Steak Tips

Last time I used steak tips to make fajitas, which were quite tasty. This time I decided to cook them like I did the steak. While I still used cold butter this time, I did have the pan hotter. The meat, though not cold, was not sill somewhat cool.

I was quite concerned about over cooking the steak tips since they seemed so much smaller than regular steak pieces. As a result I only cooked them for 1 to 2 minutes per side. Unfortunately, this left some of the pieces being very, very rare inside. A quick 30 to 60 seconds in the microwave fixed that.

The steak tips had very good flavor, but the pieces were fairly tough no matter how you sliced it. In the future I think I'd prefer the tips for fajitas.

Once again I cooked green beans in the leftover garlic butter. They were good, but not as tasty as I remembered them being. I think there were less yummy meat juices to coat them with this time since I undercooked the steak tips. I also made roast cauliflower to go with the meal. I used asagio cheese instead of Parmesan because that's what I had on hand. It was okay. I tried a bit of truffle oil on a few pieces to see how that would work, but decided it the cheese overshadowed the flavor of the oil.

I also made cranberry kumquat muffins as an appetizer/desert. Good, but a bit sweeter than I liked.

Beef with Broccoli Stir Fry

With the rest of the steak tips I decided to make a stir fry. I wanted to do something with broccoli, mushrooms, and oyster sauce. It turns out someone else had the same idea. TigersandStrawberries posted a recipe for Ocean Broccoli Beef the day after I made this. Hers sounds better than mine. Mine was okay, but could have been a bit more flavorful. Here's what I did.

• 1/2 lb steak tips, sliced in to strips

Marinade in

• 1 TB dark soy sauce
• 2 TB oyster sauce
• 1/4 tsp honey
• 1 TB cornstarch
• 3 TB shao xing wine

Heat some peanut oil to smoking in a wok. Add

• 2 TB Black bean chili paste. Cook 30 sec.
  

then add the meat meat and brown for a minute. Then

• Top with 4 large cloves of garlic, sliced.

Cook another min to brown the beef, then start stir frying for a minute. Add

• 1 large onion, sliced. Stir fry 2 min.
• 1 package sliced mushrooms. Stir fry 2 min.
• Add remaining marinade and oil if necessary
• Add 3 broccoli stems (sliced), cook 1 min
• Add broccoli florets from 3 stalks. Stir to coat.
• Add 2/3 c chicken broth.
• Cook until broccoli is done
• Top with 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil.

Served it with some jasmine rice. Tasty, though I think I'd enjoy it with more spice. Hubby found it unexceptional, however. Next time I'll try the linked recipe.

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Fajitas

The other night I made beef fajitas. I had defrosted steak tips. I've never had anything called "steak tips" before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Given the shape of the meat pieces, simple cooking it like a steak was out. I went the strip route and decided on fajitas.

Beef Fajitas

• 1/2 lb steak tips cut into strips,
  
• Marinade made of olive oil, lime juice, cumin, chipotle, garlic, and cilantro,
• 1 onion sliced (in the direction for wedges not rounds)
• 1/3 bag colored peppers from Trader Joe's (or two bell peppers sliced)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped & splash of lime juice
• Tortillas
  

Marinade the meat for a few hours. Then in a hot pan with a bit of oil, quickly cook the meat until done, about 3 min. Removed the meat and cook the onions and peppers with the garlic and splash of lime. Cook for about 3 min.

Place the meat and veggies on a tortilla. Top with your favorite toppings.

Toppings

• Grated cheddar cheese
• chopped lettuce
• chopped tomato
• sliced black olives
• minced cilantro
• sour cream
• guacamole
• salsa

We made 6 fajitas that were way too full. This likely should have made 8 or so. They were a favorite of the husband. I'll definitely make them again.