Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

This is just a traditional beef & broccoli stir fry. But I want to make sure I don't forget how to make this, because it was delicious :)

This is all that was left! (that's a massive serving fork, not a normal sized fork :))

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp grated ginger (~2 inches of fresh ginger grated on a small grate/zester. This takes a while.)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1.5 lb steak (i.e. flank, or top round. Nothing expensive)
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 2 crowns of broccoli, chopped into florets
• 1 can water chestnuts
• vegetable oil
• serve with rice!

1. Whisk the first 6 ingredients together in a small bowl/cup. Slice the steak into strips and toss in a large bowl with half of the sauce you just whisked. Let sit for up to 30 minutes.
2. Heat ~2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large pan. Meanwhile, throw the broccoli into a freezer bag with 1/4 cup water. Put in the microwave for 3-4 minutes - it should be fully cooked. Once the vegetable oil is heated, throw in the meat and cook until fully cooked (or rarer if you like it that way). Use tongs or a fork to pull the meat out of the pan and onto a plate to save for later.
3. In the empty/saucy pan, throw in the onion and cook until translucent. (If the pan is dry, pour in 1/4 cup of water to dilute everything.) Once the onion is done, throw in the broccoli and the rest of the sauce you made. Mix everything together for 1-3 minutes. Throw in the beef and water chestnuts to warm it all up.
4. Serve over rice!

Chorizo Hash

So back to my breakfast for dinner meal. This chorizo hash was the main dish to the brown sugar cherry scones I posted last week. It's an embarassingly easy recipe, but still delicious! It uses cooked potatoes, so it's a great way to use up really any leftover potatoes you may have (other than mashed). This recipe served two people along with two fried eggs a piece.

Chorizo Hash

• ~2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 an onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 package (usually less than a pound) of chorizo
• equivalent of 1 potato, cooked (can be a baked potato, boiled potato, roasted, red, russet, white, etc.)
• salt/pepper

1.  Heat the oil in a pan over medium. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent - ~4 minutes.
2. Drop the chorizo into the pan and break up with a wooden spoon. While it's cooking, chop the potatoes into small chunks, i.e. 1 cm squared. As the chorizo is cooking, throw the potatoes in and continue to stir. Cook for another 10 minutes, until the chorizo is cooked through and the potatoes are soft and red (with the chorizo flavoring)
3. Serve with eggs and enjoy!

Valentine's Day Coffee Tartlet

So I know it's late for this recipe, it being Valentine's Day today, but save it for next year? Or make this fun treat for any other occasion! The cookie is based on Alton Brown's sugar cookie recipe - so if you don't want to make too many tartlets, use the dough to make extra sugar cookies :)

Coffee Tartlets
 Makes several dozen - so half the recipe if you want.

•  3 c flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 c (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
• 1 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk
• powdered sugar
• 1 large box instant vanilla pudding
• 1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee
• 3 c milk
• berries

1. Preheat oven to 375 and butter/Pam a cupcake tin.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt.
3. Cream butter and sugar until smooth. (Soften the butter or cut it into small pieces to make it easier to mix). Mix in the egg and milk. Add the flour mixture in a little at a time and combine until smooth. There may be some dry chunks, but that's ok.
4. Instead of flouring your working surface, use powdered sugar, and dump the bowl of batter. If there were dry chunks, use your fingers to combine it into a big lump. Use a rolling pin to roll the batter down to 1/8 inch -thick sheets. (Work in pieces if you need to.) Use a glass to cut out circles of dough and gently press a circle into each cupcake cup to form a little tart base. Bake for ~10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool completely before removing from the pan. (If you're baking in batches, you may want to keep the cookie dough in the fridge between baking. Or use it for plain cookies instead.)
5. While the crust is cooling, whisk together the pudding, instant coffee and 3 c milk. Slice strawberries if you're using them.
6. The pudding should be mostly set when you spoon it into the crusts. Top with berries and serve!

Brown Sugar Cherry Scones

I made this as part of a breakfast for dinner meal - chorizo hash, eggs, and brown sugar cherry scones - and here's the best part of the meal:

Brown Sugar Cherry Scones

• 2 c. flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 c brown sugar
• 3/4 cup cream
• 1 egg
• 4 tbsp cold butter
• 2 tbsp shortening
• 1/3 cup dried cherries
• raw sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Mix in sugar with a big wooden spoon and make sure all the chunks are broken up. In a mug, mix together the egg and cream and set aside.
3. Cut the butter into small pieces. (i.e. 1/2 in cubed chunks). Throw the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients and use the wooden spoon to break up the butter and shortening into even smaller pieces. The mixture should be very chunky - the mixture will never be smooth. Mix in the mug of cream/egg until the batter just starts to come together - there will definitely be dry chunks still there. Break the cherries up into the batter and mix until just distributed throughout - if you don't break the cherries up, they'll stick together and make little cherry deposits in your scones...
4. Spread a small handful of flour on a dry flat surface. Dump the mixture onto the surface and flatten out with your hands until it's about an inch thick all around, incorporating the dry pieces. Use a glass to cut out circles and place on a baking sheet about an inch apart from each other. Keep flattening and cutting the pieces of batter until the it's finished. If you have raw sugar, sprinkle over the prepared scones and gently press into the batter
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until brown. Scones will have a biscuity texture.

Enjoy!