Bourbon Mustard Steaks

Posted by Janis Putelis

Recently, while attending the RMEF show in Las Vegas, Darr and I came across Chef John McGannon's booth where he was serving up an outstanding chilli and selling his Wild Eats dry rubs and seasonings.  I've always enjoyed John's article in Bugle magazine and enjoyed chatting with him equally as well.  Darr and I bought a few bags of seasonings each and walked away talking about new recipes for javelina sausage.  The recipe I'm sharing today came from the back of the Juniperberry and peppercorn rub package.  I had already used this product for grilling steaks with success, but when I took the time to read the package and found this recipe, I immediately checked the shelf for bourbon and started planning the next eve's dinner.

Great alone on steaks or as part of this recipe.

Simple to prepare with few ingredients and a foolproof sauce.

I used steaks cut from the sirloin of a Whitetail doe.
 My only advice is to go easy on the herbs; a little goes a long way.

4-6oz. steaks

1 tbsp olive oil

1.5 tbsp Juniperberry and peppercorn rub

sea or kosher salt to taste

2 oz. bourbon

1 tbsp strong Dijon mustard

2 tbsp butter

1 small onion, sliced

1 tbsp chopped parsley, thyme or sage

Season the steaks with the rub and salt and let sit 30 minutes.  Heat a heavy gauge pan over high heat and add the oil and steaks when very hot.  Turn the steaks after a min or two.(Very important!  Don't overcook your elk or deer steaks)  Cook to desired doneness, remove from pan and add the onions to the pan and saute until wilted.  Add the bourbon, be careful it may flame.  Stir in the remaining butter and herbs and finish the sauce with the Dijon mustard.  Adjust the seasonings and top the steaks with the onions.(I like to undercook my steaks and then add them back to the pan when the sauce is finished to make sure they are up to temp.)  

If you want to stretch the sauce you could add 1/4 c. of chicken stock.  More sauce to mop up with your roasted potatoes!

This dish was nothing short of delicious and will be showing on our dinner table soon again.  I'm impressed with Chef McGannon's rubs and seasonings and can tell you that the McCormick's Montreal steak seasoning has been pushed to the back of the spice shelf.