The Pioneer Woman's Steak Bites

If you are a regular food blog reader you are likely familiar with one of the sweetest accidental country girls around, The Pioneer Woman. If you are not familiar with her, allow me to introduce you. Her name is Ree Drummond and she is The Pioneer Woman. Ree writes about life on a ranch including (but not limited to) wild horses, cattle, raising kids on a ranch, being married to a cattle rancher aka Marlboro Man and the love story that brought them together, homeschooling, gardening, photography and of course cooking. I have made many of her recipes and have always been thrilled with the outcome so you can imagine my delight when I received her new cookbook over the holidays which is aptly titled, The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

The book is visually stunning and filled with an array of fabulous photos but it is also packed full of wonderful recipes. If you're looking for some good ol' downright feel good recipes, this book is for you. I've made quite a few of the recipes from the book with my favorites so far being her Meatloaf, Burgundy Mushrooms and should-be-illegal Cinnamon Rolls but those are just a few that come to mind right now, I've really loved them all but I couldn't talk about The Pioneer Woman without telling you about her Steak Bites.

Now, just a warning, a disclaimer if you will: if you are watching your waistline, vegetarian or have an aversion to beef or butter, this recipe is not for you. However, if you are looking for fantastically rich, guilt laden goodness, keep reading...

Steak Bites are not for the faint of heart and I mean that literally. We're talking about beef fried in butter. Oh ya, and salt too but I can't tell you how good these are. I mean, you won't want to make these every day, actually you will want to make them every day but that's an urge you will have to fight yourself. Trust me, I'd love to help but I have my own battles fighting against this one. They are so good and I loved the look on my husband's face when he first tried these. It was like he fell in love with me all over again and if you ask me, these are definitely worth any guilt for that look alone.

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman:
1 lb sirloin steak, trimmed of any large pieces of fat and cut into 1" bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Melt the butter in the hot pan.
2. Season the steak pieces with salt and pepper.
3. You may have to work in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan while frying. Place the appropriate amount of steak bites into the pan. Fry on one side without disruption for 30-45 seconds. Flip the bites and fry another 30 seconds or until the beef is nicely browned but still pink in the middle. Don't overcook the meat. If working in batches, remove the steak bites from the pan, add more butter to the skillet and repeat the process.
4. Remove the meat from the pan to a serving platter and pour the browned butter from the pan over all of the steak bites.