The other day I had a friend over for dinner so we could get some planning done. You see, her cousin (my best friend) is getting married in October. Since she is the maid of honor and my sister and I are bridesmaids we figured we needed to get some stuff done so that she'll have one great party (we're surprising her with a trip out of state for her bachelorette party, but we can't agree on when we should tell her, and I can't tell you guys just yet either).
My sister and I call both of these girls our cousins because they might as well be family since we spend every holiday with them and their family so I apologize now if I confuse you by switching back and forth to calling them cousins and friends (they're both in my book). Since I've been making a lot of Mexican food lately, I thought I'd go a different route and try my hand at Chinese. The closest I've ever been to making anything Asian inspired is rice, and I burn it every time if I don't use a rice cooker.
I asked my sister if she'd rather have broccoli beef or sesame chicken, and she chose beef (we'd been eating a lot of chicken lately). I had a recipe saved in recipe box on All Recipes that I'd been dying to try, and now I had my chance. I made a special trip to the grocery store so we could use fresh broccoli (all we had was frozen), and I think it really made it taste great.
Needless to say, we didn't get a whole lot of planning done. We ate dinner then ended up at the bookstore to look at bridal books. Then of course it was time for dessert, so we went to get some ice cream before heading home. Hopefully, you'll like the recipe as much as I did. Enjoy!
Broccoli Beef
Recipe from All Recipes, adapted by me
1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 pound boneless round steak, cut into bite size pieces 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger root 1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper 4 cups chopped fresh broccoli
- In a small bowl, combine flour, broth, sugar, and soy sauce. Stir until sugar and flour are dissolved.
- In a large skillet or wok over high heat, cook and stir beef 2 to 4 minutes, or until browned. Stir in broth mixture, ginger, garlic, and broccoli. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes, or until sauce thickens.
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6 comments:
If your beef is lean you will want to start with a little oil in the wok to keep the beef cubes from sticking. If you do not have raw Sesame Oil you should by all means get some. Use it like Olive Oil and it will give a heavenly fragranct to anything Asian. You can find it cheap at the Korean Market at 41st and 129th East Av, or at Nam Hai the Asian supermarket on Garnet just south of 21st Street. You will be glad you did.
I'm so glad you mentioned that! I did use sesame oil, I just forgot to include it in the recipe. I didn't measure it out or anything, but it wasn't more than a tablespoon. Thanks for keeping me on my toes :)
This looks good... My last attempt at chinese was a flop (too much ginger). I might just have to give it another go.
wow,this is one of my favorites!
Oh wow! I just found your blog and I'm glad I did! It's filled with great recipes! Thanks for sharing!
Many greetings from Italy,
Federica.
http://sweet-as-a-candy.blogspot.com/
Erin - This was my first try at Chinese food so I was impressed that it actually worked out (usually takes a couple tries for me to get something right). It was super easy!
Peachkins - Thanks for stopping by! When I get take-out I have a hard time deciding between this and sesame chicken, so I guess that makes it one of my faves too!
Federica - I'm glad you found me too! And thank you for such a sweet compliment. Your blog is great!
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