It was Thanksgiving dinner with my family and while my mother is known for her fabulous cooking, my brother is known for his ability to mound his plate, and then eat all of it, sometimes twice. We had all basically dished up and the table had settled into the comfortable ‘no talking, we’re eating’ silence when Marlow suddenly exclaimed, ‘Kingsley, that’s enough!’. All eyes immediately swung towards my brother where he was in the process of pouring gravy over his meal. We all had a good little giggle over that one – personally, I can’t wait until Kingsley’s son can talk.
As I said before, the stirfry is all about the sauce – though in this case the green beans were a lovely addition. This is quite a quick dinner if you’re able to prepare all of the elements beforehand and I discovered this in the new Best of Bridge.
Beef and Green Bean Stirfry
1 lb. of lean beef, cut into strips across the grain
Combine the strips of beef in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and set aside.
Sauce
3 T. soy sauce
4 T. oyster sauce
2 T. water
1 T. dry sherry
1 T. liquid honey
1 t. cornstarch
1/2 t. chili paste
Whisk all ingredients together and set aside.
Vegetables
2 good sized carrots, thinly sliced, par cooked for 4 minutes in boiling water, rinsed in cold water and drained well
3 c. green beans cut into 1/2 inch segments, par cooked for 2 minutes in boiling water, rinsed in cold water and drained well
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 green onions, chopped
1 T. ginger, minced
In a wok or large skillet, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat, stir fry the beef until the pink is just gone and then transfer it to a plate.
Add the onion to the pan and cook for a few minutes until it starts to soften, then add the garlic, green onions, ginger and 1 tablespoon of water and cook for another minute.
Add the red pepper, par cooked carrots and green beans, beef with juices and the sauce and cook for another couple of minutes until all is heated through, and the sauce has come to a boil and thickened.
