Beef Bites and Broccoli – Jo McVey Photography

lottery

I was browsing through The Pioneer Woman’s blog….as usual, and I stumbled upon these delectable looking beef bites. And let me tell you, they were as mouth-watering as they looked! And so simple! All you need is beef, butter, salt, and pepper. I decided to pair it with some fresh broccoli…mostly because it was on sale at the grocery store, but it tasted great! Here’s how I made it.

Start with some standard beef, top sirloin would work great. I found these nifty beef strips in the butcher section, and I figured, the less chopping I had to do the better!

If you didn’t buy the beef already in strips, go ahead and cut them into strips yourself and line them up in a nice row.

Then cut the other way so that you create nice little bite sized pieces.

Season generously with salt and pepper, and then roll them around so every side gets an equal amount of seasoning. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty…that just adds to the fun!

Next heat a pan over medium-high heat. You want the pan nice and hot to sear the meat pretty quickly so it’s nice and crisp on the outside and soft and wonderful on the inside. Add the butter BEFORE THE PAN IS SCREAMING HOT!!! I didn’t do this at first and completely burned my butter as you can see. Had to wash the pan and start all over. Oh well, you live and you learn!

Ahh, this is much better. A nice slow melt. You do want the butter to get a little brown, though. The more butter the better in my opinion. 🙂

Next, when the pan is nice and hot, add the meat. It should sizzle really loudly when it hits the pan. You may want to turn on the fan and open the windows.

Let the meat sit for about 45 seconds without touching it. You want it to get nice and brown and crispy on that side. After 45 seconds has passed, take a spatula and flip the meat over to sear the other side.

You want to leave a little pink to give it a soft, wonderful texture with an amazing flavorful crispy outside.

Transfer to a plate and drizzle remaining butter from the pan onto the meat. Next, use your fingers and pick up a piece of meat and insert it into your mouth. Try not to eat the entire plate….it’ll be hard bu you can do it!!!

Now for the broccoli. Chop broccoli into bite sized pieces, or maybe a little larger. Boil some water and add broccoli. Cook for about a minute or two. You want to cook the broccoli all the way through but maintain it’s crunchy texture.

Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into the same pan you cooked the meat in. You should still have a little butter on the pan, and that will add SO much flavor to the broccoli.