Stir Fried Noodles

Yum yum yum I love noodles.

1 package Chinese flat rice noodles
1 pound beef
4 baby bok choy (optional)
2-3 cups bean sprouts (optional)
3-5 stalks of green onion
sesame oil
2 tablespoon soy sauce
3-4 tablespoons oyster sauce
pepper to taste
veggie/olive oil for cooking

1. Open up your package of noodles. You can buy them precut. I unravel the noodles with my hands. My dad doesn't do that, but I wanted to see if it made a difference. I think that it was helpful, but not totally necessary because the noodles do separate as they are cooking.

2. Slice your beef into small pieces. You can use something lean like round or go for something more fatty like a ribeye. Marinate with 1 teaspoon soy sauce and a 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil. Note: I tried to use cornstarch here and that's why the meat looks pale. The texture came out bad in the end...don't do it!


3. Wash the baby bok choy and cut however you like, in large chunks or small slices.


4. Slice the bulb of the green onion finely and slice the tops of the green onion into 1-inch pieces.

5. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large pan/wok on high heat. Toss in the meat. When the meat is still pink, add 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce. Cook, stirring every 30 seconds or so until it has browned on the outside. Set aside in a bowl. In another small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 3-4 tablespoons oyster sauce, and 1 tablespoon water.

6. Add another 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the bulb of the green onion. Let it cook for about 30 seconds then add in the boy choy. Stir so that it is evenly coated with oil. When the leaves start to wilt, add in the noodles. Stir occasionally; if you stir it around too much the noodle will start to break apart. Add pepper and use a spoon to drizzle the sauce mixture over the noodles, then stir it, then add more sauce, then stir it. After the noodles cooks for a minute, add the beef back in. Keep adding the sauce until the noodles are flavored as you like it. The noodles will become soft when they are cooked.

That's all there is to it.

Ragu

So I was watching TV and I saw a recipe for ragu. I've never made ragu before, but it looked interesting and look good on TV. This recipe is complicated and long, which is why I wanted to try it out. In the end, I thought it tasted good but was not worth the effort, haha.

Ragu: serves 10-12
From foodnetwork.com

6 ounces bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces (About 5 strips)
2 onions, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 whole cloves
1 whole star anise
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
8 ounces ground beef
8 ounces ground pork
1 1/4 cups white wine
3/4 cup evaporated milk (not to be confused with condensed milk, the sweet stuff)
3 cups beef broth
1 ounce dried mushroom, chopped
56 ounces diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried majoram
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauces
1 1/3 cups parmesean cheese


1. Cook the bacon on medium low in a big pot. Remove the bacon from the pot and add the onions, salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are carmelized, about 30 minutes. Place the anise and cloves in a spice ball, cheesecloth, or cotton sachet, and add to the pot.


2. Add the celery and garlic, and cook until the celery is soft, about 20 minutes. Remove the spices.



3. Meanwhile, brown the meat in a separate pan. Cook the meat in batches otherwise your meat might get soggy. Drain as much of the oil as you can, and add the meat to the big pot. Add 1/2 cup white wine to the pan you cooked the meat in and scrape any brown bits off. Add the wine/scrapings into the pot.

4. Add 1/2 cup white wine, the chopped mushroom, evaporated milk, and beef broth. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for a total of three hours.


So, at this point, something happened to my sauce. It seems like the evaporated milk curdled, because I saw white flecks in there. Other people who have tried out this recipe said the same thing. So in the end the sauce didn't look appetizing but it tasted okay.

5. While the big pot is simmering, heat oil in the other pan you were using or a medium pot. Add in the sliced garlic and cook for a few seconds. Add the canned chopped tomatoes and spices. Let the water cook off of the tomatoes, about 30 minutes.

6. Add 1/4 cup white wine, the tomato paste, ketchup, and Worchestershire sauce. Cook the tomatoes for an additional 25 minutes to caramelize the sugars. Stir occasionally. Then add the tomatoes to the big pot.


Serve with bread or spaghetti!

Philly Cheesesteak

I keep craving Philly cheesesteak sandwiches...so I decided to make it at home. I had a lot of veggies at home already, so I just used a little bit to make one sandwich. I was reading recipes that call for ribeye and other good cuts of beef, but I still had a lot of beef round (it was on sale!) in the freezer. Even though that cut of beef is supposedly only good for stewing and braising, I thought it was fine in my sandwich.

Philly cheesesteak (for one sandwich):

1 roll of bread...I had a demi baguette, so that's what I used
1 slice cheese
1 clove garlic
1 mushroom
1/5 bell pepper
1/8 onion
6 ounces of beef. I really don't know how much beef I used. I had thawed out the beef that I had preportioned, sliced it all, and grabbed a handful and threw into the pan.

1. Slice your bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms. Slice your cheese in half. Slice the beef as thinly as you can (if it's semi-frozen, slicing it a lot easier to do).


2. Slice the clove of garlic very thinly. Butter both sides of your bread, lay the slices of garlic on, and toast.


3. Cook your veggies over medium-high heat. Stir every so often and add some salt, cooking until the mushrooms start to brown and the onions are more translucent. It took less than five minutes for me.


4. Push the veggies to one side of your pan and add the beef. Add salt and pepper to taste. When the beef is almost done cooking, as in the center is still pink, lay the cheese on top of your meat.


5. When the cheese is melted, assemble your sandwich. I actually burned my veggies, but I hope you don't do that. I burned them because I was cooking with high heat...and that's why I'm telling you now to cook it at a lower temperature. I think I'm used to cooking on high because that's what my mom does. So there, it took maybe 20 minutes for me to whip this up and it was yummy.

Stir-fried Beef with Snow Peas

Here is something quick and easy to make.

1 pound of beef
3 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 pound snow peas
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup oyster sauce

1. Slice the beef against the grain as thinly as you can. If your meat was frozen and thawing, it's easier to slice the meat thinly when it's semi-frozen. Mix with corn starch (you could probably use flour too, but I've never tried it) and sesame oil. Refrigerate overnight. If you are in a hurry, maybe one hour is okay. Or use it immediately, tell me how it turns out.

2. Snap the end of each pea, pulling the strings off.

3. Smash garlic into large chunks against the blade of a knife. You could mince it if you wanted too...this is just what my mom insisted.


4. Heat oil in a pan, and cook the garlic on medium until it is browned.


5. Change your heat to high. Add your beef and stir-fry continuously until the beef is halfway cooked.


6. Add your oyster sauce and snow peas. If there doesn't seem to be enough oyster sauce, add some more. My mom kind of took over the cooking (she does that a lot) so I'm estimating the amount of oyster sauce she added. Mix often until the snow peas are cooked. The snow peas will darken in color.



And...devour! I love the veggies because they are still a little crunchy. My mom loves the bits of browned garlic.