Beef and Asparagus Stir Fry

I made this for dinner tonight and is was very, very good!  The flavor was perfect and the meat was very tender...just the way I like it.

Beef & Asparagus Stir Fry (4 servings)


3 T soy sauce
2 T wine vinegar (I used rice vinegar)
1/4 cup water
1 t cornstarch (I ended up using more at the end because it didn't thicken)
2 t brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t chili flakes (I didn't have any so I used red pepper flakes)
1 t fresh ginger, grated (I used dried ginger)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 lb flank steak, sliced into thin strips (I had sirloin tenderloins and used those)
3 T peanut oil (I used almond oil)
3/4 lb asparagus, sliced diagonally
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 cup green onions, sliced

1.  Mix soy sauce, vinegar, water, cornstarch, brown sugar, salt, chili flakes, ginger and garlic in a large bowl.  Add steak and mix to coat well.  Let marinade for 20-30 minutes.  (I marinated the steak for 3+ hours).
2.  Heat peanut oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Reserving the marinade, saute steak until browned on both sides, about 30 seconds per side.
3.  Add asparagus and bell pepper, stirring until vegetables are softened and meat is cooked through, (2-3 minutes).
4.  Add reserved marinade, and simmer to thicken for 1 minute.  Stir in green onions and remove from heat.
5.  Serve immediately over rice or noodles.

Mock Kung Pao Pork (or Chicken)

I threw this together last night after looking at a few different recipes.  Sorry if it seems a little confusing.  I ended up loving this, and it really was easy.  It was a little spicy for the kids, but I can adjust that next time.  I had pork on hand so that is what I used, but you could substitute chicken.

In ziploc bag mix:
2 T. corn starch
2 T. soy sauce

(This is kind of a strange texture, but once you put the meat in it does work)

Dice 1 lb. (or so) pork or chicken and place in bag, coat well.

Heat ~2 T. oil and once hot, cook meat.  When your meat is almost cooked add the following:

2 carrots diced
3 celery stalks diced
1 lg bell pepper diced

You may want to add more, this is what I did but I didn't have a pound of meat.


Continue to cook until meat is thoroughly cooked.  Veggies are cooked but still a little crunchy (just like with any stir-fry).  At this point I added the sauce.

Sauce: (from this website)
In a quart jar mix the following:  (once in just put a lid on and shake) 

1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, minced 
3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
14 1/2 ounces chicken broth (a can) 
1/4 cup sherry or 1/4 cup white wine
 I just used orange juice cause that's what I had on hand, I know it is no where near white wine or sherry, but what do you do.  Also I put this in after I had the sauce warm and thick to thin it out a bit. Also it seemed a little sweet to me so next time I think I will use  a little less sugar.

This made a ton of sauce so you may want to half it or just put it in a little at a time, depending on how much meat and veggies you have.

Pour sauce in with meat and veggies and cook until it thickens.


At this point I added just a squirt of Sriracha hot chili sauce and a handful or so of cashews.  Stir it up and serve over rice. 


Just a warning, I put in a squirt and stirred it in and tried it and I thought it could use just a bit more, well I think it gets spicier as it cooks because it ended up being pretty spicy.  So start small and let it sit a few minutes before testing it.  I happened to have this on hand, but I'm sure you could use red pepper flakes.

Sweet and Sour Chicken over Brown Rice

This was in our local paper and is a healthier alternative than the fried version that we love so much (though not quite as good) and we all liked it.

1 diced green pepper
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup pineapple tidbits, drained

In pan with 1/4 cup oil, brown: 2 cups cubed chicken

Remove chicken from pan and saute vegetables for 3 minutes.

In bowl, combine:
2 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp vinegar
2-3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt

Stir ingredients to make sure that cornstarch is dissolved. Pour over vegetables and cook and stir until thickened. Add chicken and heat through. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve over rice.

BROWN RICE (Also from paper - worked beautifully and tasted delish! Yeah - I know it's just rice - but seriously...)
This works with both white and brown rice or half and half.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In greased glass 9x13 pan, place:
2 cups rice
4 cups water
1 tsp salt
Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from oven. Fluff and serve. Perfect every time. Note: This works well if you are also baking another item and can all be done together.

