Pozole Verde

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

After (finally!) finishing our Thanksgiving leftovers Matt and I decided that we wanted to make a meal that featured tons of flavor, fresh veggies, and oh… NOT turkey! 🙂 We pulled out our trusty The New Best Recipe cookbook and found Pozole waiting for us in the stews chapter. Pozole is a traditional Mexican soup made with shredded pork and hominy (a type of corn) and it is DELICIOUS! We enjoyed our Pozole for dinner on Sunday and then happily ate it for lunch the next four days (and I’m still not tired of it!).

There are different types of Pozole including Rojo (made with chiles) and Blanco (made without any added sauces). This recipe is for Pozole Verde which includes a liberal amount of blended tomatillos, jalapeños, and cilantro. Make sure not to skimp on the garnishes – although Matt preferred the Pozole without any added flavors, I really enjoyed the freshness that the chopped onion, avocado, radish and tomato added to the finished dish!

Pozole Verde (Pork and Hominy Stew with Tomatillos, Cilantro and Jalapeño)
Serves 8-10; from Cook’s Illustrated – The New Best Recipe

Pozole Ingredients…
1 bone-in Pork Picnic Roast or Shoulder Roast, about 4-5 lbs.
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons Canola Oil
2 1/2 White Onions; 2 coarsely chopped, 1/2 quartered
5 cloves Garlic, minced
6 cups Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
1 pound Tomatillos, husked and quartered
3 Jalapeño Peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
1/2 cup Water
2 bunches (5 cups) Cilantro Leaves and Stems (thin parts)
3-15 oz. cans White or Yellow Hominy, drained and rinsed

Garnishes…
1/2 White Onion, finely chopped
1 Avocado, sliced
1 Jalapeño Pepper, finely chopped
6 Radishes, thinly sliced
1 Lime, sliced into wedges
8-10 Corn Tortillas, warmed and sliced into quarters or strips
1-2 Fresh Tomatoes, chopped
Tortilla Chips

Directions:
Trim excess fat off of the pork roast and cut along the muscle into several large pieces (approx. 8-9 pieces for a 4 lb. roast). Reserve the bones. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large (8 qt.) oven-proof dutch oven over medium heat. Add the 2 coarsely chopped onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for approximately 4 minutes until the onions have softened and released moisture. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Add the pork and bones to the onion mixture and stir frequently for approximately 8 minutes until the outside of the meat is no longer pink. Add the chicken broth and another 1/2 teaspoon salt and increase the heat to high. Bring the mixture to a simmer on the stove, then cover and cook in a preheated 300°F oven for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, place the tomatillos, jalapeños, water, and the quartered 1/2 onion in a blender. Blend for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Add the cilantro and blend for another 2 minutes. Set this brilliant green mixture aside.

Pozole Verde with Pork and White Hominy (pre-garnishes)

Pozole Verde with Pork and White Hominy (before we added garnishes)

After 2 hours, remove the dutch oven from the oven and return to the stove. Remove the pork and bones and place on a plate to cool. Stir the rinsed hominy into the broth mixture and bring to a simmer. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

Once the pork is cool, shred the pork with your fingers (or with two forks). Pull any remaining meat off of the bones and discard the bones. Stir the shredded meat and the green tomatillo mixture into the stew and simmer for approximately 10 minutes until the meat is hot. Serve in a large bowl with a liberal helping of the garnishes on top.

Liked this Pozole Verde recipe? You may also enjoy my post on Pozole Rojo!

23Nov2012

Candied Yams

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Happy Thanksgiving! Matt and I ate our Thanksgiving meals separately at our parents’ houses but we still got to do some cooking together before the big meal. For the second year in a row we were responsible for making my mom’s traditional side dish of candied yams and, for the second year in a row, they were a hit! We joke that this is a “healthy” vegetable side full of brown sugar, butter, and marshmallows but, like so many of the delicious foods that we eat during the holidays, the extra calories are totally worth it! The brown sugar caramelizes between the layers of soft, moist sweet potato and the melted marshmallows form a crunchy, sugaring topping. Yum! Matt’s sister made a similar dish at his family’s dinner and he tells me that she added toasted slivered almonds to her marshmallow topping with delicious results… maybe we’ll have to try that next year!

