Broccoli Beef

Before I finish posting about our 4th of July BBQ, I wanted to post this so that I can participate in Regional Recipes this month. They're featuring China and it's being hosted by Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok.

Broccoli beef is probably one of the most well-known Chinese stir fry dishes in America and it's also one of the easiest, though all stir fries are pretty easy. It's just a bit of oil, some aromatics, a protein, and vegetables with some sauce.

You can do almost any combo of:

• aromatics - garlic, ginger, scallions, etc
  
• protein - chicken, shrimp, beef, tofu, etc or even skip it altogether if you want
• vegetables - brocolli, carrots, onions, cabbage, pretty much anything you want!
• sauce - soy, oyster, hoisin, hot sauce, pretty much anything you can find in the sauce aisle of your local asian market.

Stir fries are great for cleaning out the fridge!

Ingredients:
- Beef
- Broccoli
- Carrots (I added it for color and to sneak in extra veggies, but it's totally optional and not really "traditional")
- Garlic
- Soy Sauce
- Oyster Sauce
- Corn starch

Directions:
- Slice the beef into thin bite-size pieces. Flank steak is great for this, but any beef will do really, as long as you slice it against the grain to keep it tender. If you have trouble slicing it thinly, either use a sharper knife or put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
- Marinate the beef in a few teaspoons of corn starch and soy sauce while you prep the other ingredients. This will keep the beef tender and help thicken the sauce.
- Cut the broccoli florets off into bite-size pieces. You can also peel off the tough skin of the stem, slice it, and add them to the florets.
- Peel and slice the carrots at a bias (if you're using them)
- Finely mince the garlic.
Heat a pan or wok until smoking hot.
- Add a bit of oil to coat the bottom and let that heat up too.
- Add the garlic and stir it quickly for only a few seconds so that they don't burn.
- Add the beef with a bit of extra soy sauce.
- When the beef if about 80% cooked, you can take it out and set it aside. If you're being lazy like me, don't bother with this step :)
- If you're using carrots, add them to the pan. You can also add more oil at any time if things start sticking.
- Add the broccoli to the pan and oyster sauce to taste. If you don't have oyster sauce, more soy is fine too. If you like more sauce, feel free to add a bit of water or chicken stock.
- If you took the beef out earlier, add it back in now. Don't let the broccoli cook too long or it will get mushy. You want it to keep a bit of crispness.
- If you want to thicken the sauce more, mix a bit of corn starch in a bowl with a bit of water until fully dissolved and add the slurry to the pan. It should thicken even more as it cools.
- Serve over rice.

Crustless Quiche

There was a period of time when my hubz was on Atkins. The first week or two was really fun for him, eating endless steak, bacon, cheese and other goodies without guilt while losing weight! After a while though, that got tiring so I was constantly on the lookout for Atkins friendly recipes that would add a bit of variety to his diet.

One of his favorites was crustless quiche. Even though he's not on atkins anymore, he was in the mood for it, so he whipped up a batch himself, put them into muffin tins so that they'd make convenient little bite-sized snacks.
I'm submitting this to the Tasty Tools Event hosted by Joelen's Culinary Adventures which is featuring muffin pans this month.

Ingredients:
- Eggs
- Milk or Cream (we use soy milk)
- Cheese
- Filling (you can use whatever you like. My hubz used broccoli and ham this time)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Oil

Directions:
- Whisk the eggs and milk together until nice and fluffy.
- Mix in the cheese and fillings. It's a good idea to pre-cook most ingredients to get all the water out first.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Coat the muffin tins in oil to prevent sticking. I find a quick spray with Pam to be the easiest.
- Fill each muffin tin with the egg mixure.
- Bake at 350 degrees until cooked through and a toothpick comes out clean (about 20-30 minutes).
- Pop them in your mouth and enjoy!

Roasted Broccoli

Not particularly blog worthy, but I've never made it before, so I thought I'd blog about it.

Broccoli is a super healthy and yummy veggie, but I always stir fry it with a bit of garlic and soy or oyster sauce and sometimes with some other veggies or meat. That doesn't particularly well with western food like a steak or grilled chicken, and steaming is boring, so I decided to give this a try. Lemme just say, YUMMY!!! I think I might be doing this from now on instead, even with Asian dishes. I can do variations like sesame seeds and soy or teriyaki sauce to make it more fitting, right?

Ingredients:
- 1 broccoli
- 1/2 tsp oil
- 2 cloves of minced garlic
- sprinkling of salt
- 2 pinches of red pepper flakes

Method:
- Preheat oven to 475deg
- Wash broccoli and cut florets into even sized pieces. Peel the stem of the tough skin and cut into bite size pieces.
- Toss oil, garlic, salt, pepper flakes and broccoli together
- Lay on a sheet in a single layer
- Roast for ~10 minutes or until the desired tenderness and color is achieved
- Pair with something else yummy or eat alone!