Egg Rolls

This recipe came from a dear friend we met during school up in Moscow - Becki Richardson. They were an excellent addition to our dinner tonight of sweet and sour chicken, and fried rice and were even better when dipped in the sweet and sour sauce. Tasty stuff people. Tasty stuff.

1/2 pound ground beef
4 cups chopped green cabbage
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1 large celery stalk, grated

Sauce:
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp soy sauce

Brown meat and drain. Add vegetables and cook until done. Stir in sauce until mixture is well-coated. Put large spoonful into each wrap and fry on both sides until golden brown. Serve warm.

The first time I made these my oil wasn't near hot enough and the insides were saturated with oil. Not so tasty. This time I heated it over medium-high heat and those little rolls stayed sealed and were perfect.

I think the family has the sweet and sour chicken recipe, but if you don't let me know and I'll post it along with the Benihana Fried Rice.

Mongolian Beef

This is a copy-cat recipe I found for P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef. Although we didn't think it tasted exactly like P.F. Chang's, it was just as good. And this recipe is for 2 servings, but it makes a lot of sauce so if you wanted to make it for 4 servings I think if you could just add more meat and green onions. Also this recipe said to leave the excess sauce in the pan, but we didn't, we ate it all. YUM!!!

MONGOLIAN BEEF

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup) ( I actually only used a few Table spoons of oil and eliminated a step by not having to dump out the excess oil later.)
• 1 lb flank steak
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 2 large green onions

Directions

· Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over med/low heat.

· Don't get the oil too hot.

· Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.

· Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

· Remove it from the heat.

· Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4" thick bite-size slices.

· Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.

· Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.

Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.

· As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil). (like I said I only used a few Tablespoons of oil, so the beef wasn't covered.)

· Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.

· Add the beef to the oil and sauté for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges.

· You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later.

· Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.

· After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet. (If you only use a few Tablespoons of oil you eliminated this step.) :)

· Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute.

· Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions.

· Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate.

. Leave excess sauce behind in the pan.

. Serve with Rice

Zucchini Stir-fry

I thought we would get in the Olympic spirit and make a Chinese meal. And this is the vegetable dish I made with the Mongolian Beef (not authentic Mongolian food), that I will post too. We really like the whole meal. And even Heidi liked the Zucchini, who hates to eat anything green. Enjoy!!!
Zucchini Stir-fry

• 2 large zucchini
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry*
  

Preparation:

1. Cut the ends off the zucchini, and cut diagonally into slices about 1/4-inch thick.
2. Pre-heat a wok or skillet over medium-high heat until it is nearly smoking. Add the oil, swirling it around the pan.
3. When the oil is hot, add the ginger and stir-fry until it is aromatic. Add the zucchini. Sprinkle the salt and sugar over. Stir-fry for a minute, then stir in the rice wine or dry sherry.
4. Stir-fry the zucchini until it turns dark green and is tender-crisp (about 3 minutes total). Serve hot.

* You can use apple or white grape juice in place of the Chinese rice wine or Dry sherry, I actually used some crangrape juice I had in the fridge, and it tasted good.

Lettuce Wraps

So, these aren't as good as P.F. Chang's, but they are still good and easy. And some times instead of eating it like a lettuce wrap we eat it as a salad. I got this recipe from Rachele Ray's 30 minute meals, but made a few modifications.

Lettuce Wraps
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 pound chicken breast or chicken tenders, chopped into small pieces
salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced or chopped
a few shakes of ginger (optional, and you can use fresh ginger grated)
1 red bell pepper, diced small
1 can (6 or 8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped
3 scallions, chopped
3 Tablespoons hoisin sauce.
Ice burg lettuce.

Preheat a large skillet or wok on high. Add oil to hot pan. Add chicken to pan and sear meat by stir frying a minute or 2. Add mushrooms and cook together 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to season, then add garlic and ginger. Cook a minute more. Add bell pepper, water chestnuts and scallions. Stir frying until cooked to your likeness. Add hoisin sauce and toss to coat the mixture evenly. Pile mixture into lettuce leaves. Eat.