After an approximately 847-year hiatus, I actually got to cook again *and* had time to create a new recipe while I did it! Ever since I made the decision to only write blog posts for recipes I create instead of those I get from other places, it seems like I hardly ever post any more. My Facebook page has a new recipe every day M-F, but most of those lately have been recipes I found online somewhere or were something simple I threw together that didn't justify an entire blog post.
This, however. This was amazing! And I made notes. And took pictures as I went. It's nothing short of astonishing I remembered to do both of those things, really.
This looks like an ungodly huge number of ingredients for a stir-fry, and it absolutely is. But the steak marinade is one I make quite regularly, so the entire back row here is all for that. Usually it makes enough marinade for about 8 steaks, but I did it with only one and used the rest of the marinade for the stir-fry sauce. Worked out well!
So other than marinade ingredients, you've got steak (I bought a top round sirloin on sale), mini bella mushrooms, broccoli, Vidalia onion, garlic, four colours of bell peppers, and matchstick carrots. Those I actually bought for another recipe but it didn't even remotely use most of the bag so I figured I might as well add them here for crunch and colour.
First step is to thinly slice the steak across the grain and then cut each slice into a bite-sized piece. The pieces ended up being something like an inch square by about 1/2 inch thick, which was perfect for us.
Actually, I mixed the marinade ingredients in a quart zip-top plastic bag first, but I didn't take a picture of it since I knew I'd be taking one after I added the steak. Or I forgot. Whatever. The idea is to marinate the steak for at least four hours, up to about 24 hours. I did it for about six this time since I didn't feel like making marinade when I got home from work the night before.
Then you're going to want to chop all the vegetables so they're ready to grab as you need them. If you wait to chop them as you use them, you're going to end up overcooking something and that pretty much ruins everything. Besides, it makes a really pretty picture when you have all your stuff chopped and ready! I almost put the peppers in a bowl, but decided on the plate since it showed off the colours better.
This is actually a picture of the third step, but they come pretty close together. Heat some oil, then add the Vidalia and sweat it a couple of minutes. Then add the garlic, and then 30 seconds later add the mushrooms. Then cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until they start to brown and release their liquid.
Add the broccoli and carrots next, and saute, stirring occasionally, another few minutes. The broccoli should be bright green, but still crisp, since you're not done cooking. It's better to err on the side of less than more or your broccoli will turn to mush.
Bell peppers come last since they cook the fastest. Continue stir-frying for a few minutes, until the peppers and broccoli are starting to soften. You don't want the carrots soft, though, since they're here for a little crunch in the finished product.
Shove all the vegetables to one side of the pan as best you can, and add the steak. You can choose to do this with a slotted spoon if you'd rather, but I just reached in with my hand and grabbed it. You're saving the marinade, though, so don't just dump the bag out! Cook the steak pieces for just a few minutes before mixing them into the vegetables. You're not cooking them until they're done here, just warming them through. The cooking will happen in a minute.
Mix some cornstarch into the reserved marinade, then add it to the pan and stir well. Keep cooking over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce starts to thicken and everything is cooked to your desired doneness. Total time on this recipe was something like 40 minutes, not counting marinating time.
You can serve it over rice if you want, and I probably should have because there's a lot of sauce, but I try to conserve carbs wherever I can and this wasn't one of the times I felt them necessary. I knew I'd be using them in other meals that same week so we just dealt with it.
I did, however, serve it with a salad made of buttercrunch lettuce and borage, both harvested from my back porch container garden. Our weather has been fantastic for gardens lately, and I put those plants in the ground as babies from the greenhouse barely two weeks earlier!
Utterly gratuitous picture of my garden, because I can. This year's selection contains: buttercrunch and leaf lettuces, mint, chives, borage, sweet basil, tarragon, thyme, Greek oregano, parsley, dill, two green/red bell peppers, and one each green/orange and green/yellow bell peppers. I'm very excited with how well everything is doing already!
Marinated Steak Stir-Fry
Serves 4
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I used Cajun Power Sauce spicy garlic pepper sauce)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pound beef steak (your choice, I used top round sirloin since it was on sale)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Stir-fry:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Vidalia onion, chopped
2 garlic clove, minced
4 ounces mini bella mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup carrots, cut into matchsticks (I bought mine, I'm lazy)
1 broccoli crown, separated into florets
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
Combine all marinade ingredients (except cornstarch) in a zip-top plastic bag. Slice steak against the grain into 1/2-inch slices, then cut slices to bite-sized. Add steak pieces to bag, seal, and marinated in refrigerator at least 4 up to 24 hours.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and saute, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes until softened and liquid is released.
Add carrots and broccoli and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes more. Push vegetables to one side of skillet.
Remove steak from marinade with slotted spoon (or just reach in with your hand, I did) and add to pan. Do not discard marinade! Cook steak about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, mostly just to heat through but not actually cook.
Stir steak and vegetables together until mixed well. Add cornstarch to marinade and mix well. Add marinade to pan and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes until sauce is starting to thicken and steak and vegetables are done.
Serve over rice if desired.
Serving Size: 365g
Calories: 398
Calories from Fat: 162
Total Fat: 18.1g
Saturated Fat: 4.3g
Trans Fat: 0.0g
Cholesterol: 101mg
Sodium: 1426mg
Total Carbohydrates: 17.7g
Dietary Fiber: 3.8g
Sugars: 6.9g
Protein: 39.6g
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