Tablespoons of olive oil with a pinch of sugar sprinkled on the chips.
When the steaks are done, remove from the oven. While they rest, broil the bread slices. Once both sides have toasted, put the gorgonzola cheese on the toast, sprinkle on the rest of the spice rub, and put back under the broiler until melted, about 1 minute. Remove from the oven.
Now you're ready to assemble. Put the steak on the toast allowing the cheese to squeeze out a bit. Sprinkle the garlic chips on top and add a small scoop of compound butter.
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