Thank you all for your replies ... and a great link, party music, for sous vide info. Islay, without having any brown stock handy, I can't imagine making a nice Steak Diane sauce WITHOUT using the drippings in pan after cooking or searing steaks! It's so lacking flavor without it and is the basis of so many meat sauces. A NY steak is also called a strip steak and is the "long half" (along the bone) of a porterhouse steak (not the filet side) if that helps you. In Calif., it's usually served boneless. I think what we'll do is sous vide to a RARE temp, sear in very hot pan, put in oven for a few min. while I'm quickly making the sauce. Apparently there will also be liquid to pour out of the cooking bag to add to pan, also. Hopefully, meat will increase to no more than medium rare.

I don't flambé. Perfectly understandable to be hesitant. Epicurious recipe, HERE Pour off fat from skillet, then add shallots and half of butter (2 tablespoons) to skillet and cook over moderately low heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until shallots are well-browned all over, 3 to 5 minutes. Add Cognac (use caution; it may ignite) and boil, stirring, until liquid is reduced to a glaze, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cream and any meat juices accumulated on platter and boil sauce, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cook over low heat, swirling skillet, until butter is incorporated. Serve sauce with steaks. I actually turn off the burner when i add the cognac. The pan is very hot at that point. Then turn the burner back on to finish. I learned from Ann_t...her recipe, HERE . She uses less cream. I aim for her color sauce. Just keep a lid same size as your pan nearby if it flames by accident.

Oh my, I'm really sitting on a different fence ;) I like fatty meats, dairy, and while it never gets much sympathy, almost fight to keep my weight up - partly because I know I don't look my best too thin. DH has to be so careful with portion control in our kitchen, it's difficult for him to stay at a reasonable weight while I try to maintain one. I'm just grateful he's so active even retired now - he burns a lot of calories :) Funky, we grill year around here. If its cold like today, DH will still open the garage door on his side of the garage, roll the BBQ just outside under our deep overhang and grill away. It's gas. Easy to light, quick to cool, and back inside out of the weather. I have never in my life made a ground turkey or ground chicken burger ;)

0314, I don't think that's what I was talking about. On a charcoal (or wood) broiler, it's so hot that with several minutes on each side, lid off, a steak is cooked with the flavor from the smoke and a Maillard reaction sear on each flat side that was face down to the fire. On a gas device, doing the same thing with the lid up warms the meat with a Maillard reaction sear only where the meat touches the grill grid. Spaces in-between the grill grid marks are pale beige as is shown in the photo above. They don't get hot enough to cook the steak properly with the lid up. Lid down is baking. Commercial kitchens where steak is featured often have appliances called salamander broilers. Over 1500 degrees F for a quick broil. High heat is needed for steaks. Other things, not so much. Even hamburgers benefit from a high heat exposure to develop a Maillard reaction crust on the outside. A wood/charcoal fire or a hot cast iron pan will do the crust, only the fire will do the smoky flavor. Gas will do neither unless some of you have a much higher BTU unit than my $500+ Weber produces. Admitedly, what I have is a midrange consumer product, not one of the up-market ones. Maybe built in gas grills (which I don't plan to get) with natural gas connections are available that produce higher temperatures with higher BTU burners.