Steaks with Hot Chili Lime Butter

Hot sauce has not always been something I would casually toss into my supermarket cart as I often do today. There was a time when I looked upon hot sauce as just that red spicy saucy stuff reserved for beer guzzling lovers of hot wings on Super Bowl Sundays. I know better now.

Hot sauce, while still fabulous slathered onto hot wings, is a spicy addition to soups, sandwiches, dressings and even eggs. (I personally cannot stomach the idea of hot sauce on eggs-or even ketchup on eggs, but that's just me).

It warmed up a bit here in the Northeast so I fired up the grill and threw on a few bone-in shell steaks. I used a unique method of preparation for the steaks that I found on Steamy Kitchen where you coat (I mean coat) the steaks with salt 15-60 minutes before grilling them, then rinse, pat dry and grill. Wow! We're talking steakhouse good! It's worth reading the whole post on Steamy Kitchen because it describes the whole process and why it makes them so tasty, but I'm telling you it was lick your lips, melt in your mouth good. I topped the steaks with a butter that I made with hot sauce and limes and served it with a quick spinach salad.

Salt-licked Steaks with Hot Chili-lime butter

2 bone in shell steaks (about 1 1/4 inch thick, 1.75 lbs total)

about 4 teaspoons kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon lime zest

1/2 teaspoon lime juice

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Franks)

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped cilantro

Arrange the steaks on a baking sheet and coat each side of the steaks with 1 teaspoon of the kosher salt; let rest for 15-60 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the butter. In a small bowl combine the butter, lime zest, lime juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and cilantro. Spoon the butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll to form a log, press down gently with your finger on one side to make the log a uniform size. Chill the wrapped butter until ready to use.

Preheat grill to medium high heat. Rinse the salt from the steaks and pat dry. Season to taste with the black pepper. Place on the grill rack, close the lid and cook for 8 minutes. Turn steaks using a spatula and cook for an additional 5 minutes for medium-rare or cook until desired doneness.

Place 1 tablespoon of the butter on each of the hot steaks and serve immediately.

Note: some tasty additions to the butter might be minced shallots, scallions or garlic. For extra spiciness add 1/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper and have a glass of ice water ready.