Spicy Buttered Steak Bites

A great alternative to grilling, these delicious Spicy Buttered Steak Bites are cooked completely in one skillet right on your stove top!

I have to confess something, Dear Reader. I’m not really that big on red meat. In fact, until now, the only way I would ever eat red meat is if it was cooked all the way through.

If the slightest bit of pink was showing when I cut into my steak, I’d push the plate back and refuse to eat it, or throw the steak back onto the grill or in the pan. It needed to be extremely well done.

When I was about nineteen years old, I went for Christmas Eve dinner with a friend and her family. The dad ordered steak. The server asked him how he wanted it prepared and he replied with the oddest things I had heard in my life to that point. “Blue,” he said.

I was already out of my comfort zone with this family. They had money and class and my family had neither of those things. We had survival and manners. I wasn’t about to make myself look any more out of place than I already did, so I didn’t bother asking. I ordered the chicken.

Fast forward about ten years later to when I was married. My ex-wife loved red meat above any other thing in the world that you could put on her plate. And, she loved it rare with a lot of pink and a lot of “juices.” In the beginning, I would avoid looking at her plate entirely. I eventually got used to it.

After that marriage ended, along came John.e, who at present date has been a vegetarian for twenty seven years, I think. I never had to worry about red meat ever again. That was until McKenna decided she was no longer a vegetarian as well, and like her mother, likes to eat red meat.

How does she like her steak? With a little bit of pink. It took me a while, but I got it right. And, do you know something, Dear Reader? It turns out that I’ve been eating steak wrong my whole life! I can now deal with a little bit of pink – and oh, that flavour! It’s so much better. I don’t have to eat steak with ketchup anymore!

Spicy Buttered Steak Bites are larger cuts of steak that have been marinated in a dry seasoning mix and then seared in a skillet until just browned on all sides. Don’t worry – if you cut the beef in large two inch cubes, you will not over cook it.

The steak bites are then tossed in a butter and garlic mixture and oh, Sweet Lord, the heavens open up and your taste buds awaken from their slumber. I could barely get the photographs taken without eating one piece after the other.

On those days when it’s too cold or wet to grill, or if you don’t have a grill, don’t worry about it. A skillet and a stovetop is all you need to get a deliciously prepared steak with char on the outside, lots of garlicky butter flavour, and tender, moist meat on the inside. This is one dish that will be prepared many, many times in our home. Sorry, John.e.

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