Skip to main content

Makers Mark and Strip Steaks with Chef Preston Clark

makers mark and strip steaks with chef preston clark
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Labor Day Weekend is imminent. And while that may mean the summer is rapidly coming to an end, it doesn’t mean you have to curl up in a ball and mourn the loss of warm weather, tan skin, day-drinking and fleeting romance. No, instead it’s time to fortify yourself with the last great grilling weekend of the year.

As you may already know, we here at The Manual are big fans of cooking and barbecuing with bourbon. (But really, who isn’t?) However, we have another bourbon inspired recipe for you to use this Labor Day Weekend in order to cement one more great summer memory.

Recommended Videos

Our latest recipe comes from Chef Preston Clark who heads the kitchen at New York City’s Resto, as well as its sister restaurant The Cannibal. Chef Clark certainly knows how to prepare meat, as his menu at The Cannibal features appetizers such as a Pig’s Head Terrine and entrees like Roasted Lamb Neck and Rib For Two. As you can tell, he isn’t messing around.

For Labor Day Weekend, Chef Clark recommends preparing Pan Seared New York Strip Steaks. This recipe serves four and features a “pan sauce” that utilizes Makers Mark, which has become one of America’s trademark bourbons. The sauce contains all the ingredients and flavors you would expect from a late summer barbecue: apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Cayenne pepper, soy sauce and garlic. The strip steaks themselves are prepared with a simple kosher salt, pepper, garlic and thyme rub that will satisfy anyone—including that one friend who just won’t get out of the pool because he doesn’t want summer to end.

With Chef Preston Clark’s culinary knowledge firmly in tow, you can officially send summer off in style with your Labor Day Weekend barbecue. We’ve included the recipe below. Now get thee to the butcher!

Ingredients:

4 N.Y. Strips (1 ½ inches thick)

3 Tablespoons Kosher Salt

1 Tablespoon Fresh Black Peppercorns coarsely crushed

2 tablespoons Canola oil

1/3 pound Butter

4 Garlic Cloves

3 sprigs Fresh Thyme

For the Pan Sauce:

2 tablespoons Butter

3tablespoons Chopped Onion

2 Chopped Garlic cloves

1 ½ cups Makers Mark 46

1 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar

2 tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice

½ cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/3 cup Soy Sauce

1 sprig Fresh Thyme

1 sprig Fresh Rosemary

2 teapoons Kosher salt

Method:

1. Season both sides of the steaks with the salt and the coarse ground black peppercorns.

2. In a cast iron pan, heat the canola oil on high heat until in just begins to smoke.

3. Add the steaks to the hot pan, searing the steak well.  About 2 ½ -3 minutes on each side.

4. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the butter, garlic and thyme and baste the steak with a spoon. Be sure to baste the steaks well on both sides, cooking to desired doneness.

5. Remove the steaks from the pan to a resting platter.

6. Remove the fat from the pan.

7. To make the sauce, add the butter over medium heat to melt

8. Add the chopped onions, garlic and cook slowly while constantly stirring.

9. Add the Makers mark 46 and reduce until there is about ½ cup of whisky left.

10. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the herbs and cook until the sauce is the proper consistency. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon

11. Finish the sauce by adding the sprigs of Thyme and Rosemary.

12. Spoon the Steak sauce over the steaks and enjoy.

Matt Domino
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Matt Domino is a writer living in Brooklyn. His fiction has appeared in Slice and The Montreal Review, while his non-fiction…
ButcherBox vs. Good Chop: Which meat delivery service is the better choice?
How to decide between these two popular meat boxes
Steak levels of doneness

I love steak. In fact, I would eat it every day if I could. But I despise shopping for it. If you hate shopping for meat as much as I do, you might've considered a meat delivery box such as ButcherBox or Good Chop. Meat delivery boxes are a great way to avoid running around to 3 different grocery stores to find the exact cut or quality of meat you want.

Nowadays, there are plenty of places to order meat online, making identifying the best delivery service challenging. ButcherBox is well-known in the world of grass-fed, grass-finished beef, yet many know Good Chop for its 100% customizable boxes. But where should you start? Below, I compare ButcherBox vs Good Chop to help you determine which box is better for you.
Selection of meats

Read more
The 22 best food documentaries of all time: The ultimate list
Looking for a hard-hitting documentary about food? Here's a list of the best options
For Grace documentary

When it comes to high-quality viewing, the culinary world has all of the ingredients for maximum entertainment. The pressure, the skill, the high stakes — it all makes for great television. Documentaries about food take this one extra step; often focusing on a sensational or troubling plot within the industry or how a chef or restaurant grew to prominence (or came crashing down).

Whether it's simply witnessing what it's like to be a Michelin-star talent in the world of cooking or digging into a scandal that plagued the entire wine realm, food docs offer a window into a pretty exclusive world. Whether you're a foodie or someone like me who doesn't care much about food at all, these movies will help you appreciate the artistry that goes into crafting a good meal. And, just as importantly, they can show you what happens when your best-laid plans go horribly awry. Food docs are great precisely because of how much they spotlight both the people and the food they make.

Read more
Savory, minimal, nostalgic: These are the top cocktail trends for 2025
Get ready for mushrooms, seaweed, and even meats to star in drinks this year
Mezcal Union Uno Cocktail Apium

With a new year ahead, we're looking forward to all the exciting cocktails we'll get to drink in the next 12 months. Last year saw a wave of trends like warm cocktails for fall, a beginning of interest in savory cocktails, and everyone getting into mezcal cocktails and while the adventurous embarked into the world of sotol cocktails.

So, what's on the slate for 2025? We asked two experts, 2024 US World Class Bartender of the Year and Mezcal Unión influencer Jonathan Stanyard and Angel’s Envy Global Head of Brand Education Angel Teta, about what they're looking out for in the world of cocktails this year and what their top tips are for enjoying these trends at home.
Savory cocktails

Read more