Candied Yams (aka Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar and Marshmallows)

You will need…
7-9 Sweet Potatoes (Yams), washed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Butter
Approx. 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Approx. 1 1/2 cups Miniature Marshmallows

Directions:
Place the potatoes in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 25-30 minutes until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Carefully remove the potatoes from the water and place in a colander. (You can drain the entire pot into the colander but I used tongs to transfer the potatoes individually since the pot was so big.) Allow the potatoes to cool before moving onto the next step. If you are doing this step a day ahead of time like we did, transfer the cooling potatoes into large ziplock bags and store in the refrigerator overnight.

Peel the cooked potatoes by cutting off 1/2 inch on each end and scoring each potato lengthwise. The skin should peel off easily with your hands. Slice each potato into 3/8 inch thick disks. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13 casserole pan with butter and layer the potatoes in the pan. Place a small amount of butter between and on top of every few potato slices and sprinkle the brown sugar over the potatoes as you go.

Sprinkle the marshmallows on top of the layered potatoes and bake for 24 minutes in a preheated 390° oven. Enjoy as part of a delicious holiday meal!

20Nov2012

DockDogs Worlds Recap!

Posted in Bailey, Trips by Annie T

We had a BLAST at DockDogs World Championships!! This invite-only event was basically an awesome dog convention because throughout the weekend we found ourselves continuously bumping into old friends, catching glimpses (or elevator rides!) with reigning World Champions, and meeting new friends (and dogs!) that we’d only ever read about on Facebook. Cool!

That’s me posing with Bailey. Check out her super-warm “Trover” jacket… it’s like a big red doggie robe!

Much to our relief Bailey enthusiastically jumped during both of her qualifying rounds! We had been worried that she might decide that the water was a bit too chilly and embarrass us by stopping on the dock in front of the big crowds but luckily she brought her ‘A’ game and jumped without hesitation. She wasn’t actually competitive score-wise — 20’8″ was her longest jump — but we had fun nevertheless!

One of my favorite things about Worlds was seeing so many DockDog “Celebrities” in one place. We got to watch all of these current World Record holders in action:

Taz, a black lab from Canada (Outdoor Big Air Record and Outdoor Iron Dog Record) and Cochiti, a whippet from Washington (tied with Taz for Big Air)
Remi, a black lab from Minnesota (Speed Retrieve Record) and Jordan, a chocolate lab from Iowa (previous Speed Retrieve record-holder)
Baxter, a Belgian Malinois from Missouri (Indoor Big Air Record)
Vhoebe, a Belgian Malinois from California (Indoor Iron Dog Record)
Yeager, a Belgian Malinois from Massachusetts (Extreme Vertical Record)

Yeager actually broke his own indoor EV world record on Friday night with an 8’3″ grab. Yeager competes as part of GoTeam21, an organization that raises awareness for children with Down syndrome. You can check out Yeager online here: http://goteam21.org/.

The long road trip to and from Dubuque, Iowa wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We stopped in Ohio for the night on the way out and made it to Dubuque for the official competitor check-in by Thursday afternoon. I wanted to go through as many states as possible so we made a slight detour into Michigan and then took a route that brought us through Wisconsin on our way into Iowa. Bailey has now visited 13 states! In order they are NJ, PA, DE, MD, NY, VA, OH, CT, IN, MI, IL, WI, IA (just in case you care…).

When it came time to drive home, we left early on Sunday morning and Matt drove us the ENTIRE way home (15 1/2 hours!) with only a few short stops. I helped out by “navigating” and overseeing the selection of numerous NPR podcasts. After listening to that many hours of current events I now feel like an expert on the Israeli-Hamas conflict, the Fiscal Cliff, and a variety of other issues. 🙂

Matt handled Bailey AND did all of the driving on our 1895 mile round trip… nice work!

I’m very thankful that we got a chance to compete at Worlds and we’re already looking forward to the start of the 2013 season next Spring! Congratulations to all of our friends that made finals (and a BIG congrats to Carlyn and Max from Chesapeake DockDogs for their Big Air Junior win!!) and I hope that everyone had safe trips home.

13Nov2012

Preparing for DockDogs World Championships!

