When I was a teenager, I loved to entertain (I still do).  I thought I was a real gourmet, because I knew how to cook – no help from my mom.  We used to have other families for dinner, and sometimes I’d have dinner parties for friends.  My favorite meal was flank steak in teriyaki marinade.  I probably served it 100 times, never thinking that the guests might get tired of it.  The recipe came from a cookbook called A Man’s Taste published by the Junior League of Memphis.  My dad and a friend of his spearheaded this project in an effort to show those Junior League ladies that men could cook too.  And the book was a success.  The recipe below is a version of that original, with the grown-up addition of bourbon.  I think flat-iron is a lovely cut to grill, but you could use flank steak if you prefer.

I never bothered with any embellishments to my teenage steak dinners – I thought an actual recipe from an actual cookbook could not be fiddled with or changed, silly me.  Now, however, I love to add a slice or two of compound butter to any grilled steak. It takes a pretty simple preparation and makes it elegant and full of flavor.  And I have to say, this Southern Bacon Bourbon Butter may be my best version yet.  Sweet and tangy with smoke from the bacon and the grill, it melts lusciously over the meat, leaving just a hint of crispy bacon and green onion behind.

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