Korean-Style Beef Bowl

Yummy-yummy!  On first glance, this looks good but kind of plain.  Not at all.  The recipe listed serves 4 so you'll need to half it. This is another one from Pampered Chef's 29 Minutes to Dinner page 93:


Ingredients

STEAK AND MARINADE
2 Green onions with tops, divided
1 lb (soo g) skirt steak
2 Garlic cloves, pressed
3 tbsp (4S mL) soy sauce
1 tbsp (lS mL) sesame oil
1 tsp (SmL) coarsely ground black
Pepper
1 tbsp (lS mL) sugar
1 tsp (SmL) vegetable oil

RICE AND VEGETABLES
1 cup (2S0 mL) uncooked jasmine rice
2 Medium carrots
2 cups (soo mL) bean sprouts

Preparation

1. For steak and marinade, thinly slice green onions using Santoku Knife, reserving 1 tbsp (lS mL)
of the tops for garnish; place remaining green onions into Classic Batter Bowl.

2. Cut steak crosswise into 2-in. (s-cm) pieces. Slice each piece into thin strips, cutting against the
grain (see Chef's Corner); add to batter bowl. Press garlic over beef. Add soy sauce, sesame oil,
black pepper and sugar; mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

4. Meanwhile, for vegetables, peel carrots; discard skin. Continue peeling carrots to make long
ribbons. Place ribbons into ice water until ready to serve.

5. To finish steak, add vegetable oil to (12-in./30-cm) Skillet; heat over medium-high heat
1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add beef to Skillet in a single layer and cook undisturbed
2 minutes or until beef is brown. Stir; cook an additional 3-4 minutes or until beef is no longer
pink. Remove from heat.

6. Remove rice from microwave and fluff with a fork. To serve, divide rice among serving bowls and
serve with beef, carrots and bean sprouts. Garnish with reserved green onion tops.


Nutrition Information
Calories: 410 ; Total Fat: 20 g ; Saturated Fat: 7 g ; Carbohydrates: 29 g ; Protein: 28 g ; Sodium: 790 mg ; Fiber: 2 g

Very little on the substitution front.  I didn't have any sesame oil so I just used regular veggie oil and I used brown rice instead of jasmine.  This was SO easy and delicious!
*****

Kung Pao Chicken

Woke up to a stormy day and feeling horrible.  Can't catch my breath.  We decided to have Kung Pao Chicken for dinner.  This recipe is from my mom and is for 3 large servings.  I went ahead and made the portions as listed and kept some for leftovers.  We've had this before, though I've never made it.  Because I was feeling really ill today, Peter took care of it with me supervising :D.  He appreciated it so much, lol.


Ingredients
 
-3 1/2 tsp cornstarch, divided
-5 tsp soy sauce, divided
-5 tsp dry sherry, divided
-1/4 tsp salt
-3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
-1 Tbl red wine vinegar
-2 Tbl chicken broth or water
-1 1/2 tsp sugar
-3 Tbl vegetable oil, divided 
-1/3 cup salted peanuts
-6 to 8 small dried hot chili peppers
-1 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
-2 green onions with tops, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
-additional green onion and dried hot chili pepper for garnish
 
Instructions

1 - For marinade, combine 2 tsp cornstarch, 2 tsp soy sauce, 2 tsp sherry and salt in large bowl; mix well. Add chicken;stir to coat well. Let stand 30 minutes.
2 - Combine remaining 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch, 3 tsp soy sauce, 3 tsp sherry, vinegar, chicken broth and sugar in small bowl; mix well. Set aside
3 - Heat 1 Tbl oil in wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add peanuts; cook and stir until lightly toasted. Remove peanuts from wok; set aside. Heat remaining 2 Tbl oil in wok over medium heat. Add chili peppers; stir fry until peppers just begin to char, about 1 minute.
4 - Increase heat to high. Add chicken mixture; stir fry 2 minutes. Add ginger; stir fry until chicken is no longer pink in center; about 1 minute. Add peanuts and onions; stir fry 1 minute. Stir cornstarch mixture; add to wok. Cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens. Garnish, if desired.

Let's see... the changes made were; water was used in place of sherry, rice wine vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, and I only used 2 thai peppers instead of 6 chili peppers. We had brown rice and some canned veggies on the side.

All in all I'd say this was very high up on the taste scale! It's an easy meal but expect to have to clean up a couple bowls, a wok and your cutting board so I wouldn't put this on a day when you want to avoid dishes.

*****