How to make: Liz's Stir-Fry Beef Broccoli
Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 7:15AM There are some women who are weirdly proud about not knowing how to cook - I say, cooking is an enjoyable, relaxing, and rewarding experience! I think they're missing out. Besides, cooking is a great practical skill to have when the zombie or triffid apocalypse comes. Or if you just can't afford help and takeout dinners.
Anyway, a reader requested that I demonstrate how I make my Stir-Fry Beef Broccoli. I thought, why not! It's an incredibly easy and healthy dish. Actually it's so easy to cook, you would spend more time cutting up stuff versus actually cooking them.
This recipe is perfect for those on a diet. The beef is lean, there are no carbs, and there's only minimal salt and oil involved in the recipe. It tastes wonderful, nonetheless, because the flavor of the beef does most of the work. Here goes!
1. Buy a roll or two of breakfast steak from Monterey. Monterey is my favorite brand of meat, it's usually fresh. S&R meat is also great and actually cheaper than Monterey when you do the math. So! Once you have the meat, cut it in strips and season it. This is the sorcery that I put in my beef:
A pinch or two of salt / Pepper / Maggi Magic Sarap (this stuff is awesome) / Knorr Liquid Seasoning
Make sure that the beef is equally coated with the marinade. Leave that for 15-30 minutes.
2. While your beef is marinating, start chopping up your vegetables. Wash them first of course! Cut the broccoli florets, slice the red bell pepper and two mid-sized carrots into strips. Mince half a head of garlic and an onion.
3. Laugh at your dog when he suddenly comes out of the room with a pink puffy sash around his neck. 0_0
4. In a wok, heat up two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Keep the fire at medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and furiously toss them around with your cooking implement of choice. You're done with them once the onion becomes translucent (takes a minute).
5. Add the beef. Mix mix mix. Fire is still at medium heat.
6. After about two minutes, the beef will have turned brown and it will ooze out this yummy juice. Let the beef turn completely brown first (no red sides anywhere) before you add the vegetables. That would take about 30 seconds to a minutes.
7. Add the broccoli and carrots. They will cook about the same time, which is around 5-7 minutes (depending on how tender you want your vegetables to be). Just toss everything together and make sure the beef juice gets into everything. Heat should be on high, you're stir-frying! Take the time to feel like an expert chef. :P
8. Add the bell pepper and toss it around for two minutes. Fire should be on high by this time to get rid of the remaining water. You should also taste the beef and vegetables to see if you need to adjust the flavor.
And you're done! Prep time should be around 15-20 minutes, while cooking time is under 15 minutes. :) Love it. Try this at home, it's a great meal by itself or if you really must, with rice. You can also add mushrooms to serve as extenders.
That's it. Enjoy!
Reader Comments (13)
That does look yummy and easy to prepare! I think I'll try it out soon :) Thanks Liz!
You make cooking look so easy! D: If only I knew how to...but I couldn't even peel or chop onions. I'm hopeless in the kitchen D: Still, I'll be bookmarking this for future reference, or maybe I can ask my mom to cook this for me later :D More cooking tutorials/recipes please! :)
This looks great! Way to go on your cooking skills Ms. Liz. :)
Laugh at your dog when he suddenly comes out of the room with a pink puffy sash around his neck. 0_0 hahaha In the first picture it looks like he smelled something really delicious and couldn't wait to taste it. Snaps is just adorable! :D
*drools* hahaha This looks good! How'd you learn to cook, Liz? Did you come up with this recipe by yourself? Will definitely try this soon :D I like cooking too. I just don't like washing the dishes and the things I used in cooking haha!
a few research on doing food entry would surely help you. first, you dont use the extra virgin in cooking, you use it for salad. and olive oil in high heat is actually not healthy and so are maggi magic sarap and liquid seasoning. your title should also contain "my version" as the real beef brocolli does not have carrots and bell pepper in them. still looks good though, just a few minor notes lang. =)
Hi Jill, Joana, Carmel, Denise - thanks for the kind comments! Hope to do more like this if time allows. :D
Hi Benny, thank you for letting me know about the EVOO. Haven't heard of that one before!
I too am an amateur cook but Im proud to say Im trying to improve. This looks easy to make? Might try it soon.
PS
1. I didnt know that too, I mean about EVOO. I know it makes a good brush cleaner though. LOL
2. Liz, I too laughed at your cute dog w the pink puffy sash. Adorable nya. :)
That looks yummy! Definitely a must try. Except we don't really use anything with MSG.
Yummeh! will try this soon but without the red bell pepper...hehe
EVVOO has undergone the cold press method as is not as refined as the regular olive oil which is more suitable for cooking since it's more of pure oil. As long as the olive oil does not reach it's smoke point (the oil would be emitting smoke meaning it's already starting to break down into unhealthy stuff carcinogens, etc.) then it's still healthy and safe to consume. Basically anything organic (stuff that contains the carbon element) in nature when exposed to extremely high heat would be unhealthy since it would start to break down into carbon (again, carcinogenic) :)
Maggi magic sarap and liquid seasoning contains MSG, something that a lot of people for the longest time regard as something unhealthy and unsafe, but in reality it's been given a GRAS (generally regarded as safe-to consume) status by the US FDA and is right up there with sugar and the common table salt. MSG gives food that "linamnam" or what the japanese call umami (and yes, this is actually now recognized as the 5th basic taste). It's actually naturally present in cheeses, beef, pork, and mushrooms (that's why these are so tasty!) food that people consume almost everyday. But of course, the key to using/consuming anything is to keep everything in moderation and not to incorporate it everyday in your diet. Just because something is labelled as GRAS it's healthy and/or safe to consume large amounts of it everyday. :)
What's so good about cooking is that you could freely experiment with it, hence,you could add whatever ingredient you like. There's practically no rules, and even way back then, people living in the same village would have different versions of one particular dish because they have adjusted it according to their own liking. :)
Btw, I find that in cooking veggies once they turn a brighter version of their natural color (brocolli-bright green, carrots-bright orange, etc) then it's already cooked while still keeping most of their nutrients intact. They're also crispy and sometimes a little sweet when cooked this way. :)
your first foodie post! :D proud of you, liz!
i must note though: since you're cooking beef at high heat, you can start adding vegetables while the beef is still reddish. this helps prevent overcooking the meat and making it all hard and chewy. :)
substitutions: you can use regular cooking oil as the olive oil is more expensive and won't impart much flavor anyway. butter would be better flavor-wise. :)
for the health-conscious, simply season the meat in salt and pepper if you don't want to use MSG. add cumin if you want something reminiscent of indian curry.
i love this post coz i love cooking too. will definitely try this. looking forward to your next cooking/foodie post :)
yum yum yum.
i will surely try this at home ms liz.. :)
i really love eating beef
pero my ate dot eat beef, he dont like the smell daw..