Balsamic Glazed Beef with Caramelized Butternut Squash and Potatoes - Adapted from Food TV

Start with a couple comments. First, the original recipe called for flank steak. We don't get flank, skirt, hanger steak; they are tough and expensive so we substituted top round steak. Second, we have been looking for a way to make squash.....acceptable, so we decided to caramelize it and serve it with the balsamic glaze made for the meat. It turned out very nice. The tartness of the balsamic glaze went well with the sweetness of the squash.

Start by dicing and browning 3 rashers of bacon. Remove it from the pan, drain the grease and adding 1/2C balsamic vinegar. Reduce this slightly over medium heat while you start the squash. Place about 1lb of butternut squash, chunked in a saute pan with 2T butter and 2T brown sugar. Saute gently until the squash develops a golden brown color and is tender. Rub the beef with lots of ground pepper and minced garlic, or garlic powder. Cook over high heat in a stovetop griddle pan to desired doneness. The potatoes were frozen packaged ones and were prepared according to the package directions. With the balsamic vinegar at a low boil, add 1/2C beef stock containing 2t corn starch to thicken the glaze. Add the bacon back to the glaze. Serve the glaze on the side for the meat and squash. The meal was literally prepared in the time it took to bake the potatoes. We served the meal with a big red wine like a Merlot.