Beef and Broccoli

Fresh steamed broccoli complements tender steak strips drenched in flavorful gravy.

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Beef and Broccoli

Step 1: rice

Start rice

Step 2: assemble sauce

To a small mixing bowl, add:

3 Tbsp soy sauce

3 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp garlic chili sauce

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 cup beef broth

Whisk together, set aside.

Step 3: steam broccoli

To a small pot, add:

1/2 cup water

1 head broccoli, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces

Place over high heat, bring to a boil, cover and shut off heat. Leave covered for 5 minutes, remove lid and drain. Set aside until serving.

Step 4: beef & sauce

To a skillet, heated to medium, add:

1 Tbsp oil

1 lb steak, sliced thin against grain

1/4 cup onions, sliced thin

1 tsp minced garlic

Sauté for ~5 minutes until vegetables are tender. Push the beef to one side, pour in:

Sauce assembled in Step 2

Continuously stir as it will thicken quickly into gravy, cook for ~1 minute.

Serve hot with steamed broccoli and rice.

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Brenda’s tips:

• Serving size: 4 servings

• If desired, peel and slice the stalk and add it to the broccoli florets

• Tip: mostly frozen steak will slice more easily than fully defrosted steak

• If using a tough cut of steak, like round steak, cook the steak in the crockpot on high for ~3 hours, then slice and add with the onions and garlic

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Window to B’s kitchen . . .

Orange Chicken

Orange Chicken

To a large skillet, heated to medium, add:

2 T oil

1 lb chicken, cut into 1/2" cubes

Cook chicken, stirring occasionally, while assembling sauce:

2/3 cup warm water

4 T brown sugar

4 T orange juice concentrate

4 T soy sauce

4 T ketchup

2 T white vinegar

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder

2 tsp orange zest (optional)

Stir together.

Pour sauce over chicken, bring to low boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for ~30 minutes.

Prepare slurry, combining in a small bowl:

4 tsp corn starch

4 T cold water

Stir well. Whisk into cooking sauce + chicken, continuously stirring until sauce is smooth and thickens (~2 min).

Serve hot over rice or Lo Mein Veggie Style.

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Brenda's tips:

• Serving size: 4 servings

• The key ingredients are:

  • Orange: hence the name . . .and, 

  • Chinese Five Spice. It's a combination of cinnamon, cloves, Szechuan peppercorns, fennel, and star anise and is intended to hit all 5 taste sensations: sweet, spicy, bitter, salty & sour. These spices are all individually intense, therefore a powerful ingredient is born when they're finely ground together. Definitely an element where less is usually enough.

Lo Mein Veggie Style

Brenda LOVED running the bridges in NYC. When we were training to run The Great Saunter we mapped out an early morning run that included routes over the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. To get to the Manhattan bridge we opted to run through the heart of Chinatown. One thing we did NOT plan for were the delicious smells of an NYC summer morning.

We began our run around 5:15 am, putting us in the heart of Chinatown at 5:30 am. At this hour, the fish markets were laying out the morning’s catch. The potent fish smell only enhanced the aroma of fermenting trash piled in bags on the street corners. When Brenda started to comment on how horrible the smells were, a city worker, leaf-blower in hand, began cleaning the sidewalk, creating a huge, grimy dust cloud that immediately engulfed us.

I’ve never seen Brenda run so quickly. I’m pretty sure we PR’d that morning.

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Lo Mein Veggie Style

Lo Mein means “stirred veggies” [according to google] and is essentially Julienned veggies + noodles + sauce.

Start a large pot of water, when boiling add:

Salt

8 oz noodles 

Cook according to noodle package directions. 

In a small bowl, put together sauce and set aside:

3 Tbsp soy sauce 

1 tsp oil 

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp chili garlic sauce

Julienne any combination of the following veggies:

1 medium onion

2 medium carrots

1/4 head cabbage

1 bell pepper 

1 cup mushrooms

2 cups baby spinach leaves

3-4 stalks celery

 

In a large skillet or wok, sauté:

Julienned vegetables

Cook until crisp-tender, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in:

Noodles, drained

Sauce

Cook 2 minutes. Serve hot. 

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Brenda’s Tips:

• Serving Size: 4 servings

• “Julienne” means to slice into thin short strips.... think 1/8”-3/16” x 2” 

• Noodles - Brenda uses spaghetti because it’s something she always has on hand. (Spaghetti is Brenda’s favorite meal, yes even above T-bone steak and hash browns!) This recipe works great with spaghetti or fettuccini pasta, or you can use real Lo Mein noodles .... they’re all made using wheat flour.

Kung Pao Chicken

In Manhattan, Brenda lived in the same apartment building all 10 years. She had 2 jobs, both in finance, the last one within walking distance of her apartment. She ate at the same restaurants, only venturing out if it was with someone whose palate she trusted. She had 4 running routes she’d rotate between. This is all to say, everyone knows Brenda as a creature of habit.

When this red-headed creature uprooted her life to small-town Victor, ID, she left behind a plethora of culinary cuisines. She once told me one of the things she misses the most about living and working in NYC is how easily good food can be delivered to you within minutes. Especially Asian food, for dinner…even if that meal meant you were working late and eating at your desk.

She never made Asian food while we lived together, so it’s been highly entertaining to hear her stories of experimenting in the kitchen to recreate her favorite NYC dishes. This is one of those recipes.

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Kung Pao Chicken

Marinade

Combine in a non-reactive bowl:

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp corn starch 

3/4 tsp baking soda

Stir sauce and add:

1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1/2" cubes

Mix well. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Sauce

In a separate bowl, combine and set aside:

3 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp corn starch

1 tsp chili garlic sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Heat skillet to medium, add:

2 Tbsp oil

Marinated chicken

Cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is cooked through (internal temperature of 165F), 7-10 min.

Then add: 

Sauce mixture

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

Continue to cook until sauce has thickened, 2-3 minutes. Serve hot.

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Brenda’s Tips:

• Serving Size: 4 servings

• Delicious over steamed rice or Vegetable Lo Mein. 

• When non-reactive is recommended, use bowls/pans that are glass, true stainless steel, ceramic coated or even most plastics. Avoid anything made out of copper, aluminum or cast iron. This is usually necessary for any highly acidic recipe. The vinegar in the marinade could react with the metal and affect the flavor.