Pairing with Navarro Vineyards Petite Sirah

Spring brings us the temperate weather we've only been dreaming about during the cold months of winter, giving us the clearance to fire up the grilling season with style. The NY strip is known for its marbled texture, which indicates a tender meat with loads of flavor. Always look for a nicely-aged cut directly from the butcher's counter. Grass-fed NY steaks vary vastly in flavor from grain fed types usually found with the meat cuts shrink-wrapped in plastic. Be picky, and the payoff will be tremendous.

• 4 NY strip steaks, 10-12 ounces each
• 3 tablespoons parsley or if preferred, Italian parsley
• Salt to taste
• 6 tablespoons butter, unsalted, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon finely-minced shallot
• 3 tablespoons black pepper, cracked coarsely

For the Gremolata butter finely chop parsley and mince shallot finely as well. In a bowl, mix the two and then add in softened butter and blend thoroughly. You can make the Gremolata butter ahead of time and even double the quantity, freezing it in batches. One of the best ways to present it is to scoop the soft butter into a piece of aluminum foil, wrap into a cylinder and freeze for easy slicing later. Pull the cylinder from the freezer, wait 10 minutes, and just slice pads of the butter and place them onto the warm steaks to melt prior to serving.

Remove steaks from refrigerator and allow them to sit wrapped in paper for about 20 minutes or until they reach a temperature close to room temperature. Remove from packing and blot dry with paper towel. Season with salt liberally. On a plate, spread out peppercorns evenly and firmly press them into the steak coating evenly.

Place steaks on the grill and cook to preferred doneness, but use care to turn steaks carefully, insuring maximum adhesion of the peppercorns to the meat. Be sure not to let the peppercorns blacken too much from the flames, often using the cover of the grille. If no grill is available another method is to cook the steaks on a cast iron skillet on medium-high heat. Make sure you have good ventilation though as pepper fumes inhaled through the lungs of your guests will make them cough mighty hard.

Serves: 4