ArcaMax

How Do You Celebrate?

As many of you know, I recently celebrated my birthday. And I did it up big.

Ever since I was a teeny kid, my birthday revolved around food. I’m not talking about that picture everyone takes of a one year old cramming cake into their face. I’m talking about dinner.

On my birthday I was expected to be extra-good. The idea was that if you were a good little child all day long, then after dinner you’d be able to open your birthday gifts. Everything gift-related happened after a big, family dinner. On birthdays we didn’t eat in the kitchen. We got to eat in the dining room.

We ate a big meal and then there was a cake from the luscious German bakery in our neighborhood. I got to pick my cake flavor. I always wanted marble cake with white frosting. My mother would pick the color of the roses that would be on my cake. I loved all colors, so that didn’t matter to me.

The thing I remember was the anticipation of waiting all day for this big dinner so I could blow out candles, eat cake, and open gifts.

We didn’t do big parties that involved my friends. We didn’t go to Chuck E Cheese or the movies. We didn’t do balloons and games. We just did dinner.

What’s YOUR favorite way to celebrate your birthday party? That’s the question I’m asking you and I also asked my ZTeam.

Every single person said theirs involved food in one way or another; except one. Carolyn’s birthday is on the fourth of July, so she just wanted fireworks shot off from an exciting location. Food is involved in her birthday but she didn’t mention food at all until prompted.

The other unique thing about Carolyn’s birthday is the fact that her mom wants to be around her at the time she was born. 1:30PM. So they do a family lunch. There’s the food reference, but it didn’t really come up as a meal; just as a gathering. Thankfully Carolyn was born early afternoon or they might have been having midnight snacks!

At my most recent birthday I decided to go all-out-gourmet. We went to a highly acclaimed restaurant in Chicago called Tru. Tru would have to be ranked in the top 10 restaurants in Chicago in any given year.

Tru does a tasting menu style of service. That means you get lots of little courses rather than choosing from a regular-style menu. It also means they will match up wine tastings to go along with your little courses if you want them.

The dining room is stunning. They have an amazing art collection and perfect lighting to accent the paintings and sculptures.

The food was amazing but I expected that. I expected to be introduced to some new flavors and to be dazzled by the combinations. All that happened.

The thing that was the highlight for me besides the beauty of the setting and the food, was the service. They are not pretentious at Tru. No one is snotty or full of themselves. Everyone laughs. This is not one of those hushed restaurants where you are expected to worship what’s on your plate. You are there just to enjoy yourself. There was an older gentleman there having his birthday too. His adult children and his wife were with them. They gave him a watch as a gift. They all hugged, kissed and just generally yucked it up. It was fun to watch them. I almost forgot it was my birthday too.

The other thing about the service was the orchestration. They didn’t make a big deal about it but watching them service a table was more like watching water ballet than it was about watching servers put food on a table. They swooped in (sometimes as a team) and took care of serving the food or filling the wine and water… and all that. But they did it with a grace and personality I’ve never seen before.

I was very impressed.

I thought you might like to see Tru and I’ve included a link to the personalized menu they gave me as I left the building. I had it signed by the chef that evening. (The sous-chef was on duty.) I might have the menu framed and include it in my collection of menus from some of the most memorable meals of my lifetime.

So, the question still remains. What is YOUR favorite way to celebrate your birthday? Respond to my email. I’d love to hear.

Asian Sirloin Steak Stir Fry (EASY)
Serves 6

The leftovers for this meal will travel well so make extra and you can take some to work for lunch! This is not an overly spicy dish. If you want it HOT, just add your favorite hot sauce or Sriracha sauce.

For the marinade:
2.25 lb of lean sirloin steak. (cut off any visible fat)
1/2 cup of Braggs Aminos
1 tsp of Truvia
2 Tbl of cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water
1 tsp of ground, dry ginger

For the veggies:
6 cups of allowed vegetables. I used a combination of trimmed green beans, bok choy chunks, white onion chunks, celery chunks, cherry tomatoes, orange bell pepper. This made a colorful combination but any combination of Plan Z veggies will do. You choose.
1 – 2 cups of beef broth
1 tsp of Thai Garden spice mix or your favorite Asian blend
3 tsp of minced, fresh mint
Cayenne (optional)

Lay your steak on a cutting board and cut it into quarter inch wide strips. Cut the meat against the grain and it will hold together much better. Cut off any other visible fat. If you prefer you can cut your meat into cubes but the strips feel more like fancy Asian food and they will cook faster.

In a bowl or large baggie, put in your steak and the marinade ingredients. Let stand for 15 minutes to an hour.

When ready to cook heat a large sauté pan and lightly spray with olive oil spray. Remove the strips of meat from the marinade and put them directly into the pan on medium high so you can sear them on one side. (1 minute) DO NOT THROW AWAY THE MARINADE. YOU’LL USE IT LATER AS PART OF THE COOKING PROCESS.

When the meat is browned on one side, turn it over and cook for just 30 seconds more. Then remove the meat and put it in a bowl and cover it. You don’t want to cook the meat all the way through. While the meat is in the bowl it will continue to cook. Depending on how cooked you like your steak you can adjust the cooking time. I like mine to have a bit of pink left so I just barely seared it so it had brown bits on one side of the pieces and then turned them over and took them out.

No need to wash this pan. Just add about a cup of beef broth and begin to sauté your veggies. I put the beans and onion in first. Cook for two minutes. Then add the other veggies, seasoning and mint. If you are going to put a light dusting of cayenne on, this is the time to do it. Saute another minute or two. If the liquid runs down, add more beef broth. You can cover and steam the veggies or just keep stir frying them on medium. When the veggies are almost done add the reserved marinade and cook until the liquid just begins to thicken. The cornstarch in the marinade will take care of that.

To serve, put the veggies in a bowl or on a plate and top with the meat strips. Add your favorite hot sauce to zip it up even more. Use chopsticks if you want to feel authentic.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola