Garden Fresh Broccoli! Plus Spicy Ginger Beef with Broccoli, Revisited

The first broccoli from this year's garden was ready to harvest last weekend, and since then, we've been eating lots of garden-fresh broccoli.  I decided to start off by brushing one of my old-standby recipes, Spicy Ginger Beef with Broccoli, and ended up further fine-tuning the recipe, using stuff I've learned over the past year of cooking to make an already-great recipe even better. 

I also used a bunch of the hot peppers we've been growing.   We're getting a bunch of ripe ones now.

I made a really large batch (about 12 servings total), but the revised recipe, below, reflects the standard (already large) batch.  Either gives you a lot of good leftovers, and this dish freezes really well.   The broccoli does get a bit soggy when reheating, but the flavor is great.   Don't freeze the chow mein noodles, though.   Just add them after reheating.

Spicy Ginger Beef with Broccoli

yield = 8 servings
2           pounds beef (steak or stew), thinly sliced
2-4        red chili peppers, seeded and minced
1 1/2     teaspoon ground mustard
2           teaspoons minced garlic
1           teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1           teaspoon ground ginger
2           teaspoons sesame oil
1/3        cup light soy sauce
2 1/2-3 pounds broccoli florets
1 1/2    tablespoons peanut oil
1 1/2-2 tablespoons peeled, diced ginger
2          cans sliced water chestnuts, 1 drained, 1 undrained
2          tablespoons oyster sauce
2          tablespoons corn starch dissolved in 1/3 cup low-sodium chicken
                       broth, or water

Mix sliced beef with ground mustard, ground ginger, black pepper, chili peppers, garlic, 1 teaspoon sesame oil and soy sauce in a bowl or Ziploc bag.  Cover bowl/close bag and marinate at least two hours, preferably eight or more hours or overnight.

Steam broccoli until it is almost done; remove from heat.

Add peanut oil and 1 teaspoon sesame oil to wok, large skillet or Dutch oven.  Heat the oil over medium heat.  When hot, add the ginger and fry it, stirring often, until it is just starting to darken. 

Add the beef and marinade mixture. Stir-fry until the beef is nearly browned, then add water chestnuts, including the liquid from one of the cans.  Stir fry for a couple more minutes, then add oyster sauce and corn starch/broth (or water) mixture.  Stir until the liquid thickens.  Add the broccoli, stir to mix. 

Serve over rice, topped with chow mein noodles.

Notes: 
1.  The best way to slice the beef into nice, thin slices is to put it in the freezer for about 45 minutes before you're ready to prepare it.  The beef will then be stiff enough to easily cut as thinly as you  might desire.

2.  I don't specify a cut of meat to use because I've found it honestly doesn't matter if you marinate it sufficiently.  If I don't have time to let it marinate a long time, I tend to use sirloin, but round tip steak, chuck steak and stew beef work just fine.

3.  How many chili peppers one should use for this recipe depends on the heat of the peppers and personal taste.  That being said, the purpose of the peppers in this recipe is to add some heat, but they shouldn't overwhelm the other flavors.   I've gotten the best results from cayenne, serrano and red Thai peppers.  If you like things spicier, don't seed the peppers.

Berries and Grapes and Broccoli, O MY! (A Garden Update)

 It seems like every morning, we pick a bigger bowl of raspberries!  I know they won't be producing forever, but it's wonderful while it lasts! 



This morning's haul

Here's what the bushes are looking like:

 And more!

The grapes are starting to get bigger!  For awhile there I thought we were going to have teeny-weeny gooseberry-sized grapes.  I think these are a Concord grape, but I can't remember what we planted.  I guess if they turn purple, I'll know- the only choices at the nursery last year were a green grape and a Concord grape.  I remember smelling Concord grapes from when I was just a kid.  They grew in one of the alleys I took on my way home from school, and when the purple grapes were ripe, their scent was intoxicatingly intense.   I want to make grape jelly and/or jam.

Another view, note the old metal fence our backdoor neighbor is graciously allowing us to use:

Here's the broccoli.  I was beginning to think we'd have to eat the leaves and stems if we wanted any broccoli at all, but you can see that a little head has *finally* started to grow in the center of the enormously abundant leaves.

Jeffrey's breakfast this morning:  I think there's more fruit than cereal here!  But doesn't it look great?