Posted in Bailey, Trips by Annie T

After months of waiting we are now only 3 days away from the start of DockDogs World Championships! Bailey qualified for this invite-only event back in July and now we are getting ready to make the long (long, long!) drive to Dubuque, Iowa. In anticipation of Worlds, I’ve created several pieces of Bailey “swag” including trading cards, t-shirts, a decal, and a banner. I’m really happy with how everything turned out so I thought I’d do a post on all of the custom items that we’ll be bringing with us to Dubuque.Many Worlds competitors are bringing “trading cards” featuring fun facts and photos of their dog. Rumor has it there may actually be a “Paw-tograph” session where willing dogs can stamp their paw print onto their cards for adoring crowds, but it seems that the main purpose of these cards is really for competitors from around the country to exchange info about their dogs and, of course, get some bragging rights for being Worlds invitees! Here are the double-sided cards that I got printed for Bailey at OvernightPrints.com:

I also made “The Little GSP” shirts for Matt and myself to wear at the competition. I used a silhouette of Bailey jumping (it’s actually the same photo as the top left image on her trading card) and had these shirts printed at BlueCotton.com. The shirts are super soft and my Bailey shirt is quickly becoming my favorite t-shirt of all time!

DockDogs is hosting a “window-tagging” contest (i.e. “DOCKDOGS WORLDS OR BUST” written all over the car windows) but we are skipping the window paint in favor of our Little GSP decal. I had our decal made at VistaPrint.com a few years ago. If you see a silver Subaru Forester driving down the highway with this decal (or ANY window-tagged DockDogs vehicle, for that matter!) please feel free to honk and wave!

Our last bit of “Swag” for Worlds is a banner that features all of the Delmarva DockDogs that will be competing in Dubuque. We are excited that so many of our club members will be joining us at the event and we’ll proudly display this banner with our fellow club members in the competitor area. The banner also came from VistaPrint.com:

We’ll be heading out to Dubuque in our swag-laden car in about 20 hours. Wish us luck! 🙂

8Nov2012

The Darlington Trail (Middletown Trails)

Posted in Hikes by Annie T

As the weather gets cooler I find myself getting the urge to go hiking in the woods with Matt and Bailey. We took a nice 2 mile walk at Okehocking Preserve last week but, since that’s already been featured on my blog, I thought I’d write about another one of our favorite hiking spots: Darlington Trail in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.

The Darlington Trail is part of the wonderful “Middletown Trails” network that is owned and maintained by Middletown Township. You can view a map showing the rough location of each of the six trails in my Linvill Trail post from last March.

One of my favorite parts about the Darlington Trail is that it crisscrosses an old rail line. These tracks used to carry passenger trains from Media to West Chester (an extension of the current-day Septa R3 Media/Elwyn line) but now they are only used by the occasional freight train traveling at night towards Philadelphia from a nearby quarry. We’ve never seen a train on this stretch of tracks during the daytime so we always feel very safe walking along (or on!) the tracks.

The train tracks cross high over the Chester Creek in two spots. I wouldn’t recommend trying to walk across the rail bridges on foot because the space between each of the railroad cross ties is completely open to the creek 30 or so feet below. Seeing the water rush by below your feet is pretty disconcerting when you are standing on a bridge that’s only a couple of feet wide with no handrails or guardrails!

The first time we hiked the Darlington Trail we were exploring the tracks and somehow ended up on the wrong side of one of the bridges. Bailey definitely would have fallen right through the holes between the ties if we had tried to walk on the bridge so Matt concluded that the only way to get her to the other side was to carry her. Luckily she was very calm and stayed perfectly still while Matt tiptoed from tie to tie across the bridge! (Note: you do not have to cross the bridges in order to hike the trail!)

The bridge doesn’t look very intimidating from here, but when you get closer and realize that there’s nothing but air between the rail ties it might make you feel a bit unnerved when walking over it!

The terrain is quite varied on the Darlington Trail. At some points you snake along the wide bank of Chester Creek (great for dogs who like the water!) and in other spots you hike through rolling farmlands and are rewarded with a great view of the surrounding area and the trail as it continues on in the distance.

According to the trail map, the entire loop is about 2.75 miles long. The trail is well maintained and is clearly marked with yellow diamond-shaped trail signs. We usually park in the lot located on Darlington Road just north of the road’s intersection with Route 1 / Baltimore Pike in Glen Mills, PA. You can also park near the original Wawa dairy (yes, THE Wawa!) on Valley Road just north of Route 1.

If you live in the Delaware County/Chester County area and ever decide to hike the Darlington Trail I would love to hear what you think of it! Do you have a favorite section of trail (or does your dog have a favorite section of the creek?) 🙂 Please share!

29Oct2012

August Cheer for a Rainy Day

Posted in Adventures at Home by Annie T

As predicted, Hurricane Sandy is slowly turning into the New Jersey coast and we have already experienced 40 mph wind gusts, almost 2 inches of rain, and a short power outage. We’ve also found a leaky spot in our roof by the chimney… eek! Other than that everything is fine so I thought I’d share something completely unrelated to the storm: photos from my garden in August!

This pink zinnia plant was at its peak in early August but, believe it or not, it STILL has a few blooms on it today! We’ll see how they look after the storm…

These Gladioli bloomed in August and did a nice job of covering up the big propane tank that powers a little stove in our living room. That stove might come in handy if the power goes out tonight!

Vine-ripening tomatoes in early August… yum!

These “Dinnerplate” Dahlias bloomed outside of our front door for most of the summer.

I picked all of these vegetables during my lunch break one day in August. Pretty good harvest, right?

And, last but not least, an isolated Orange Cosmo. You might recognize this plant from my August post “The Bee’s Knees.” I’m definitely planting more of these flowers next year!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and good luck to everyone in the storm’s path!

28Oct2012

The Perfect Storm Food – Five Bean Chili!

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

It’s October in Pennsylvania which means that leaves are changing color, geese are flying south, pumpkins are being carved into jack o’lanterns, and we’re filling up the bathtub with water in preparation for a hurricane. Wait, what?? That’s right, we’re about to receive a direct hit from a real live hurricane in October!

The storm, billed as Hurricane Sandy, “FrankenStorm,” and, most dramatically, “The Perfect Storm,” is forecasted to take a sharp left turn in the Atlantic Ocean and sweep up the Delaware Bay tomorrow. If the Weather Channel is correct, we’ll experience 6-10 inches of rain, hurricane-force winds, and extended power outages. That brings me back to the bathtub. Since our water is pumped into the house from our well, we lose our running water when the power goes out. That tub full of water will allow us to flush the toilet and have clean water available for washing hands and faces. For drinking water, I filled up several pitchers and glass bottles with water from the kitchen sink. (I didn’t want to join the mobs at the grocery store for “real” bottled water!)

That little yellow star is where we are. Eek!

I’m mildly worried about the 70mph winds and rushing floodwaters, but I think that right now my biggest concern is actually that the food in our freezer might go bad. We have about $50 worth of wonderful fresh Maiale sausage along with yummy frozen pastas, vegetables, and fish and I am having nightmares about it all thawing out and going bad during a long power outage. In order to give the freezer a fighting chance I reorganized all of the food so it is tightly packed together in the bottom drawer. I also put ice packs in the freezer along with a big ziploc bag full of water and a reused gallon jug filled with water. These are all frozen solid now and should help to keep our food cold. (Watch, after all of the preparation the power isn’t even going to go out… but better to be safe than sorry!)

Anyway, all of this stormy and cold weather has me thinking about warm stews and soups! A nice five bean chili would really hit the spot right now, but we are going to try to use up some food in our fridge tonight so I think I’m going to have to wait until after the storm to get my chili fix. But, without further ado, here’s my chili recipe along with some photos from our last batch a few weeks ago…

Five Bean Chili (serves 5-7 and makes great leftovers!)
Note: I revised this recipe on 10/29/14. The original recipe had chick peas (visible in the photos) which were yummy but in my most recent batch of chili I removed the chick peas and added a third can of kidney beans and second can of tomatoes with delicious results. I also added fresh minced garlic, upped the ground beef from 1 1/2 to 2 pounds, and adjusted a few of the spice measurements. Oh, and I added another half bottle of beer to give the chili a little more liquid consistency… feel free to drink the remaining beer as you cook!

