Hey, some cheaper cuts can and should be sauced, eg. skirt. There are also quite a few recipes of cooking filet mignon with sauce because the cut is so lean and can be dried out quickly if care is not taken. But you already know that if you go to Morton's and ask for any sauce after ordering a 24 oz. Porterhouse, you'll probably be kicked out to the curb.

Not really but the look on everyone will let you know what kind of fool you are.

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Give me some soy sauce and a seasoned steak and I'm good.

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That depends, is sour cream considered a sauce?

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I like my steak unseasoned when cooking. I then salt the juice from cutting the steak and dip it...the only way to go.

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Horseradish sauce.. just a bit (not poured over it).

Good steak worth your time (dry aged) is cooked over a real wood fire in a dirt pit (Texans KNOW how to BBQ) with just some salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Put sauce on your dry chicken breasts.

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I too see saucing a steak after it's cooked as a sort of cheating, but that's just because I see the actual need to sauce a steak as the hallmark of an overcooked steak needing some sort of moisture or extra flavor. Just like in a restaurant when you reach for the salt... that means that the chef didn't do his job properly. Now if the chef tells you that saucing is part of the recipe, that is something different entirely.

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no sauce.
no grill marks.

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A good, aged NY Strip with the bone in or out, cooked at the right temperature with a little salt and pepper (no, not BAM!), will not need any sauces. That's not being snobby, it's just better tasting. I agree that some recipes and tougher/cheaper cuts don't mind it. Worchester on a skirt is good and mixes with the ketchup for the fries nice. But if you are paying premium for a good cut of meat at a nice place, then make 'em work their mojo.

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I think that if a steak--a TRUE steak (not a few slices from a larger cut, such as a London Broil)--is seasoned properly, and handled/grilled properly, there's not going to be any need for a sauce. Just rub the cut bits around in the juices on your plate.

At home, if I prepare some nice steaks (I'm thinking of thick ribeyes, for example) for my guests, and I take the time and make the effort (dry-aging, seasoning, and of course grilling) to serve them a great meal, then I have every right to throw them out of my house if they request A-1.

In all fairness, I should point out that I think most commercially-available steak sauces are actually quite tasty. They make a fine addition to marinates, and they do (often) improve the quality of the larger "sliced-to-order" cuts.

And burgers :)

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I hearby declare myself a steak purest. Needless to say the better the cut the less garnishing it requires. I do add stuff to round steak,etc. Starting with the Sirloin on up I like it real. I almost never order the optional mushrooms offered in most restaurants. Just give me a rare steak and a salt shaker. I am good for a slow and very comfortable meal.
When at home I try to grill when I can with a mixture of oil, olive if I have it and about as much lemon juice, to that I ad a bit of salt a good helping of pepper a pinch of garlic salt. No marinade, just baste it before it hits the grill and a few times as I cook it. This adds little if any flavor be seals in the juices. I am medium rare, the wife is medium. I am salt shaker she is A1 all the way. A good cut of beef is so good in its own rite why mess with it. Like the other comment save your extras for that dry chicken breast.

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i dip in ketchup or horseradish or tabasco.

hate me all you want. it tastes good. and that's all that matters.

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Who on earth puts salt on a steak before cooking? It draws out all the moisture is fastest way to a dry steak I know. Just put it on afterwards to taste.

A good steak just needs a wipe of oil and lots and lots of black pepper.

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I was once a true steak purist. I had to taste the meat, not the gunk on top. Marnating was an option but never anything really heavy.

Now, on the rare occasions when I eat steak I like a little hoisin sauce on the side for dipping. I am also currently experiencing a fondness for ginger teriyaki.

Dr. "just stop my steak from mooing" Electro

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I never grill my steaks because it's too sad to see that beautiful fond go to waste. I use JC's sauces Bercy or Marchand du vin, depending on what wine I have handy, and it couldn't be simpler or yummier. Cook up the steak (we like grass-fed ribeye the best), and while it's resting, sauté a chopped shallot in the fond and butter. When that's translucent, add some red or white wine, boil down until syrupy, whisk in more butter, season, et voila!

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About Salt.

One of the best ways to cook a london broil is with an ABUNDANCE of salt. Let your steak warm to room temp. If you like it bloody, let the steak start off less than warm.

Take a well seasoned cast iron pan, heat it to medium high, put no oil and a hell-lot of salt on the side of the london broil that will go down first (or just onto the pan), slap it down, much smoke ensues (run the vent, open windows, etc) and then cook for about 5-7 mins.

Repeat as you flip but cook only a short time (you have to experiment yourself in terms of how red and juicy you want this to be)

Here is a quick how-2 photo series.

Cooking
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nika7k/43252725/in/photostream/

let it sit a few mins to rest

cut and serve
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nika7k/43252728/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nika7k/43252726/in/photostream/

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I like bleu cheese butter myself, but I'm odd that way.

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