Broccoli Stir-Fry with Sesame and Cashews

When I was designing a recipe for Spicy Orange Beef, I knew I'd want to serve it along with a vegetable stir-fry and some rice.   I didn't really even prepare a recipe for the vegetable dish, having decided I'd just stir-fry some broccoli, toss in some other flavors and add a basic Chinese-style sauce.  When it came time to actually make the meal, I improvised when it came to the broccoli dish, just tossing together some ingredients and seeing how it turned out.   I jotted down what I did as I went, and I'm glad I did, because this one turned out pretty good.

The broccoli is stir-fried for a bit, along with some seasonings, then liquid is added and the skillet is covered, to steam-cook the broccoli the rest of the way.   Sesame flavor comes from both sesame oil and some sesame seeds.   Most of the rest of the ingredients - soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, garlic - were pretty obvious.  At the last minute I decided to add to the nutty elements of the dish provided by the sesame seeds and oil.  I topped the dish with some cashews and served it up.

There's really not much else to say about this one, other than to reiterate that it's pretty darn good, but as always, I encourage you to try it out and see for yourself.

Broccoli Stir-Fry with Sesame and Cashews

yield = 4 servings

1/2         cup low-sodium chicken broth
2            tablespoons oyster sauce
1            tablespoon soy sauce
1            tablespoon cornstarch
1/2         teaspoon white pepper
1            tablespoon peanut oil
1            tablespoon Asian (dark) sesame oil
6            cups broccoli florets
1            tablespoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
1            tablespoon sesame seeds
2            teaspoons minced garlic
1/2         cup water
1/2         cup cashews

Whisk together chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch and white pepper in a bowl.  Set aside.

Heat the peanut and sesame oils in a large skillet over medium heat.   When the oil is shimmering, add the broccoli and stir-fry 3 minutes.  Clear a spot in the center of the skillet, add the ginger and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute), then add the garlic and sesame seeds and cook 30 seconds.

Add the water to the skillet, then cover and cook until the broccoli is tender (about 2 minutes).   Add the oyster sauce mixture, stir together and cook until the sauce thickens and coats the broccoli (1-2 minutes).  Remove from heat, stir in the cashews and serve.

Spicy Ginger Beef with Broccoli

This recipe is one I developed a few years ago and have made often since that time - sometimes so often that we get burnt out on it for awhile, but even then, it isn't long before we decide it's time to make it again. We made this a lot during the past summer, as we got a lot of broccoli from our garden this year. (There's a funny story to go with that, but I'll let Juli tell it.)

Spicy Ginger Beef with Broccoli

2           pounds beef (steak or stew), thinly sliced
2-4        red chili peppers, seeded and minced
1 1/2     teaspoon ground mustard
2           teaspoons minced garlic
1           teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1           teaspoon ground ginger
2           teaspoons sesame oil
1/3        cup light soy sauce
2 1/2-3 pounds broccoli florets
1 1/2    tablespoons peanut oil
1 1/2-2 tablespoons peeled, diced ginger
2          cans sliced water chestnuts, 1 drained, 1 undrained
2          tablespoons oyster sauce
2          tablespoons corn starch dissolved in 1/3 cup low-sodium chicken
                       broth, or water
Mix sliced beef with ground mustard, ground ginger, black pepper, chili peppers, garlic, 1 teaspoon sesame oil and soy sauce in a bowl or Ziploc bag.  Cover bowl/close bag and marinate at least two hours, preferably eight or more hours or overnight.

Steam broccoli until it is almost done; remove from heat.

Add peanut oil and 1 teaspoon sesame oil to wok, large skillet or Dutch oven.  Heat the oil over medium heat.  When hot, add the ginger and fry it, stirring often, until it is just starting to darken.  Add the beef and marinade mixture. Stir-fry until the beef is nearly browned, then add water chestnuts, including the liquid from one of the cans.  Stir fry for a couple more minutes, then add oyster sauce and corn starch/broth (or water) mixture.  Stir until the liquid thickens.  Add the broccoli, stir to mix. 

Serve over rice, topped with chow mein noodles.


Notes: 
1.  The best way to slice the beef into nice, thin slices is to put it in the freezer for about 45 minutes before you're ready to prepare it.  The beef will then be stiff enough to easily cut as thinly as you  might desire.

2.  I don't specify a cut of meat to use because I've found it honestly doesn't matter if you marinate it sufficiently.  If I don't have time to let it marinate a long time, I tend to use sirloin, but round tip steak, chuck steak and stew beef work just fine.

3.  How many chili peppers one should use for this recipe depends on the heat of the peppers and personal taste.  That being said, the purpose of the peppers in this recipe is to add some heat, but they shouldn't overwhelm the other flavors.   I've gotten the best results from cayenne, serrano and red Thai peppers.  If you like things spicier, don't seed the peppers.