Beef Crumble Fried Rice

Fried Rice is on of my favorite go to meals and always on the menu when eating at Chinese restaurants. I'm a traditionalist with fried rice in that I usually like the BBQ Pork version. But this recipe gave me a new insight and appreciation to beef in fried rice.

The title is a bit odd, because there's no crumbling of beef at all. Originally I thought perhaps ground beef was used, but no it's sirloin. There's nothing fancy about this recipe and THAT's what makes it so great. Super easy and super flavorful.

I used Low-Sodium soy sauce because I find soy sauce is often too salty.


Beef Crumble Fried Rice
Recipe from MyRecipes.com

Photo from MyRecipes.com

1 pound sirloin steak, cut into 1/2-in. cubes
3 T cornstarch
5 T canola oil, divided
3 c cooked long-grain white rice
3/4 tsp kosher salt
4 large eggs, well beaten
3/4 c diagonally sliced scallions (1-in. pieces) (from 2 scallions)
3 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Toss together beef cubes and cornstarch in a bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large stainless-steel skillet over high. Add beef to skillet; cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned and crisped, about 8 minutes. Transfer beef to a bowl, reserving drippings in skillet.

Add 3 tablespoons of the oil to skillet; swirl to coat. Add rice and salt; cook, stirring often and scraping bottom of skillet to loosen browned bits, until lightly browned and crisped, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer rice to beef in bowl. (Do not wipe skillet clean.)

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet; swirl to coat. Add eggs; cook, stirring occasionally, until firm and set, about 1 1/2 minutes. Break up cooked eggs using a spatula.

Add beef-rice mixture to skillet; toss gently to combine. Stir in scallions, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper.

Easy Baked Ranch Pork Chops

I rarely cook pork. But I'm tired of chicken and I shouldn't eat as much beef as I have been eating. So...enter pork.

This recipe looked delicious! The photos on her website set my mouth salivating. My version didn't turn out as good as it looked.

Things I think I did wrong:
1. I didn't use a cast iron. I was too lazy to go down stairs to get my cast iron skillet, so I popped in a "grill" type cookie sheet. My chops did not get a sear or brown in any way.

2. I also didn't read the full recipe. I dumped the entire marinade in and didn't save any for while baking. Not sure it would have mattered at all to be honest.

This really wasn't very flavorful and I had to add salt/pepper before eating. I hate that. I'd rather have my food seasoned correctly so I don't have to add salt/pepper.

I'm not sure I'd try this again. I have so many recipes to try that I doubt I'll ever get to this one again. It's worth a try though.

I chose to saute asparagus with lemon as a side. It was a nice flavor profile for these chops.


Easy Baked Ranch Pork Chops
Recipe From Sweet C's

Photo from SweetCs
See ... her photos make you want to make it.

Serves 4

2 T olive oil
2 T lemon juice
1 packet ranch seasoning
1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
4 1-2" thick pork chops, bone-out
2 T diced chives, optional, to garnish

Remove pork from packaging and pat dry.

Add to bag or bowl.

In a small bowl, combine ranch seasoning, lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper, mix.

Cover pork chops in 1/2 marinade mix. Set 1/2 aside for cooking.

Marinate at least 30 minutes, up to overnight. Refrigerate in airtight container if marinating longer than 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Add heavy, ovenproof skillet to oven. I use cast iron - be sure pan is specifically designed to be safe in oven and that you have a good thick potholder.

If refrigerated overnight, remove pork from fridge and let come to room temperature while oven and pan preheat.

When oven has reached 400 degrees and pan is scorching hot, carefully add pork chops to skillet. I use long handled tongs to reduce risk of burning my hands or arms in the super hot pan and oven!

Bake for four minutes.

Flip pork chops and spoon the reserved ranch sauce on both sides of pork chops.

Bake another four minutes.

Check your pork's internal temperature. When pork reaches 145 (about 8 minutes, but remember, pork cooking times can vary wildly based on oven, thickness of pork, altitude, etc.) it is ready to come out of oven.

Rest pork for at least 3 minutes after baking before cutting and serving.

Garnish with fresh diced chives if desired.

Enjoy!

