Sweet and Sour Beef and Pepper Stir Fry

CSA ingredients: leftover steak (see summer steak cookout)- grassfed/local

peppers

onion

Bluegrass soy sauce

This is a quick and healthy meal.  Perfect for a weeknight. 

Ingredients

6-8 ounces steak (grass fed beef), sliced thin (I used leftovers from our cookout) but you can use any cut of steak for this
2 tbsp canola oil
3 peppers (red, orange and yellow makes a nice combo), sliced into thin stripes
1 large onion, sliced into thin stripes
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin (sweet cooking rice seasoning) found in Asian food section
1 tbsp sherry
1-2 tbsp Sweet Chili sauce (found in Asian food section)- depends on your spice level
2 tsp sesame oil
2-3 cups cooked brown rice

Technique

Mix soy sauce, mirin, sherry and Sweet Chili sauce and set aside.

Heat canola oil in wok or large frying pan over high heat.  Add beef and stir fry 2 minutes- should be undercooked not all the way cooked.  (If using leftovers like I did omit this step).  Remove meat from wok and set aside.

Add peppers and onions and stir fry 6-7 minutes until slightly tender. 

Add stir fry sauce and cook one minute until thickens slightly.

Add beef and cook 1-2 minutes until warm and desired doneness.

Drizzle sesame oil on top and serve over rice. 

Serves 4.




Cooking TIP: Don't over cook grass fed beef- it will get very tough!

Cooking TIP: Brown rice takes about 45 minutes to cook.  Make double and freeze the rest.  Next time your can reheat in microwave by heating in a covered dish- just add a few tablespoons of water and heat 4-5 minutes on high (from frozen). stir once while heating. 

Summer COOKOUT menu

Steak with corn and potatos and caprese salad

CSA ingredients: grassfeed beef steaks (Rib Eye and Flat Iron)

tomatoes

arugula

corn

new potatoes

basil from my garden

Caprese Salad

Ingredients: 4 cups of mixed greens including the argula

2 ripe tomatoes, sliced

8 slices fresh mozerella cheese, sliced

fresh basil, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsalmic vinvegar

1 tsp raw local honey

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: Place greens in bowl.  Layer fresh mozeralla over greens. Top with tomato slices.  Top with basil.  Mix remaining ingredients.  Drizzle over salad before serving.

Skilllet Corn, New Potatoes and Tomatoes with Basil Oil

modified from Martha Steward Living Skillet Corn, edemame and Tomatoes with Basil Oil

Ingredients

• • 1 cup fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt, divided
  • 1/4 cup finely sliced scallions (from 4 scallions)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic (from 3 small garlic cloves)
  • 3 1/4 cups corn kernels (from 4 or 5 ears)
  • 4 new potatoes cut in quarters
  • 1/2 pound cherry tomatoes, halved (1 3/4 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.  Add salt to taste.  Boil potatoes about 10 minutes until just starting to get tender. Do not over cook since they will cook even more.  Remove from water.  Once cool cut into smaller pieces.
2.  Puree basil, 1/4 cup oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender or food processor until smooth.
3. Heat remaining oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallions and garlic; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add corn and remaining salt. Cook, stirring, until starting to caramelize, about 10 minutes (reduce heat to medium if overbrowning). Add potatoes, tomatoes and vinegar; cook until tomatoes start to collapse, about 8 minutes.
4. Drizzle basil oil on vegetables, and stir. Serve immediately.

Can use shelled edemame in place of tomatoes (see orginial recipe on Martha Steward Living)

 Bar Billy Beef Marinade

Source: Orignal source- I am not sure I got the recipe from my dad

Marinade

4 tbsp oilve oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1 clove of garlice, minced

4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp Liquid Smoke

12 drops of Chinese hot oil (I used 1 tsp red chili paste instead)

Mix the marinade into freezer bag.  Add steaks and marinate at least 8 hours ideally overnight.

Take meat out about 30 minutes before cooking to allow even cooking.  Reserve some marinade.  Heat grill to high.  Place steaks on grill and sear about 2 minutes each side.  Brush with reserved marinade before turning.   Lower heat and cover grill.  Cook until desired doneness.  Allow to stand at least 5 minutes before cutting. 

 COOKING TIP: Grass fed beef in much leaner than regular beef.  DO NOT OVERCOOK or they will so tough you cannot eat it!  If you are used to cooking regular steak cut your cooking time by several minutes.  The benefit of grass fed is less saturated fats and still delicious!