New York steak with grilled asparagus w/ a shallot & whiskey butter sauce and a baked red potato

It's difficult to not get excited about asparagus and shallots when you're talking about using whiskey as a sauce for them. The New York steak doesn't hurt as a garnish either. Everyone has their favorite cuts of steak and I have mine as well. New York steaks are rich and full of flavor and easy to cook with. I have a local store that sells them in ridiculous sizes and it's difficult for me to not want to buy one when I see them. I grilled this on a Lodge cast iron skillet. I can't understate how much I like to cook on cast iron. I gave this skillet to my girlfriend as a Christmas gift. I'm a strong proponent of giving gifts to people you care about that are also useful to yourself. It just makes sense.

Ingredients:

2 large shallots sliced
1 bunch of asparagus
1 large New York Steak (or two reasonably sized ones)
5 oz of Whiskey (plus additional if needed)
2 tablespoons of butter
A few splashes of water (if needed)
1 teaspoon of mustard 
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 red potato
Salt/Pepper to taste

Instructions:

The thing that will take the longest is the potato. Drizzle some olive oil around the entire thing and add some salt and pepper to taste. Put it into the oven at 450 degrees on a preheated pan. Put about a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and add your sliced shallots. Heat them up and let them brown. Pour 3 ounces of whiskey into a glass, and another two ounces into another glass. When the shallots are looking thirsty it's time to add the whiskey. Pour the whiskey in slowly and reduce the heat. Deglaze the pan. Let the shallots simmer while the whiskey is reducing. Drink the other glass of whiskey.


At this time you should be heating up your skillet for the steak and the asparagus. The asparagus should have their ends cut off of them (or snapped, but I find that practice to be time consuming and obnoxious).



The steak should be seasoned with salt and pepper. If you are preparing a cut inferior to the New York or a Rib eye I recommend coating it lightly with salt, pepper, garlic powder, a small amount of olive oil and some Worcestershire sauce. This can hide the lackluster meat quality. While you're preparing the steak you should add about 2 tablespoons of butter to the shallots.  The asparagus will cook for about the same amount of time the meat is cooked. Generally you should only flip the meat one time. I recommend waiting about 8-10 minutes and then flipping the steak. When you're cooking with cast iron it has the ability to retain heat very well. After you flip the steak for the second time you should wait several minutes. Not as long as you waiting on the first side however. Once you turn off the burner the steak and the asparagus will continue to cook. I like mine to be medium rare. At this point when everything is almost done add the teaspoon of mustard (stone ground) into the shallot whiskey sauce and stir it. It will help emulsify it. You may need to add some water if it looks to be separating. If that happens add a little water and whisk it all together. When all of this looks good to your standards you should plate the dish. You're ready to enjoy.