Shanghai Stir-fried Beef and Broccoli

Stir-frying beef is not one of my favorite things to do, I just enjoy chicken or shrimp more. However, this Fine Cooking (63) recipe had a certain appeal (i.e. I had everything to make it without going to the store.) So I decided to give it a try, but with a New York Strip instead. The recipe calls for flank steak. As thin as I slice it, flank steak always comes out on the chewy side when I stir-fry. But the very thinly sliced strip steak came out nice and tender, and very flavorful. It is a good way to use just a plain, not very thick, (from your basic supermarket) steak, not a great one. Save that for the grill. Take your time, use a sharp knife and slice thinly because meat tightens up and thickens as it cooks. (Hear the word of the butcher's daughter!) Also, as the recipe instructs, pull the steak out before it is entirely cooked through. The strip steak I used was about 8 ounces (and the recipe calls for more than double that amount of meat,) but I didn't want to reduce the sauce ingredients because I was afraid it would be too dry. This amount of steak served two very nicely. (You'll also notice I used bok choy and red peppers instead of broccoli.) The sauce here is really tasty. We liked this dish so much that I made it again the following week with the broccoli (and peppers.) Watch the salt though, especially if you are playing around with amounts and not using 1 1/2 pounds of meat. I don't think you need the salt in the marinade, soy sauce is enough.

Shanghai Stir-Fried Beef & Broccoli

by Tony Rosenfeld

Serves four.

1 small flank steak (1-1/4 to 1-1/2 lb.)

3 Tbs. soy sauce

1 Tbs. dry sherry

1 Tbs. cornstarch

Kosher salt

3/4 lb. broccoli crowns, cut into 2-inch florets (to yield about 4 heaping cups)

1/4 cup canola or peanut oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

2-inch piece ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks

1/4 tsp. red chile flakes

2 Tbs. oyster sauce

Bring 2 quarts water with 2 tsp. kosher salt to a boil.

Slice the steak in half lengthwise and then cut crosswise into thin slices. In a medium bowl, stir 1 Tbs. of the soy sauce with the sherry, cornstarch, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Add the steak, toss to coat, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, blanch the broccoli in the boiling water until it softens to a tender crunch, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and then rinse under cold water until the broccoli cools.

Set a large, heavy skillet or a large wok over high heat for 1 minute.

Pour in 2 Tbs. of the oil and, when it starts to shimmer, add the beef. Cook the beef, stirring frequently, until it loses most but not all of its raw color, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a large plate.

Add the remaining 2 Tbs. oil and the garlic, ginger, chile flakes, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the broccoli and 3 Tbs. water and cook, stirring to incorporate any browned bits on the bottom of the pan, until the broccoli warms through, about 1 minute. Stir in the beef, the oyster sauce, and the remaining 2 Tbs. soy sauce; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Serve immediately.

From Fine Cooking 63, pp. 86c

Hearty Fare

I have never been much of a meat sauce lover but I cannot get enough of this short rib ragu especially on papardelle.

Short Rib Ragu

ingredients

3 to 4 lb. meaty bone-in beef short ribs, preferably

English style Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

3 oz. thickly sliced pancetta (about 3 1/4-inch-thick slices) or 3 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch squares

1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 heaping cup)

1 celery stalk, diced (about 1/2 cup)

1 carrot, diced (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup sliced white mushrooms

3 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

2 Tbs. tomato paste

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth

1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes

how to make

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 300°F.
Cook the ribs:
Trim away any excess fat from the top of each rib down to the first layer of meat, but don’t remove the silverskin or tough-looking tissue that hold the ribs together or onto the bone. Pat the ribs dry with paper towels, and season them with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven (or other heavy pot with a lid) over medium heat until hot. Add only as many ribs as will fit without touching, and brown them on all sides, turning with tongs until nicely browned, 3 to 4 min. per side. Transfer to a platter, and continue until all the ribs are browned.
Pour off and discard most of the fat from the pot. Return the pot to medium heat, and add the pancetta or bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pancetta or bacon has rendered some of its fat but is not crisp, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, celery, carrot, mushrooms, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 min. Add the tomato paste and red pepper flakes, and cook for 2 min., stirring. Add the wine, increase the heat to medium-high, stir to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot, and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes and their juices and bring to a simmer.
Transfer the ribs to the oven:
Return the short ribs (and any juices) to the pot in a single layer, nestling them into the sauce. Crumple a large sheet of parchment and smooth it out again. Arrange it over the pot, pressing it down so it nearly touches the ribs, allowing any overhang to extend up and over the edges of the pot. Set the lid in place, and transfer to the oven. Braise, turning the ribs with tongs every 45 min., until fork-tender and the meat is pulling away from the bone, about 2-1/2 hours.
Make the ragù:
Use tongs or a slotted spoon to carefully transfer the ribs to a shallow baking dish or wide bowl. Set aside until just cool enough to handle. Skim any visible surface fat from the braising liquid and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. If the tomatoes haven’t broken up, break them up with a wooden spoon. If the sauce seems watery, increase the heat to medium-high and simmer to thicken. If not, keep it warm. Taste for salt and pepper.
When the beef is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and the bands of connective tissue that encircled the bones. Chop the meat into bite-size chunks or pull into large strips. Return the meat to the sauce, and keep warm until ready to serve, or if making ahead, cool and refrigerate.
Make Ahead TipsThe finished ragù can be refrigerated, covered, for up to three days.

