Thursday: Orange Beef

One of the things that I did not consider when I came up with this "eat-at-home" theme for April was that Neil and the kids would be on vacation this week. We have eaten out for lunch and eaten leftovers for dinner a few times this week. Last night, Neil and I went out for a few hours (love the built-in babysitter!). We had Legal Sea Food, which is my favorite restaurant in Boston. After eating salads twice on Monday, twice on Tuesday, and for lunch on Wednesday, I was ready for something delicious. Legal does Fish and Chips like no one else. They also make onion rings like Luther's used to in Houston. These are the only kind of onion rings I will eat: thinly sliced and almost falling apart. I cannot stand thick huge slabs of onion. Anyway, dinner with Neil and a much-needed walk around the outdoor shopping center afterward were wonderful. I was excited to find the next book in one of my favorite series, but also sad at the same time because it is the last book in the series. After ten books, that is the equivalent of the end of Harry Potter to me.

I was ready to cook again tonight! My kids all loved the dinner and wanted their pictures taken. On a side note, it is amazing how the quality of light is different for the same room, but different seats at the table. This is probably my most successful Double Delicious meal to date. Yay! Re-heating the steak from Sunday night's dinner was a great idea. Neil's mad grill skills made for some incredibly tender meat! I will definitely make this again, and next time I will use the ingredients actually called for instead of what I had in my fridge. The one thing I would change was that I used frozen broccoli. I have been spoiled by using the fresh broccoli florets from Cost-co. This broccoli was a little mushy by the time it defrosted and cooked instead of nice and crisp.




Orange Beef, Jessica Seinfeld
Double Delicious, pg 78, with my adaptations

1 1/2 sirloin steak, sliced vertically into thin slices and then sliced horizontally to make it look more like stir-fry beef
1 t cornstarch
1/2 t pepper
2 T grapeseed oil
2 T reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 small can mandarin oranges, pureed in a small food processor
NOTE: you will only use 1/2 c of this puree that is really more like thick orange juice
1/4 c warm water
1/2 c cauliflower puree
1 T brown sugar
1/4 t ground ginger
1/4 t chili pepper
1/4 t garlic powder
1 1/2 c baby carrots, sliced length wise a few times
broccoli florets, enough to fill the pan

1. Heat the oil in a skillet or wok over high heat and then carefully add the meat. Cook until done, maybe 7 or 8 minutes. I did not keep the heat on high. I turned it down so that it wouldn't over cook the meat and become tough. Stir frequently. Transfer to paper towel to drain. Our meat was already seasoned, so I did not season it. If it had not been, I would have at least seasoned it in salt, pepper, and garlic.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the soy sauce, oranges, water, cauliflower puree, brown sugar, ginger, chili, garlic, and as much salt and pepper as you would like. (I have decided that one of the problems with this cook book is that they do not add any salt or pepper. I don't usually add very much to my cooking, but everything needs a little flavor...) Add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and whisk until smooth.

3. In the same pan, add a little oil to cover the bottom, and saute the carrots and broccoli, stirring frequently. I think this might be between 1-4 minutes. I wanted the carrots softened, but the broccoli crisper. Push the vegetables out of the middle, add the soy sauce mixture, and bring the sauce to a boil. Then add the beef to the pan and coat with the sauce. Cook 1-2 minutes more, until the sauce thickens. Serve immediately.

4. Meanwhile, bring water to boil in a 2 qt saucepan. When the water boils, add 1 1/2 c orzo pasta. ( I only used 1 cup, and barely had enough to feed everyone.) Stir until the water boils again, and then turn down the heat to 6-7 to keep it from boiling over. Boil for 7 minutes and drain immediately.

5. Layer orzo, vegetables, and beef in each bowl. Spoon a little sauce from the bottom of the pan over the top of each bowl.

The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of 100% orange juice, but I used the mandarin oranges because I didn't have any OJ. Another change would be to use sweet potato puree, which is what the recipe called for, instead of the cauliflower puree. I didn't notice the cauliflower taste, at all, but the color of the sweet potato lends itself to the orange sauce. You could garnish the food with small orange slices, rind on, and thinly sliced green onion. If you like to zest things, you can add the zest of 1 orange to the soy sauce mix. Who has time to zest? Not me. Overall, I cannot wait to make this recipe again! If I were in a hurry, I would definitely just stir fry the meat in the morning, and then reheat it in the evening. This is a much healthier version of Mandarin Beef that Neil likes to order at our new favorite Chinese food restaurant.