Steak with Mushroom Cognac Sauce

These pan-seared New York strip steaks are cooked in cast iron on the stovetop and are finished with a delicious mushroom cognac sauce. This produces steakhouse-quality steaks and makes the perfect special meal.

About this Pan Seared Steak

Making your own restaurant meals at home is easier than it looks, especially a delicious cast iron pan-seared New York strip dinner. If you are like us, we have been staying home more and saving money by not eating out.

Cooking steak in cast iron is the secret to making the perfect steak dinner at home. These New York strips are pan-seared in the cast iron pan for just a short time before they rest.

Then the mushrooms are cooked in butter, garlic, and cognac and poured over the steaks, taking just 30 minutes to make.

This cast iron New York strip recipe is our go-to steak recipe whenever we are craving restaurant-quality steak. That mushroom cognac sauce that goes with these NY strips is so delicious and makes the perfect sauce to cover these juicy steaks.

It is so much better than going out! Trust me!

Ingredients Needed

Steak

• New York Strips - Two of them and make sure they are about one inch thick and bring them to room temperature.

Mushroom Cognac Sauce

• Baby Bella Mushrooms: This is my preference for the mushroom sauce but any variety of mushrooms will work.
• Unsalted Butter: This is for a finishing sauce.
• Fresh Garlic: Imparts so much flavor in the sauce.
• Cognac: This is the star of the show.
• Olive oil: Just a little.
• Capers (optional): I love the salty flavor the capers add.
• Kosher salt and pepper.

How to Make

Cooking the Steak in Cast Iron

1. Pre-heat a cast iron pan in the oven for 15 minutes (or a heavy bottom pan)- You want the heavy bottom pan you are using to be really hot when you sear the steaks. I prefer using cast iron for this recipe but any heavy bottom pan will work.
2. Pat dry the steaks- Water is the enemy of a good sear on meat. Before you begin to sear the steak, you want to pat the outside dry with a paper towel.
3. Season the steak- Make sure you generously season your steak with salt (I like kosher salt) and fresh ground pepper. That seasoning will crust onto the outside of the steak when it sears.
4. Sear the steak- You want to give your steak enough time to sear and not move it at all. You want to cook the steak on both sides for 3-4 minutes depending on how well done you would like the steak. This yields a beautiful medium rare steak.
5. Remove the steaks- Add the steaks to a plate and cover for 8-10 minutes to rest. This allows the juices in the steak to redistribute and keep the steak juicy. There is also a little carry-over cooking happening as well.

Making the Mushroom Cognac Sauce

1. Add Mushrooms, butter, garlic, and capers- You are now into the sauce portion of the recipe and you want to cook the mushrooms until tender about 5 minutes.
2. Add cognac- You want to add the cognac to the mushrooms and then let the alcohol cook off and pick up any extra bits of flavor in the pan for the sauce. The sauce reduces by almost half which should take about 3-4 minutes.
3. Plate the steaks- Now your pan-seared steaks are ready and rested and you just spoon a little of the mushrooms and sauce over top of the steak and enjoy!

Tips:

• Cast iron is slow to heat all the way through but once it is heated it retains the heat the best. Make sure to preheat the pan for a good 10 minutes before cooking the steak.
• Allow the steak to come to room temperature before cooking. This allows the steak to cook evenly. Just place the steak on the counter for 20 minutes before you are ready to cook them.

Steak Cooking Times

When cooking steak, you want to figure out what temperature you like them at which will determine their cooking time. The meat will continue cooking after it is removed from the pan and resting. There is a safe cooking time for red meat so you want to make sure you always follow that guidance. Here is a chart to help you figure out how long to cook your steak for the right doneness.

• Rare (red center all the way through and seared on the outside)- 120-130 degrees or cooked for about 2-3 minutes per side.
• Medium Rare (red center with a little pink and a seared outside)- 130-135 degrees or 3.5 minutes per side.
• Medium (pink all the way through with a seared outside)- 135-145 degrees or 4.5 minutes per side.
• Medium Well (pink in the center and brown throughout with a seared outside)- 145-155 degrees or 6-6.5 minutes per side.
• Well (brown all the way through and seared outside). You should never ever cook a steak past medium well.

What To Serve With Cast Iron Steak

These pan-seared cast iron NY strip steaks go so well with so many sides. Depending on what you are in the mood for, here are some suggestions.

• I love making sauteéd Brussels sprouts.
• You can also try Italian style Brussels sprouts to make it more special.
• A classic is homemade creamy mashed potatoes to pull off that steakhouse dinner.
• Homemade Fluffy Biscuits with yogurt are always a great option with steak.
• Cuban style chimichurri sauce is a great option if you want to just follow the pan-searing the steak portion of the recipe and not make the sauce.

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