Monday, January 9, 2012

Rainy Day Gals ~ Beef & Broccoli

Rainy Day Gal is a great food blog. It's where I got my beloved Cuban Pork Recipe from and tonight's new favorite Beef & Broccoli! Who doesn't love HOMEMADE takeout?!

What You Need:
For the marinade
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs flank steak, sliced into thin strips

For the sauce
1/2 c low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp sherry

2 heads broccoli, crowns only
3 tbsp vegetable oil

The Steps:
1. First start by slicing your steak against the grain and then whisk together the baking soda, sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, water, and vegetable oil in a large bowl. Toss the steak with the marinade to coat.


Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, then proceed below.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, flour and sherry until smooth. Set aside.


3. In a large wok or saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil over high heat until shimmering. Add broccoli and saute 3 minutes, stirring often. Transfer broccoli to a plate. This is where I strayed from the recipe and I oven roasted my broccoli with some olive oil in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.


4. Carefully add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the hot pan. Add the marinated meat and half of the sauce mixture and saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until the meat is cooked through and no longer pink.


Stir in the broccoli and remaining sauce. Saute 1 minute more.


Serve with white or brown rice!

The Verdict:
YUM! Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum! I can't say it enough times. I was so impressed with how spot on this was to real Chinese Beef & Broccoli. The meat was so tender and the sauce was just like it came straight out of one of those takeout boxes. David loved it and asked if I could try it with chicken next time. If you ask him what he wants for dinner 10 times out of 10 he yells CHICKEN AND RICE! Which means Chicken and Broccoli Chinese takeout. I bet it would taste just as good with chicken, but it will be hard for me since I LOVE BEEF!

I want to add that I didn't have low-sodium soy sauce on hand so I just used the regular stuff, but next time I will make this dish I will make sure I have it because it was definitely a tad salty and while I like me some salt, I think after a while it became overkill. So make sure you do use the low-sodium soy sauce!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Tex-Mex Turkey Soup

On New Years day I made a Turkey and it was (if I do say so myself!) delicious. Just like at Thanksgiving, there was some leftover turkey meat and I didn't want to see it go to waste, so I went onto Allrecipes.com, one of my favorite sites for finding recipes, and found this one for a Turkey Tex-Mex Soup. We all love the flavors of Tex-Mex in this house, even the boys, so I was sure even before we could smell the soup simmering on the stove, that it would be a hit!

What You Need:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
4 cups water
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup salsa
4 cups shredded cooked turkey
1 tablespoon dried parsley
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 (14 ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained
2 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

The Steps:
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add minced onions and cook until onions begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.


Stir in water, tomato soup, diced tomatoes, salsa, shredded turkey, parsley and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until bouillon cubes dissolve.


Add black beans, corn, sour cream and cilantro. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.


Serve soup with crushed tortilla chips, chopped green onion, shredded cheese and additional cilantro and sour cream.

The Verdict:This was SO good! Like so good, I think that I'll make it again soon and roast some bone in chicken breast in the oven, good, since I don't plan on cooking a big turkey again for a while and I think it would taste just as good with chicken!! The boys loved it too! Evan, of course picked out all the beans and corn (his favorite part!) and David enjoyed dunking some tortilla chips in the broth. Next time I will sprinkle the top with some shredded cheddar jack. Oh and because SOUR CREAM is on the Doc's list of NO-NO ingredients, I used the new Philadelphia brand cooking cream, original flavor though I bet you could use the Santa Fe flavor for some added zing!