Hello! Hello! Been a long time, but I think I might FINALLY be able to start paying this blog some attention. Operative word: might.
So, what have all you been up to? Me? RETIRED - mostly at least- I went from working 52 hours a week to a mere 13! So far, so good. Well, if I hadn't started out the year being ill, that is. But I am starting to feel human again, so maybe I can get on with life?
So, what's new here is that I suddenly have been plagued with cravings for Chinese-type foods. Made Crispy Orange Chicken last week, and when I make it again I will add it here, but last night I went for the Beef version.
So let me tell you a bit of background. I love steak. I grew up eating grilled steak just about every single Saturday night from the beginnings of my memories until I left my parents house at 23 years old. Sirloin, shell steaks, London broil, and flank. After leaving my parents home I discovered filet mignon, T-bone, porterhouse, and then onto Delmonico, only to culminate with my all-time favorite bone-in Rib steak. The absolute ultimate in this person's steak-eating world. There is nothing and I mean nothing finer than a perfectly medium-rare bone in rib steak, just a pinch of salt (watching my sodium intake, thank you, but cannot give up a pinch of salt on a hot grilled juicy piece of steak.)
My husband, on the other hand grew up eating chuck steaks and sirloin. He will agree with me, if you were to ask him, that rib steak is the A #1 top of the line steak. Of course, we veered off that course while we had three boys growing up, who could afford that, right? We discovered chuck-eye steaks, which are now nearly impossible to find. Yeah, the rest of the steak eating world discovered the eye of chuck, marinated and grilled to medium or medium rare offers a flavor that is nearly as tasty as a rib steak, for a lot less money. Problem is I haven't seen a chuck-eye in a store in over 10 years. OH, bother.
So, early on I reached into my bag of tricks and brought home a flank steak one day. Turns out his mom would use flank to make braciole, a rolled and stuff piece of beef that is browned and cooked in spaghetti sauce. There's another topic we can get into in another post.
He had never had flank in any way other that braciole, and I only had had it marinated and grilled. I bought one from the local butcher one time, and the butcher even squawked, "the worst cut of beef ever" to which I asked why. The butcher went on to tell me it was tough and stringy. And right there, I taught a butcher something. How to properly slice a flank steak so it was not tough and stringy.
You have to slice it, against the grain keeping the knife at a 30-45 degree angle, almost like shaving the beef into thin slices. Problem solved. Tender, not stringy, extremely tasty and no waste. Win-Win. Seeing the butcher again weeks later, he told me that he tried my slicing method and since has changed his opinion of the cut.
So, imagine, if you will, coming across a recipe that cuts this piece of meat that can be tough and stringy before it is cooked? I looked at the recipe and gasped! Sacrilege? I have always been of the school that you cannot cut beef before cooking it because it shocks the muscle and makes it tough ( I'm not a fan of store bought stew beef for that every reason, however, I am known to cut up my own chuck steak or London broil for stew, don't ask me why that doesn't toughen it up, can't explain the phenomena...?)
This crispy orange beef recipe does just that: takes a perfectly good flank steak and cuts it up before dredging it in cornstarch and cooking it. Imagine my surprise that this actually came out more tender than simply grilling this steak that had marinated in an butter, onion, &Worchester sauce . OMG! How can this be? ALL my beliefs have now been thrown out the window... Live and learn, I guess. Live and learn.
So there are no photos of this dish because I made a total mess of my kitchen in preparing it. No, really this is not a recipe for a messy cook (like me) but you know what? I don't care, I'm making it again, it was THAT good!
The other "issue" is that it has a lot of ingredients! See photo below:
Oye vey! But I got through it and man was it good! Of course its not my own recipe, here's the link:
Crispy Orange Beef -Woks of Life
Let me know if you try it and how it worked for you. Me? I'm making it again! (After I scrape up all the cornstarch) LOL.
I will also post about the Crispy Orange Chicken, which is a completely different recipe than this, but it was also very, very good.
I currently have all the ingredients to make Moo Shu Shrimp and its on the agenda for this week so hopefully, my plans will pan out and I'll be posting again real soon!
Thanks for hanging in there with me, I know, I'm not as attentive here as I once was, but we all know how life gets in our way, right?
Credits:
Crispy Orange Beef retrieved 1/22/2022 from https://thewoksoflife.com/orange-beef/
©2022 Aunt Barbara/ Food Flavors & Fun No Warranties Implied . Attempting techniques described within this blog, or at sites directed from here are done at your own risk, we assume no liability or responsibility for your outcome.