From Fine Cooking 77, pp. 45, Article by Molly Stevens

Meaty Matters

Though I don't eat lamb or veal so I'm only able to use half the book, Bruce Aidells' The Complete Meat Cookbook is one of my all time favorites. The book is filled with great information about buying, preparing and cooking meat. His recipes are great and he offers plenty of ideas for leftovers. And the man really knows how to season food. Do you know how sometimes you put a marinade or a rub on a piece of meat but when cooked you can't really taste it very much? That will not happen with Mr. Aidells' recipes. He is not shy about adding bold flavor with recipes calling for loads of garlic and generous use of spice. These recipes are not for the tender-tongued. I love that. Some of my favorites from his book are the Nogales Steak Tacos, the Teriyaki Flank Steak and the Cuban Roast Pork with Mojo Sauce. The latter will leave you with leftover pork to make a divine Cuban Pork Sandwich. The recipe I made today is Priscilla's Marinated Beef and Black Bean Salad. The salad recipe calls for jicama, but unfortunately, I couldn't find it at my corner market, so I used corn instead. I used a 1 1/2 lb piece of top sirloin - enough for 4 dinners easily.

We cook the steak medium rare, slice it thinly and serve it with the bean salad and something green. I recommend grilled pita bread on the side. It is reasonably healthy if you don't eat too much and the next day, it makes great leftovers. Dear husband did an admirable job with the grilled red onions, they were super sweet.


Priscilla's Marinated Beef and Black Bean Salad



Southwestern Spice Rub

1t ground cumin
1t chile powder, preferably Gebhardt's
2t salt, kosher
1t freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 t light or dark brown sugar
1/2t cayenne pepper
2t minced garlic
1t minced shallots or green onions

1 1/2 lbs. boneless top sirloin, flank steak or NY strip (personally, I wouldn't use this good a steak for this preparation)

Black Bean Salad (I halve this, for just the two of us)

3c cooked black beans or 2 cans, beans rinsed and drained
1c jicama, peeled, diced
1 roasted red or yellow pepper, diced
1/2c finely chopped green onions
1/2c coarsely chopped cilantro
1/4 c flat-leaf parsley (no big deal to leave out)
2c diced seeded ripe tomatoes (canned, not recommended)

Vinaigrette (I halve this too)

1T dijon mustard
1/4c fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 c olive oil

Rub half the spice mixture on the steak. Let the steak marinate for at least 2 hours at room temp or cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.

Combine the rest of the spice rub with the vinaigrette ingredients, whisk

If the steak was refrigerated, remove it from the fridge 30 to 1 hour before cooking. Prepare a grill. Grill the steak over med-hot until done to your liking, 130* for med. rare. Let rest before slicing.

Meanwhile, put the beans, jicama, pepper and green onions into a large skillet and set over med. heat. Stir in the vinaigrette and mix well to coat the beans. Cook until beans are warmed through, 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro, parsley and tomatoes.

Spoon the beans onto a plate. Slice the steak diagonally into 1/4 inch thick slices and arrange over beans. Garnish with cilantro, if you like.

Steak Sandwiches

My husband loves to eat leftover steak, cold, sliced thin and salted. But to me this sandwich is far and away the best thing to do with leftover steak. The recipe, Philly-Style Mushroom Cheesesteak, from Fine Cooking issue #47, starts with cooking a steak intentionally to make this sandwich. But I just pick up midway and use leftover steak. You saute mushrooms, onions and garlic until soft and then toss in a few cherry tomatoes and thin-sliced cooked steak. You heat it through, divide it into two portions on opposite sides of the pan and melt some provolone over each pile of steak and vegs. After it melts, use a big flat spatula to move the whole mess to a slice of toasted french bread. This is knife and fork food at its best. However, I'm quite sure it is nothing like an authentic Philly Cheese Steak.

