Day Seventy-One

She Said:

Another tired day but we need to stop eating the fast food and get back to some healthy eating. So, we cooked last night. It was another dish that counts toward our own Julie/Julia Project and it was from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

This meal was dynamite! A one-dish affair that made me ask He to go make it again as soon as I was done eating it the first time. Absolutely delicious!

Chinese Beef and Broccoli

1 pound beef, preferably flank steak or top sirloin roast, cut into matchsticks (we used buffalo flank steak from the farmer's market and the strips were a bit larger than matchsticks - see prior mention of being tired)
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry, divided (we used sherry)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large heads broccoli (2 pounds), stems sliced and florets roughly chopped (12 cups)
⅓ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons peanut or canola oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
Hot cooked white rice

1. Combine the beef, oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the wine, sugar, sesame oil, and pepper in a medium bowl and set aside to marinate.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the broccoli and blanch for 3 minutes, until the broccoli is barely tender and bright green. Drain, plunge into cold water to stop the cooking, and set aside to drain. (This last step seems to be important because we skipped it and we got broccoli mush.)

3. To make the sauce, combine the broth, remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, remaining 1 tablespoon wine, and cornstarch. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

4. Heat a large wok or skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat until very hot. Add half the beef and marinade and stir-fry, stirring constantly, until well browned, about 4 minutes. Use a heatproof rubber spatula to scrape the beef into a medium bowl and keep warm. Return the wok to high heat. Repeat with another 1 tablespoon of the oil and the remaining beef and marinade. Transfer the beef and marinade to the bowl and wipe out the wok. (We found this to be impossible because the marinade contains sugar and the wok could not simply be wiped out. For one thing, it was REALLY hot. For another, the sugar had begun to burn, so we let it cool down for a little while and then washed and dried it.)

5. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over high heat until very hot. Add the broccoli and stir-fry, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 3 minutes. Push the broccoli to the sides of the pan and add the ginger and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Toss with the broccoli.

6. Return the beef to the wok. Whisk the sauce and pour into the wok. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened and evenly coats the beef and broccoli, about 1 minute.

7. Serve immediately with the hot rice.

Seriously delicious meal!

Day 71/375:Recipe 36/175

OLS Wrap-Up

I have really been remiss!  I missed three postings for the One Local Summer Challenge.  And now it's over.  So, without further ado, these are the things that we made for the last three weeks.

Week 11 - Sausage, Peppers and Onions

Week 12 - Meatballs and Beets

Week 13 - Bison and Pepper Rice

That last one was one of my absolute favorites this whole summer - and one of the easiest to make!  It's a crock-pot meal, for goodness sake!  It definitely goes into the permanent rotation.

One Local Summer, Week 3 Continued Some More

We made buffalo burgers on the grill tonight!  (And when I say "we", I mean "He".)  They were quite yummy and the whole meal was local.  So, yet another meal for Week 3 of the Challenge.

Here's a link to the description.

One Local Summer, Week 3 Continued

I'm very sleepy tonight!  I took a sleeping pill but I'm trying to get this posted before I (hopefully) zonk out.  Oh, the life of an insomniac!

Anyway, here is tonight's very yummy dinner - Buffalo Stew - our version.

Find the write-up over on Flickr here.  I didn't even bother with the recipe!  It's stew - how can you get it wrong??  

One Local Summer, Week 2

This is our next entry in the One Local Summer Challenge.  This is Beefaloaf and Roasted Veggies.  I thought this was a really delicious meatloaf!  You can pop on over to my Flickr site for the recipe and list of where the ingredients came from.  

I can heartily recommend buffalo.  This is the third time I've had it and I thoroughly enjoyed it every single time.  I'm convinced!