You will need…
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 pounds Lean Ground Beef
1 White Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
5 tablespoons Chili Powder
1 1/2 tablespoons Paprika
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 teaspoons Cumin
1-15oz. can Pinto Beans, rinsed & drained
1-15oz. can Black Beans, rinsed & drained
3-15oz. can Kidney Beans, rinsed & drained
1-15oz. can Corn, drained; or 1 cup frozen corn, rinsed
2-10oz. can Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies (not drained)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
18 oz. (1 1/2 bottles) Dark Beer

Directions…
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook the ground beef. When it is almost browned, add the onion and stir. Once the onion has started to soften add the minced garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Stir in the powdered ingredients and then, when the meat is completely browned, add the beans, corn, and tomatoes and stir. Simmer the mixture for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes, taste the chili and add salt and pepper as needed. (You can also add more chili powder and paprika at this point if you want more of a kick.) Add the beer, stir again, cover, and allow the chili to cook over low heat for 60-90 minutes. Serve with a generous slice of fresh cornbread.

22Oct2012

Poblano Sausage Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Slaw and Avocado Crema

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Most people visit their local Farmer’s Market for organic fruits and vegetables but here in Newtown Square, PA we are a little different: we go to our Farmer’s Market for freshly made sausage! The sausage is made by Maiale in nearby Wilmington, Delaware and it’s available in mouth-watering flavors like Chicken Sausage with Spinach and Sharp Provolone, Wild Boar Sausage with Apples, Caramelized Onions, and Blue Cheese, and Thai Curry Sausage with coconut milk, curry powder and cilantro. Yum! (Check out the full offering here.)

We picked up some Fire-Roasted Poblano and Corn Sausage last week and decided to do something fun to play off of the sausage’s Southwest flavors. After a little experimentation we ended up with a wonderful dinner of delicious tacos with a tangy slaw and creamy sauce that complemented the spiciness of the sausage perfectly. Here’s the recipe!

Poblano Sausage Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Slaw and Avocado Crema (serves 2)

You will need…
1 1/2 cups Bagged Cole Slaw Mix
2 tablespoons Cilantro, finely chopped
Juice from 1 Lime (for the slaw)
½ Jalapeño Pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
½ cup Guacamole*
1/2 cup Sour Cream
Oil Spray for the grill
2 Fire-Roasted Poblano and Corn Sausages, grilled
6 Corn Tortillas
½ Red Onion, chopped

Directions:
Make the lime-cilantro slaw first by mixing the cole slaw mix, cilantro, lime juice and jalapeño in a large bowl. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This will allow the flavors to develop while you are making the rest of the meal.

Create the avocado crema by combining the guacamole and sour cream. If your guacamole is chunky or if you are making your own from scratch, you could try combining the guacamole and sour cream in a food processor. We tried this and only succeeded in splattering the sour cream all over the inside of the food processor bowl so we ended up scraping the ingredients out of the food processor bowl and stirring the mixture together by hand instead. If desired, thin the crema with a bit of water so that it will be easier to drizzle over the tacos.

Grill the sausages until they are cooked through and then slice them into bite-sized pieces. While the sausages are grilling, oil the grill and heat the corn tortillas. Be careful not to overcook them – you still want them to be soft and pliable, not crispy! Place the heated tortillas on a warmed plate and cover with a towel to keep the heat and moisture in until you are ready to use them.

Assemble your Poblano Sausage Tacos by putting several pieces of sausage on a warmed tortilla and topping with the slaw and red onion. Drizzle a generous amount of avocado crema over the taco. Serve with a cold beer and enjoy!

*If you don’t have pre-made Guacamole you can make your own by mashing together 1 peeled avocado (pit removed), 1 clove of minced garlic, juice from ½ lime, 1 tablespoon of minced yellow onion (optional) and salt and pepper to taste.

13Oct2012

Roasted Root Vegetables with Turkey Sausage

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Fall is officially underway in southeastern PA. The temperatures dipped below freezing last night which means that our bedroom was a balmy 58° when we woke up. That’s right, 58°. We haven’t turned the heat on yet and Matt likes to sleep with the window “ajar” so, as you might imagine, it’s a bit chilly in the morning. But, I digress… The real point of this post is that cold Fall weather means that it’s time to eat root vegetables!

Root vegetables like potatoes, parsnips, beets, and carrots taste delicious when they’re tossed in garlic and olive oil and roasted in the oven. It’s amazing how the flavors of these veggies change after being cooked at 425° for 40 minutes: the parsnips become soft and nutty, the carrots are sweet, and the potatoes are crispy… YUM! If you want to turn your root vegetables into a complete dinner, add some sausage or chicken to the mixture and voila! the perfect Autumn meal is born.

