An Asian Sensation!

Two nights ago, Scott asked me to brainstorm for Thursday night's dinner, so immediately, I started thinking, but of course I drew a blank. Thankfully, he sent me a helpful text message, "look through all your good Asian recipes." Well, to clarify, they're not my recipes, they belong to Pinterest and to the users who posted them on Pinterest. On the other hand, they are good, so I thumbed through the few that I had repinned, and the Mongolian Beef stuck out for me. 

Mongolian Beef has been one of my favorite Asian dishes since I could remember, and the Elephant Bar Restaurant makes a pretty mean Mongolian Beef that I remember and love all too well. So, I figured if they can do it, I surely can do it. I found a very easy to follow recipe right here with very few ingredients. 

For, the most part, Scott and I stuck to the recipe but we made a few changes. Here are the ingredients that Scott and I used, but feel free to stick to the original.

• 1 pkg of stir fry steak pieces
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 tsp. of veg oil
• 1/2 tsp. of grated ginger
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 green onions chopped 
• about 1/2 cup mushrooms
• about 1/2 cup broccoli 

Pat the meat dry and coat completely in flour. Toss in a strainer to shake off any excess flour. The recipe says that the meat should be lightly coated. Where we used flour, she used cornstarch. I don't really know the difference, so feel free to use either. Set the meat aside and start on the sauce. While you're preparing the meat, be sure to get a pot boiling with water and cook white rice according to the package.

To make the sauce, heat half the oil in a wok on medium-high heat. Add in the garlic and ginger. Immediately add the water, soy sauce, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. Cook this mixture for about 2 minutes, then transfer to another container. 

Add the meat back to the wok and fry it until it is brown. Throw in the mushrooms and the broccoli and add the sauce in. The recipe instructs that you can now continue to cook the sauce to reduce and thicken it, or you can finish it as is. Scott and I cooked it down for another 5 minutes or so. Be sure to add in the green onions at the last minute. Pour it over a bed of white rice and enjoy! 

Seriously, this turned out so well! I was pleasantly surprised. I would venture to say that it is just as good as any Chinese or Japanese steakhouse...not to mention, it's super quick! Give it a try and let me know what you think! I'm definitely going to make this one of my go to meals! What is your favorite Asian inspired dinner? And can anyone tell me the difference between cornstarch and flour?

The Best Recipes...

Sometimes the best recipes are the ones that we don't plan.

Although I have a few old Thursday recipes that need to be shared, I do not have any new ones. I do, however, have a pretty simple, pretty fast, pretty wholesome recipe that can put a smile on any meat lover's face. 

As you all well know, Tropical Storm Isaac was barreling towards southwest Florida just about a week ago. So, last dreary, Sunday night, Scott pleasantly surprised me when he suggested that we cook  sirloin steaks. Although I love sticking to a recipe and having step by step laid out for me, I absolutely love when Scott and I don't plan our dinners...they always seem so much more heartfelt. 

Let's talk about the subject at hand though...steak. I've killed many a steak in my day, but I think I have got it down to a science. Broiling on a baking rack is definitely the key. And through trial and error, I have figured out that size does play a role in cooking time, but generally for small steaks, 5 minutes on each side should produce a good medium rare (just the way I like it). Scott , on the other hand, likes his steak medium well to well done, so he wound up putting his steak in an extra 5 minutes. The past few times I've cooked steak, I have stuck to this method and my steak has come out juicy and tender. Another good tip...always let your steak rest. If you cut the poor thing open straight away, you're going to lose all the juice and flavor, so give it at least 5 minutes for the juices to redistribute throughout the steak. 

Anywho, here is our Tropical Storm Isaac, Sunday Funday dinner. 

The veggies came from a bag, and the potatoes are instant, but the steak is pure genius and raw talent. Scott marinated the sirloins in a teriyaki glaze, and I was the brains behind the operation. This recipe may not be the most creative that we've tackled but it was one of the most heartwarming! Do you have any special comfort food recipes? Do you have any tips on how to cook the perfect steak! Share them with me!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac n Cheese

I've taken a very unnecessary hiatus from blogging, and I deeply apologize. I have a lot to catch you all up on, but I need to start with the most recent and work my way back from there. 

Scott and I have been at somewhat of a loss for Thursday dinners as of late, whether it be because of our budget, recent lack of creativity, or spontaneous, random plans that just come up. So, obviously, when I am out of ideas, I head to my crutch, Pinterest. Last week, I found a rather awesome recipe from a blog with a very similar name, One Ordinary Day.

Everyone, including myself, loves mac n cheese and I'm always trying to think up new and inventive ways to spice up the classic. One Ordinary Day beat me to the punch with a Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac n Cheese recipe. Click here to check it out! Scottie and I tweaked the recipe a little bit by using just regular pasta and regular butter, but it still came out pretty awesome!

  

 Season and saute the chicken on medium high heat.  








What you need for a bechamel sauce:
- butter
- flour
- milk
- cheese

 

Crisp up bacon in a skillet on medium high heat.

 

Here is our finished product! These are the basic steps. If you follow the recipe I linked above, you'll have a killer chicken, bacon, ranch mac n cheese too! The only minor disappointment that I encountered was that I felt our bechamel sauce was a little grainy...delicious, but grainy. Does anybody have any tips to avoiding that problem? Also, do you have a favorite mac n cheese recipe that you'd like to share?