Sirloin of Beef with Bacon, Squash, and Five Spice Powder

"Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not the sum of what we have been, but what we yearn to be." - Jose Ortega y Gasset

Now that I'm hitting my mid-20's, a lot of life points are coming into perspective: work, school, marriage, kids, the future. A lot of my friends are settling down into stable relationships, moving in together, some have even bought their own houses by now. There are even those that have been having kids and are already moving onto their second or third. It's nuts! Sometimes I sit back and think about how easy and carefree life was just a few years ago in high school, where the only worry I had was getting a good SAT score in order to get into a great college. Now, my worries are bills, car insurance, electricity, my Netflix, studying like a madwoman in school, passing life-determining exams, medicine, health policies, keeping track of my income and expenses, etc, etc, etc. Oh, wait, how can I forget making sure my credit score is impeccable which is a huge deal now since they use it for everything from loans, to housing applications, to car leasing. I can also tie all of this into how my cooking has evolved. I'm more open now to new flavors, new foods, new vegetables, flavor combinations that just a few years ago I would've never tried. This recipe kind of falls into that category. The sweetness of the five spice powder mixed in with the squash would've been a definite no in my book. Ask my mom. I was an incredibly finicky eater. Now though, I find that being able to try new things actually gives me more to talk about as well as enables me to be able to recommend things to more people.

Sirloin of Beef with Bacon, Squash, and Five Spice Powder
adapted from: Rocco's Real Life Recipes: Fast Flavor for Every Day by Rocco DiSpirito

*serves 4*

Ingredients:
8 pieces naturally hardwood smoked thick cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch wide strips
32 oz diced butternut squash
2 tbsp five spice powder
salt
freshly ground pepper
1.55 lbs boneless top sirloin steak, cut into 4 portions
8 oz canned pear nectar
2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350F.
2) Heat a large saute pan over high heat. Add the bacon to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan, draining all but about 2 tbsp of fat. Turn heat down to low while you get the squash ready for the oven.
3) Place bacon in a large mixing bowl. Toss squash with bacon and transfer it to a baking sheet. Cook the squash in the oven for about 20 minutes or until tender. Season with five spice powder, salt, and pepper.
4) Meanwhile, turn the heat back up to high and season the beef on all sides with salt and pepper. Add beef to the pan and brown the meat, basting with the bacon fat as it cooks, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the steaks to a platter and let them rest while you make the pear sauce.
5) Pour out any excess fat from the pan. Over high heat, add the pear nectar to the pan, scraping up any bits of bacon or beef with a wooden spoon. Stir in the parsley. Serve the sirloin alongside the vegetables, spooning the sauce over everything.

You can pair this meal with a Dolcetto.

Medallions of Beef with Crab and Squash Stew

"I look back on my life like a good day's work, it was done and I am satisfied with it." - Grandma Moses

If you were to get to know me, you'd find out that my memory is like an elephant's, I practically never forget anything. Names, faces, birthdays, the way something is ordered, pictures, parties, classes, down to even the way I had left a pen on the table. Barely any detail slips my mind. Most of the time this works in my favor since being able to remember things accurately always comes in handy. Sometimes though, it works against me, particularly when it comes to not being able to forget mistakes some people did, and hence not being able to move past it. I guess this is what makes me and some people argue so much. Even though they say "I'm sorry," I can't live up to my part of the bargain with the forgiving and forgetting. I try to forgive but then I get trapped in the not-forgetting part. Trust me, I've been working on that for some time now, and seeing this quote made me realize that I should fix that error sooner rather than later so that next time I'm sipping on some wine, I can look back on that day's yesterday and be satisfied with the day, instead of finding a "but" to nitpick at.

Medallions of Beef with Crab and Squash Stew
adapted from: Rocco's Real Life Recipes: Fast Flavor for Every Day by Rocco DiSpirito

*serves 4*

Ingredients:
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.54 lbs beef boneless top sirloin steak, cut into 4 portions
salt
freshly ground pepper
3 cups zucchini squash, sliced
3 tbsp ginger paste
1 cup canned organic butternut squash soup
18 oz canned crabmeat
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
1) In a large skillet heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil over high heat until lightly smoking. Season steaks to taste with salt and pepper. Add half of the steaks to the pan and sear until golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove steaks to a clean plate and repeat with remaining steaks. Allow steaks to rest for 5 minutes.
2) Keep the pan hot on the stove. Add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil to the pan. Add zucchini and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the ginger and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the soup and crabmeat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Whisk in the sour cream. Place 1 steak in each of four large shallow bowls. Top steaks with crab stew.

You can pair this meal with a Pinot Noir.

Medallions of Beef with Gingered Greens

"It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important." - Arthur Conan Doyle

I finally found out who originally said that it's the little things that count! I'm 23 years old, and lo and behold I discovered that the genius behind that saying is none other than the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Talk about being mind blown!! Seriously though, I really am shocked. I think it's because of all the people that are quoted out there, I wouldn't have expected that the mastermind behind Sherlock Holmes would be the one to coin such a universally known quote. I don't even know how many times I've used this quote in order to make a point, mostly with men. They seem to just forget that the little things really do count, the little things are the ones we usually remember and treasure the most. Sometimes, they get so carried away with all the macho stuff that they choose to ignore that neither size nor quantity is what matters. It's the quality and the meaning behind it. I often have this conversation with a really good friend of mine. Let's say a holiday is coming up, or a birthday, or something that merits gift-giving. He starts to go off on how he doesn't have that much money to spend, how he'd prefer to be rich in order to be able to give me the gifts I deserve. Um, what ever happened to making a gift, a card, a dinner, going for a nice walk, hell, even sharing a small ice cream cone? He just doesn't understand that just honoring the holiday and spending it with me is good enough, in fact, even better than giving me an actual gift that can be wasted, or broken, or lost. Hopefully, there'll come a day where men universally process this quote and realize they don't always have to spend crazy amounts of money on us in order to make us happy!

Medallions of Beef with Gingered Greens
adapted from: Rocco's Real Life Recipes: Fast Flavor for Every Day by Rocco DiSpirito

*serves 4*

Ingredients:
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.75 lbs beef boneless top sirloin steak, cut into 4 portions
salt
freshly ground pepper
1 cup zucchini squash, sliced
3 tbsp ginger paste
1/2 tbsp garlic paste
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 bunch broccoli rabe, cleaned and cut into 3-inch long pieces
1/2 cup coconut milk

Directions:
1) In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil over high heat until oil is lightly smoking. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Add half of the steaks to the pan and sear until golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove steaks to a clean plate and repeat with remaining steaks. Allow steaks to rest for 5 minutes.
2) Keep the pan hot on the stove. Add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil to the pan. Add the zucchini and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the ginger and garlics and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the broccoli rabe and saute until it begins to wilt, about 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk and simmer for 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place 1 steak on each of four plates. Spoon the sauce over the steaks.

You can pair this meal with a Dolcetto.