For tonight’s dinner I used an assortment of root vegetables along with cauliflower and brussel sprouts. You might also want to try using turnips, rutabagas, asparagus, broccoli, butternut squash or zucchini.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Turkey Sausage

You will need…
2 Red Potatoes
1 Purple Potato
1 Sweet Potato
1 Parsnip
2 Carrots
1/2 Yellow Onion
1/2 Beet
1/2 cup Cauliflower
4-6 Brussel Sprouts
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
4-5 tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary (or Thyme or Italian Seasoning… whatever you want!)
3 Hot Italian Turkey Sausages

Directions:
Cut up the vegetables into large bite-sized pieces. Try to cut the hard vegetables like the beet, sweet potato, carrots, and parsnip into smaller pieces and cut the softer vegetables (cauliflower, brussel sprouts) into larger pieces to ensure that the soft veggies don’t overcook. Place all of the vegetables in a large bowl and add the garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Stir well to combine. Transfer the vegetables onto a large baking sheet and spread them out in a single layer. Place the sausages on a second baking dish. If your veggies are a bit crowded on the first baking sheet you can add a few of them to the sausage dish.

Cook the vegetable and sausage in a preheated 425° oven for 35-40 minutes. Check on the vegetables every 15 minutes or so and flip them with a spatula. After about 30 minutes, remove the sausage from the oven and slice it up into bite-sized pieces. Return the sausage to the oven for the remaining time so that the cut edges will crisp up while it continues to cook.

Remove both baking trays from the oven when the vegetables are starting to crisp and enjoy!

3Oct2012

Cumin-Scented Beef Stir Fry with Vegetables

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

I love my 14 inch carbon steel wok. Yup, I said it – LOVE!! Matt gave me a wok last year for my birthday and our old 12 inch frying pan has barely touched the stove since. We are constantly using the wok for a variety of culinary tasks such as sautéing peppers and onions, frying bacon, concocting the ideal combination of sausage and pasta, browning taco meat, and, of course, making delicious Asian stir fries.

If you want to learn more about woks and the yummy creations that can be made in them, I recommend that you invest $23 to buy Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge by Grace Young. In addition to featuring dozens of delicious recipes with full color photos, this book includes several pages of clear, concise instructions that cover techniques like seasoning a wok, slicing fresh ginger, shredding scallions, and properly cutting a variety of meats and poultry.

We’ve spent the last year honing our stir frying skills on several of the recipes in the book including Kung Pao Chicken, Mongolian Lamb, and Hot Pepper Beef. Here’s the recipe for our latest dinner from the cookbook: Cumin-Scented Beef with Cauliflower, Carrots, Tomatoes and Green Onions… yum!!

Cumin-Scented Beef Stir Fry with Vegetables (from Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge)

You will need…
12 oz. Flank Steak, cut against the grain into ¼ in wide strips
1 tablespoon Corn Starch
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
2 teaspoons Dry Sherry (or Rice Wine if you have it)
1 tablespoon Peanut Oil
1 ½ cups Canola Oil
1 tablespoon Garlic, Minced
½ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 cup Cauliflower Florets, cut into bit-sized pieces
½ cup Carrots, thinly sliced
½ cup Cherry Tomatoes, halved
¾ teaspoon Salt, divided
1 teaspoon Cumin
½ cup Green Onions, thinly sliced
10 oz. Cooked White Rice

Directions:
Combine the beef, corn starch, soy sauce, sherry, and peanut oil in a bowl and mix well. Heat the canola oil in a flat-bottomed wok over high heat until the oil is 280°F. (We used our normal meat thermometer to check the oil heat.) Add the beef to the oil and spread it evenly in a single layer on the bottom of the wok. Cook until the outside surface of the beef is just starting to change color, about 15 seconds, and then remove the wok from the heat. Carefully extract the beef from the oil with a kitchen skimmer and place on a paper-towel-lined plate.

Pour the oil into a large cup or bowl and set aside. Clean and thoroughly dry the wok and the return to the stove over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved oil along with the garlic and red pepper flakes and stir fry for 20 seconds or until aromatic. Add the cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, and ¼ teaspoon of the salt and stir fry 2-3 minutes. Add in the cumin and stir fry for 5 seconds. Return the beef to the wok and stir in the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and green onions. Stir fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute until beef is cooked through and ingredients are well combined. Serve with rice and enjoy!