I love stir-fry dishes! They’re quick, easy to make, and a great way to eat more veggies.  My family is always thrilled to see beef on the menu so this meal was a hit (even with my Young Picky Eater). I particularly liked the sauce, which is flavored with hoisin sauce and sesame oil.

To get thin slices of beef, I froze the flank steak for 20 minutes or so then sliced it as thinly as possible. I used less garlic because I got side-tracked and forgot to put the remaining 4 cloves into the stir-fry (whoops!). It was still really good but the forgotten garlic would’ve added even more flavor. A rib-eye or flatiron steak would be a good substitute for the flank steak (use about a pound of meat). I sprinkled the stir-fry with toasted sesame seeds and served it with steamed jasmine rice.

Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry
-recipe from America’s Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers (Winter 2010)

Cooking the steak in two batches ensures maximum browning and flavor development. Serves 4.

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small flank steak (about 1 pound), halved lengthwise and sliced thin
1 (16-ounce) bag broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Whisk water, hoisin, sherry, soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch in bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook half of steak until browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to bowl and repeat with additional 1 tablespoon oil and remaining steak.

Add broccoli, bell pepper, and remaining oil to empty pan and cook, covered and stirring occasionally, until vegetables are nearly tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Return steak and any accumulated juices to pan. Stir in hoisin mixture and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Serve.

Test Kitchen Note:To spice up this simple stir-fry, add a seeded, minced jalapeno chile (or two) along with the bell pepper.

Tags: Asian, Beef, broccoli, flank steak, garlic, ginger, red pepper, stir-fry

The first time I tasted pesto was in a small restaurant in San Francisco called Restaurante Parma. I was in my late teens-early twenties and on a vacation with my family. Always being the adventurous eater, I ordered the pesto pasta even though I didn’t really know what it was. I’d never tasted anything like it before; there was so much flavor in such a simple dish.  I’ve been smitten with pesto ever since.

Pesto is incredibly easy to make from scratch, especially if you have a food processor. It addition to tossing with hot or cold pasta, here’s a few other ways to use pesto:
-mix it with mayonnaise or use as is for a delicious sandwich spread
-spoon it on top of vegetable or minestrone soup
-mix it with sour cream for an easy dip

Pesto
-recipe from williams-sonoma.com

Originating in Genoa, in the Liguria region of Italy, pesto is an uncooked sauce made from fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino cheese and olive oil. Today, pesto is made with a variety of other ingredients besides basil. Roasted red bell peppers, arugula, mint and olives are all wonderful foundations for the sauce. Often tossed with cooked pasta, pesto is also delicious served on crostini, spooned onto grilled seafood or chicken, or tucked inside steaks before cooking.

3 to 4 Tbs. pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
2 to 3 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves
10 to 15 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
1⁄2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1⁄4 cup grated pecorino cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a blender or food processor, combine the pine nuts and garlic. Process to chop coarsely. Add about half of the basil and process to chop coarsely. Add the remaining basil, the parsley and olive oil and process until a thick green sauce forms. If the sauce is too thin, add more basil or parsley; if it is too thick, add more olive oil.

Add the cheeses and season with salt and pepper. Process briefly. Pour into a glass jar or other container and top with a thin layer of olive oil to prevent the surface from discoloring. Cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 1 1⁄2 cups.

Tags: basil, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese, parsley, pecorino cheese, pesto, pine nuts

It’s summertime and prime salad-eating weather. Sure, you can buy store-bought croutons to add to your salad but I challenge you to take a few minutes and make your own. I promise you, once you see how easy it is to make them and how good they are, you’ll never buy the store-bought kind again. Well, maybe you will but they won’t compare to this homemade version! I make these croutons all the time. They also make a tasty garnish for soup, and they’re a  creative  hostess gift when packaged in a pretty jar or bag. Who wouldn’t love to receive homemade croutons? 

I find that a dense artisan bread makes the best croutons (not the fluffy loaves of French bread that major grocery stores carry in their bakeries). Sourdough bread also works really well. The recipe calls for 3 cups of cubed bread but I use 4 cups. The croutons usually take longer than 15 minutes to bake. I check them around 15 minutes, taste one, add more salt if needed, and continue baking them until they’re golden and crunchy. The croutons will be good for about a week if kept in an airtight container.

Homemade Croutons
-recipe from epicurious.com

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, halved
3 cups 3/4-inch cubes of Italian or French bread

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small saucepan melt the butter with the oil, the garlic, and salt and pepper to taste over moderately low heat. Remove the mixture from the heat, let it stand for 10 minutes, and discard the garlic. In a bowl toss the bread cubes with the butter mixture, spread them on a baking sheet, and bake them in the middle of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are golden. The croutons may be made 1 day in advance and kept in an airtight container.

Tags: bread, croutons, garlic, olive oil, Salad