Sliders

When I make burgers indoors, I like to make them old-school diner-style. I form them very thin and sear them on a flat skillet. The meat on the edges of my imperfect patties gets a little crispy. And once on the bun, it hangs off the sides. With a nod to the current restaurant trend (and because I didn't have any hamburger buns,) I've fashioned these into mini-burgers. A hot dog bun divided into three served as the buns. These burgers went over well with the boys, needless to say.

Skirt Steak Tacos

Roasting Tomatillos






Roasting garlic






Toasting dried chipotle chiles that will be rehydrated by soaking in water




Everything prepped and ready to be blended





into salsa

I will never tire of tacos. It is just not possible. A little something warm tucked into a tender corn tortilla, drizzled with salsa and I'm in heaven. These tacos though, are a more than just a little something. I’ve been making this dish for at least 10 years and we're always happy with it. There are a lot of steps to get it all together (as you’ll see in my photos.) But if you plan to spend the day at home, cooking, this one is worth your time. This is a Rick Bayless recipe for Seared Skirt Steak with Chipotle, Tomatillos and Garlic . There are so many levels of flavor involved in each bite that you accept why each step was necessary and you smile that you've made something so good and complex and you smile.

The recipe was originally written to be served just as a steak, smothered with onions, whole roasted garlic (see recipe) and a cooked salsa. But of course it does great sliced on a taco too. I think this is the kind of Mexican dish that American fajitas were originally based upon. Here's a picture of the meat simmering in the sauce. I should have taken a shot of the meat first being seared.





Seared Skirt Steak with Chipotle and Garlic
Arrachera con Chipotle y Ajo
From Rick Bayless’ Mexican Kitchen. Serves 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For About 1c essential roasted tomatillo-chipotle salsa

3-6 (1/4-1/2 oz stemmed, dried, chipotle chiles (or canned chipotles in adobo)
15 cloves garlic unpeeled
8oz (about 5 med) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
Salt, about 1/2t, plus some for sprinkling on steak
Sugar, about 1/4t.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1T. olive or veg. oil
Four 5-6oz pieces of beef skirt steak, trimmed of exterior fat
1 med. white onion, thinly sliced
1/2t cumin, preferably freshly ground
1/2t black pepper, preferably freshly ground
2/3 c beef broth
Chopped cilantro, for garnish


1. Making the salsa. For dried chiles, toast them on an ungreased griddle or heavy skilled over med. heat, turning regularly and pressing flat with a spatula about 30 seconds. In a small bowl, cover the chiles with hot water and let rehydrate 30 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure even soaking. Drain and discard water. ( or if using canned, removed from canning sauce)

2. While the chiles are soaking, roast the unpeeled garlic on the griddle, turning occasionally, until soft (they will blacken in spots) about 15 minutes; cool and peel. Roast the tomatillos on a baking sheet 4 inches from very hot broiler until blackened, about 4-5 minutes, then flip and do the same on the other side.

3. Combine tomatillos (and their juices), rehydrated or canned chiles and 3 cloves of the garlic into food processor or blender, and process to a rather fine-textured puree. Taste and season with salt and sugar. Set aside.

4. Finishing the dish. Heat the oil in a large (12 inch) heavy skilled (preferably cast iron) over med. heat. When very hot, pat the steaks dry, sprinkle with salt, and lay in the pan in a single layer. Sear well on both sides until meat is rare to med. rare, 3-4 minutes. Remove to a rack set over a plate.

5. Add the onion to the skillet and cook, stirring regularly, until it begins to brown (but still stays crunchy) about 5 minutes. Add the salsa to the skillet along with cumin, pepper, and remaining 12 cloves of roasted garlic (yes, left whole) Stir as the salsa reduces for several minutes, sten stir in the broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Return the meat to the skillet and let it warm through, about 5 minutes or until meat is done to your liking. Taste the sauce and add a little more salt or sugar if necessary.

6. With a spatula or slotted spoon, transfer the steaks to a serving platter, then spoon the sauce, onions and garlic over and aroung them. Sprinkle with the cilantro and you’re ready.

Notes: The salsa can be prepared several days ahead. The green chiles in one of the above photos were for another recipe. They are not used in the tomatillo-chipotle salsa.

