Friday, December 11, 2009

Beef and Broccoli

I did a lot of things differently from how this recipe specified them to be done. I'll make side notes in italics for parts of this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup white rice
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I used 2 cloves minced)
1 Tbsp fresh ginger (I used 1 Tbsp ground ginger; we love the flavor)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 lb flank steak, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced across the grain (I used one pound of venison stew)
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 Tbsp dry sherry (I used 3 Tbsp orange juice)
1 tsp sugar
3 tsp sesame oil (I used 1 tsp sesame oil, 2 tsp vegetable oil as we don't like the flavor of sesame oil that much)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp cold water
1 1/2 lbs broccoli (I used two 9-oz packages of frozen broccoli)


Prepare rice as label directs. In a medium bowl, combine garlic, ginger, and 1 Tbsp soy sauce. Add beef; toss gently to coat. Set aside.

In small bowl, combine broth, sherry, sugar, 1 tsp sesame oil, and remaining soy sauce. In another small bowl, combine cornstarch and water.

Cut broccoli florets into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Trim and peel broccoli stems; cut into 1/4-inch-thick diagonal slices. (I didn't do this step because I used frozen broccoli florets instead. Yay timesaver!) In skillet, heat 1/2 inch water to boiling on medium-high. Add broccoli. Cook 3 minutes or until tender-crisp; drain and set aside. Wipe skillet dry. In same skillet, heat remaining 2 tsp sesame oil on medium-high until hot. Add half of beef mixture; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until beef just loses its pink color throughout; stirring. Transfer beef to plate; cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with remaining beef mixture. (With just one pound of meat I easily cooked it all at one time rather than splitting it up.) Add broth mixture to skillet; heat to boiling. Add cornstarch mixture and return to boiling; cook 1 minute or until sauce thickens slightly; stirring. Add broccoli; heat through. Remove from heat and stir in beef. Serve over rice.


What I did differently from the recipe:
You can see I changed several things just to tweak it. At the end I also put the venison back in with the broccoli and sauce just so everything would be mixed together.

What I'll do differently next time:
Same things.

Verdict:
Thumbs up!! We were gobbling this up. It was really good and very easy to make. Had a good flavor but not too much of any one thing. Definitely a keeper!

Printable version:

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp fresh ginger
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 lb flank steak, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced across the grain
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 Tbsp dry sherry
1 tsp sugar
3 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp cold water
1 1/2 lbs broccoli

Prepare rice as label directs. In medium bowl, combine garlic, ginger, and 1 Tbsp soy sauce. Add beef; toss gently to coat. Set aside. In small bowl, combine broth, sherry, sugar, 1 tsp sesame oil, and remaining soy sauce. In another small bowl, combine cornstarch and water. Cut broccoli florets into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Trim and peel broccoli stems; cut into 1/4-inch-thick diagonal slices. In skillet, heat 1/2 inch water to boiling on medium-high. Add broccoli. Cook 3 minutes or until tender-crisp; drain and set aside. Wipe skillet dry. In same skillet, heat remaining 2 tsp sesame oil on medium-high until hot. Add half of beef mixture; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until beef just loses its pink color throughout; stirring. Transfer beef to plate; cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with remaining beef mixture. Add broth mixture to skillet; heat to boiling. Add cornstarch mixture and return to boiling; cook 1 minute or until sauce thickens slightly; stirring. Add broccoli; heat through. Remove from heat and stir in beef. Serve over rice.

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