Straight Hard Grubbin' on Spicy Beef Noodles
With the current economic situation out there, I can't see myself droppin' some cash out at the restaurant, Papa Johns, or IHOP every damn day. Occasionally, after a day at work, I pop over to my Stop & Shop (I have a card on my keychain...official). Tonight I went and found me some strip steak, about 3/4 lb. Went over to the veggies, copped 1 red bell pepper, and a big stalk of broccoli. At this point I am pretty sure I am getting into a stir-fry situation. What troubles me is that I am seriously out of soy sauce at home, and the ancient bottle of mushroom soy sauce at the crib is mad sketchy. I hadn't bothered to grab a basket, so this is going to have to be quick. I dip on over to the Asian food aisle and get the rest of the ingredients. My mind is flowing with possibilities over here. All manners of sauce, stir-fry sauce, sesame oil, ect. are in front of me. "Slow your roll..." I quietly tell myself, drooling.
"We're gonna need this...
some of this..
and most definitely...some of these!"
I know this is 'American Chinese Food', and I am OK with that, considering that I'm the chef tonight. I'm also going to cheat a bit to make this into more of a soup. I don't feel guilty about getting all Rachel Ray on this recipe!
At the house I get out two cutting boards, one for the veggies, one for the protein. First, finely chop 2 cloves garlic, and pop into a (med-high heat) hot wok with 2 tbs. of oil (olive, sesame,
or vegetable). Brown the garlic and sprinkle red pepper flakes or powder into the hot oil.
Turn heat to medium. Slice your strip steak, or buy the stir fry beef from the market, and place in the hot oil, about 3 minutes each side, or until both sides are cooked.
While the meat is sizzlin', chop up the red pepper into cubes, and your broccoli to a desired size.
Add to wok, with 2 tbs. of stir fry sauce or 1 tbs soy sauce. Cook veggies and meat for 5-7 minutes on medium heat.
Open up those cans of mushrooms and water chestnuts! Drain both cans. This time, I chopped the water chestnuts to about half size, but I don't think I needed to in hind sight. Add to stir fry.
Oh, wait...what about these chilis from last week?
Slice as desired, and for less heat, ditch the seeds (HG recommends seeds!)Return heat to medium-high and simmer for approximately 5 minutes. Remove wok from heat.
I bought a hot and sour rice noodle ramen bowl at the market as well.
No shame in saving some time here! There may have been a better alternative, but I wanted a meal closer to soup and more exciting than the standard stir fry. I boiled water and emptied the spice pack and sesame oil packet, and waited 3 minutes for the noodles to soften.
Serve in a bowl, meat and veggies first. Top with broth and noodles from the ramen. Top generously with Chow Mein noodles, insert chopsticks and HUZZAH. Enjoy. Serves two.
Blah-Damn
UPDATE: Leftover Lunchin' It:
