Beef Bites and Broccoli

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.

 

Toss in the broccoli and season with salt and pepper.  Saute for about a minute and transfer to your plate!

 

Once it’s on your plate, insert into your mouth and enjoy!!!!  Your taste buds will thank you for the butter!

Chocolate Chip Pancake Mini Muffins (aka: Puffins)

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I found this recipe on Bakerella.com and just had to try it out for our Sunday School Breakfast tomorrow morning.  Verdict: Delicious!!!!  Who would have thought….pancakes in the shape of a mini muffin.  No more flipping and burning pancakes!

Here’s what you’ll need to start:

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Mini Muffin Pan

 

Makes 24 Puffins.

 

 

Preheat oven to 350°.

 

Combine flour…..

 

Baking powder…..

 

Baking Soda…

 

Salt…

 

and sugar into a medium bowl.

 

Sift together with a wire whisk.

 

In another bowl, add buttermilk…

 

egg…

 

and melted butter.

 

Stir until just combined.

 

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.

 

 

Stir in chocolate chips, and be sure to save a few to sprinkle on the tops.  I forgot to take a picture of this step, but I’m sure you get the idea.  Dump them in, and stir!  In the mean time, here’s a pretty pic of 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

 

Thoroughly grease your mini muffin pan.

 

Next, use a regular teaspoon to scoop the batter into the pan.

 

Sprinkle your reserved chocolate chips onto the top of the batter.

 

Here’s what it’ll look like right before it goes into the oven.

 

Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.  I’ve found that 8 minutes works best for me.  You don’t want to over bake them and have them turn out too dry.

 

You’ll know they’re ready to come out when they look like this.

 

Look at those gorgeous Puffins just waiting to find their way out of the pan and into your mouth!

 

And into my mouth it went!

Try them!  Your mouth will thank you!

First pictures

mega millions

I was able to visit with my beautiful nephews a few weeks ago in Newport Beach, CA and took some cute shots of them playing around on the putting green  and swimming in the pool.  Charlie, age 5, is the older of the two boys, and Max, age 3, loves to do everything his older brother does.

 

Golfing on the resort putting green was fun.

 

Max loved splashing in the pool.