One-Pan Chicken & Asparagus Bake

Like everyone, this social distancing has caused me to want nothing but comfort food. I decided I needed to have one (or more) healthy recipe in my plan for the week. One recipe is usually 2-3 meals for me, so it means I'll have a couple of healthy meals.

I liked where this recipe was going, but wanted to make it even healthier. So I swapped out the carrots and potatoes with broccoli. I put the broccoli in the same time as the asparagus. It was a winner-winner chicken dinner for sure.

Super easy recipe and the honey mustard sauce is delicious.

One-Pan Chicken & Asparagus Bake
Recipe from Eating Well Magazine
Serves: 4

Photo from EatingWell.com

2 (8 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half crosswise
12 ounces baby Yukon Gold potatoes, halved lengthwise JW Note: I didn't include these, but added broccoli instead.
8 ounces carrots, diagonally sliced into 1-inch pieces JW Note: I didn't include these, but added broccoli instead.
3 T extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tsp ground coriander, divided
¾ tsp salt, divided
½ tsp ground pepper, divided
2 T lemon juice
2 T chopped shallot
1 T whole-grain Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed
2 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 T chopped fresh dill
Lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place chicken on a clean work surface and cover with plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet, pound the chicken pieces to an even 1/2-inch thickness.

Arrange on one half of a large rimmed baking sheet. Arrange potatoes and carrots in a single layer on the other half of the pan.

Drizzle the chicken and vegetables with 1 tablespoon oil; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon coriander, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice, shallot, mustard, honey and the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon coriander, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl.

Remove the pan from the oven; switch the oven to broil.

Stir the potato-carrot mixture; arrange asparagus in the center of the pan. Spoon the lemon juice-shallot mixture evenly over the chicken and vegetables.

Broil until the chicken and vegetables are lightly browned, asparagus is tender-crisp and a thermometer inserted in the thickest portion of the chicken registers 165 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Remove from oven; sprinkle evenly with parsley and dill. Serve with lemon wedges.

Beef Bourguignon (Slow Cooker)

Beef Bourguignon and I are good friends. We go WAY back to high school. The first time I had it was at TASIS. Chefy made an amazing version of Beef Bourguignon. He served his with butter noodles instead of with potatoes.

This wasn't my favorite recipe. As odd as it sounds, the bacon was overwhelming. All day while it was in the slow cooker I swore I smelled Thyme. I don't typically use thyme cuz I'm not a fan, so I couldn't figure out what it was.

When I took my first taste about 4 hours into cooking to check for seasoning, it was there. Bacon. And not in a good way.

At any rate, this won't be a repeat for me. I have several other Beef Bourguignon recipes I've made. Pantry Goat will get most of this meal.

Beef Bourguignon (Slow Cooker) 
Recipe from Savorytooth.com

Photo from Savorytooth.com

Serves 6

1.5 - 2 pounds beef chuck roast cut into 3/4-inch cubes
5 strips bacon diced
1 small onion chopped
10 ounces cremini mushrooms quartered
2 carrots chopped
5 cloves garlic minced
3 bay leaves
3/4 c dry red wine
3/4 tsp xanthan gum (or corn starch) - JW Note: I didn't need either of these.
1 T tomato paste
1 tsp dried thyme - JW Note: Left this out. I'm not a fan of thyme
salt & pepper

JW Note: I had some baby Yukon gold potatoes left over from another recipe so I dropped those in as well.

Generously season beef chunks with salt and pepper, and set aside. Saute diced bacon and cook for about 5 minutes until crispy, stirring frequently. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate.

Add the beef to the pot in a single layer and cook for a few minutes to brown, then flip and repeat for the other side. Transfer to a plate when done.

Add onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes to soften, stirring frequently. Add red wine and tomato paste, using a wooden spoon to briefly scrape up flavorful brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Stir to check that the tomato paste is dissolved.

Transfer the beef back to the slow cooker. Add mushrooms, carrots, and thyme, stirring together. Top with bay leaves. Cook at low 6 hours.

Uncover and turn up to high. Remove bay leaves. Evenly sprinkle xanthan gum over the pot and stir together. Let the stew boil for a minute to thicken while stirring. Serve into bowls and top with crispy bacon.