Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break Natale Pretty Please With A Cherry On Top + Sirloin Steak Salad

Steak. 

One of my favorite meats and a delicacy. 
I have been on the search for a cut of meat that is delicious yet affordable because as much as I love Filet Mignon, it's a little pricey.
We'll save that for a special occasion.

We have found Sirloin filets to be easy, affordable, and quite savory!
​And that is what we're using in today's recipe.

Hello, beautiful!

The steak was generously seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked in a cast iron skillet on high heat, searing both sides for 3 minutes. Throw a couple of pats of butter in the pan till it melts and pour the butter over the meat. Throw your skillet into a 400 degree oven for 7 minutes. This should yield a medium rare steak. Adjust the time to your cooking preference!

The salad "jam" is a blend of: 1 sweet onion diced, 1 red bell pepper diced, 4 Roma tomatoes diced, garlic, salt, pepper, 1 tsp oregano and 1 tsp sugar sautéed together for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, toast sliced almonds till fragrant. 

To build your salad, combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl and add arugula. Mix it all together and massage the oils into the greens. Add lettuce to your plate. Top with slivered almonds and the vegetable "jam". Add a teaspoon of fresh ricotta at the top and bottom.

After your steak has rested 10 minutes outside the oven, slice and top off your salad!

​Easy as that.

The beer pairing for this meal did not come to me easily.
I went with a stout because of:

1. The degree of char the steak would develop
2. Steak is a hefty cut of meat

Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break Natale is a twist of their normal Imperial Biscotti Break in which they have added sour cherries to the mix. 

It is a thick, rich delicacy with notes of milk chocolate and roasted barley with a creamy mouthfeel and long finish. As the beer warms, the presence of the cherries becomes more apparent. Slightly boozy at 11% abv, but the smooth rich body hides some of that heat.

Let's see how it paired with the meal!

I'm sure you can tell from my descriptions of the meal and the beer that this pairing did not go very well!

The beer was just too big for the steak salad combo.

If the steak had been prepared on the grill where it could have really gotten that nice charred depth, it may have worked. Here are a few beer styles I think would have paired better: American Amber, Red IPA, Schwarzbier, Gratzer, Bock, Dunkel....

But you know what? It's ok!
Beer and food pairing is all trial and error.
And that's the fun part.

I will end this post with this beautiful photo:

Thank you Ben for being a wonderful meat maker!

Have a great week, everyone!
​And as always, feel free to email me or comment on this post with questions.

Cheers!

​Lana