Variations: Steak can be replaced by other rather thin-cut steaks or thin-cut pork-chops. Whole garlic could be left out, reducing to only 3 cloves needed for the salsa.

New Year's Day Tacos

Think back to the tacos of your youth: the ground beef in a crispy shell from a box(or maybe you were lucky and got fresh tortillas.), orangy juices dripping from the side. The toppings: iceberg lettuce, tomato, shredded yellow cheddar cheese, salsa from a jar. It was one of my most beloved dinners as a kid.I still like to make a taco dinner once in a while. But I've made a few changes. Instead of the seasoning packet, I use a recipe from an article in Cook's Illustrated that sought to reproduce that taco beef flavor, but with all natural ingredients. The meat tastes just like you would remember of the one from the Lawry's packet, but it is made with onions, garlic, chile powder, cumin, coriander, tomato sauce, cider vinegar...

I make up some tacos and top them with homemade tomatillo salsa, tomatoes, cilantro, and some crumbled fresh mexican cheese. We'll have simmered black beans and rice on the side. On a really special day, I'll fry corn tortillas crisp to make fresh taco shells.

Braised Mexican Chuck Steaks

Here is Bistecas Rancheros, the second recipe that I've tried from All About Braising. These are chuck steaks, cut thin and into small pieces, and braised with potatoes, poblano chiles and a flavorful tomato sauce. I liked that this was a one-pot meal. It tasted good, but I think I might do it without the potatoes next time because we prefer rice with mexican flavors. The potato-tomato combination made it a little strange to me. The leftover meat was once again turned into some mighty fine tacos.

Beef Short Ribs ARE my favorite or Life without Spinach

Beef short ribs really are my favorite, if we're talking ribs. Except, they're not really like traditional pork ribs in any way except that they have a bone. (Well, I've been corrected. short ribs are the spare ribs of beef) Beef short ribs are braised, cooked in liquid very slowly until meltingly tender. They are more akin to pot roast but richer. I like to braise them in a seasoned tomato sauce, remove them and shred the meat. Then I add the meat back to the sauce for a rich Short Rib Ragu. This dish is heavenly, even Baby Jack even loves it. I got the recipe from last winter's Fine Cooking #77, the article: Three ways to Braise Short Ribs by Molly Stevens. I loved this pasta so much that I never got around to making the other two suggestions from the article, until yesterday.



Yesterday I tried my hand at Asian-Glazed Braised Short Ribs and Oh My(!) Sure, every dish in the kitchen needed washing by the time I was finished, but it was worth it. These ribs sang with flavor. They're rubbed with a blend that includes Five Spice Powder (a spice mix that I am currently loving.) and left to sit overnight. They're browned and then braised in ginger-garlic-beer-broth mixture for hours until very tender. THEN, they're coated with a honey-orange juice glaze and put under the broiler until sizzling and sticky. This is why I love asian food, aromatic, spicy, sweet and savory.

My normal plan of action would be to serve them with sauteed spinach. But alas, as present life no longer includes spinach, I decided to use baby bok choy instead, stir-frying the sliced bok choy as I would the wayward spinach. The baby bok choy is a cruciferous veg, very healthy, but I miss my spinach.

Short Rib ragu redux

I haven't stopped thinking about this Short Rib ragu since the last time I made it, earlier this month. This time I served it with Paparadelle, a ribbon-like egg noodle pasta. In Italian restaurants, it is common to see meat sauces served with this type of pasta. The sauce is fantastic and would also be good served alongside polenta . But with this pasta, it was really special.

Short Rib Ragout

Making a meat sauce out of short ribs is a breaking new ground for me. I was a little hesitant because I love short ribs just as they are. But this recipe from Fine Cooking issue #77 got great reviews so I decided to give it a try. Basically, short ribs are browned and then simmered in a vegetable-enriched tomato sauce until very tender. Then the meat is removed from the bones, all the fat trimmed and the meat is shredded and added back to the de-fatted sauce. It turned out great. The meat was a pleasure to eat because all the work had been done. The sauce was delicious. I served the ragout tossed with Ziti. But it would also be nice on top of a cheesy polenta.

Beef Stew

Made with a chuck roast, red potatoes, carrots and peas. Classic, hearty and delicious. The recipe I currently use if from Fine Cooking issue #63. Sorry about the pictures, people. I need to be more on top of things. By the way, my 19 month old, Jack, LOVES stew. He eats the beef in the rich gravy. I mash in some peas and carrots. But he can detect the potatoes and he spits them out.