It’s always interesting to see how a dish progresses over the course of a week.Things change! Product availability, seasonality, and generally how the dish wants to come out- these are all things that may fluctuate over the course of the week once a dinner goes from a concept to an actual menu item. This dish is the perfect example. Sarsaparilla steak tips. Any excuse to drench beautiful chunks of sirloin tips in organic sarsaparilla soda is good enough for us. Also in the marinade was some macerated wild licorice root, star anise, fresh ginger juice, and a whole bevy of other flavors and aromatics that we won’t bother explaining here. The licorice root, though- that’s a cool plant. Super fresh, almost minty, and definitely not “black licorice flavored candy” kinda taste- this stuff is the real deal. It was waaaay too strong to simply be eaten alone- but in the marinade, it’s perfect. Roasted spring dug parsnips, candy cane beets, and banana fingerlings got a nice bath in some creamy tahini and baby kale leaves, which is always exciting- and the farro salad tonight is out of this world. We’re really happy with how the team put this one together. You’ll see what we mean. Get in there!

For the steak tips:

Nothing else goes on the grill tonight, but we would definitely recommend firing it up just to reheat the steak tips. Caramelization is key! Warm the steak on the grill over high heat, flipping to get some good char and grill marks. Once it’s hot enough/cooked to your desired temperature, pull it off for a rest and slice it up!If you aren’t grilling, you can absolutely just broil or bake the steak tips for 6-9 minutes, or until hot/cooked enough for ya. Wouldn’t recommend the microwave, but you guys are adults- you can do whatever you want! Either way, once it’s hot and sliced, it’s time for the charred spring onion + scallions “sauce”. We put sauce in quotation marks, because like the initial idea of this dinner, the sauce morphed and adapted over time to fit the bill for the dinner. It’s more of a relish, now- and it features one of our favorite things- pickled mushrooms. We like the mystery behind the sauce, so just explore it. You won’t be sorry. 

For the “banana” potatoes:

As the weather stays hot, you’re going to hear us advising you to eat things cold more than ever, but these are best hot – so broil or bake the potatoes with the baby kale and tahini with the steak for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, till they’re nice and hot. Or microwave!

For the farro:

This one is a bit more flexible. We say cold, but it can absolutely be heated up to great success. Best way would be to fry it in a really hot nonstick pan, to toast up the farro and bloom all the flavors in the dressing. The spinach and dandelion will wilt nicely. Or, just go for it cold! Something to be said for freshness and cool textures. I’ll leave that up to you!

That’s it! 🙂 Enjoy!