Chinese Concoction

For some reason, I am on a serious Asian food adventure. I have been craving stir frys for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...no I'm not pregnant but I love the spicy heat and the savory sauces that come with making a stir fry. I've been fooling around with a few different stir frys and I think I've found the perfect one for beef. It's a take on Pepper Steak from and Asian cookbook. I combine peppers, green beans and beef and cook it in sherry and soy sauce. I add some chili garlic sauce and a little jalapeno for some heat. Serve with brown rice and a cucumber salad and you have yourself a nice dinner. I omit the cuke salad and enjoy it for a nice breakfast, come on, who doesn't like Chinese food for breakfast. This meal feeds a lot of people and is super easy to make, takes less than 20 minutes and you have an entire meal.

Pepper Steak:
1 lb of flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain at a bias (about 45 degrees or so)
1 heaping tbsp chili garlic sauce (recommendation Lee Kum Kee)
1 tsp-1 tbsp of mince jalapeno (depending on how spicy your mouth wants to be)
1/2-3/4 cup of amontillado sherry (eyeball this, you want the sherry and soy to coat the meat but not be drowning in it) *if you can't find amontillado, any dry sherry will work
1/4 - 1/3 cup soy sauce (eyeball this as well)
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime
1-2 tbsp corn starch

Put the sliced beef in a bowl and coat with the corn starch. Add the rest of the ingredients and let marinate for at least 10 minutes, turning once in a while to make sure the beef is coated with everything.

1 red bell pepper, chopped into inch cubes
1 orange bell pepper, chopped into cubes
1 big bunch of green beans or heri covert, chopped in half
1-2 inches of ginger, pealed and sliced into discs 1/4-1/2 inch thick
3 cloves of garlic, smashed, skins removed
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 scallions chopped
5 basil leaves cut chiffonade (thin slices)

Heat a wok up with high heat. Saute peppers and green beans for 1-2 minutes till just starting to cook but still nice a crunchy. Take out with a slotted spoon and let drain on paper towels. Add more oil if needed and then the garlic and ginger and swirl to infuse the oil but making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Then add the beef and the marinade and cook on high high to medium high heat, about 3-5 minutes depending on how fast the meat cooks. About a minute before the beef is done, add back the veggies and stir to combine. The sauce should be nice and thick, if you would like it a little more saucy, add more of the sherry at the end and let cook for a minute or so. The cornstarch will thicken it up. Take off heat when done (don't overcook the meat or it will get really tough), sprinkle with scallions and basil, and serve with brown rice and a cucumber salad.

Cucumber Salad: (for 4 people)
4 Persian cucumbers, ends removed, chopped in half moon shapes (so cut hotdog wise and then thinly slice the cuke)
1 - 2 tbsp vinegar
1/4 tsp splenda or sugar
1 -2 tsp soy sauce
1 -2 tsp toasted sesame seed oil
3-4 splashes of red Tabasco sauce
1 scallion chopped

To make the dressing, put the vinegar in the bottom of your serving bowl. Add the sugar/splenda and stir to dissolve. Add the soy sauce and Tabasco and whisk in the sesame oil. Add the cucumber and scallions on top and let sit for at least 10 minutes at room temp.