Beef Stir Fry with Two Kinds of Mushrooms

I've written before about how much I enjoy portobella mushrooms, big or small, but I have to admit that besides the little white mushrooms, I've not eaten a lot of different types. So this weekend I ventured to an Asian market near my work, and found a package of oyster mushrooms for only 2$, I figured I should try them. I was able to find all of the ingredients, including the Chu Hou paste at the market, as well as lots of other veggies that I'll use in other dishes. As my goal is to learn to cook different dishes and different flavors, I wanted to follow the recipe exactly, but I ended up adjusting the seasoning at the end to enhance the taste.

Ingredients:
3/4 lbs beef flank steak
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1/2 cup bamboo shoots sliced thin
8 oz baby bellas
8 oz oyster mushrooms
1 lbs asparagus chopped
3 cloves roasted garlic grated
1/2 c chicken stock
2 tbs chu hou paste
soy sauce
rice wine vinegar
red pepper flakes
ginger
white pepper and salt

So I guess I lied when I said I followed the recipe exactly--or really I just kept the seasonings the same at first, and then added more at the end to get it where I wanted. A couple of hours before I cooked the steak, I put it in a plastic bag with a tablespoon of the chu hou paste, a dash of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and some crushed roasted garlic. I left that to marinate in the fridge for several hours.

This is a really quick stir fry--first the veggies are chopped. It said to pull the stems off of the mushrooms and just chop the cap, but I wasn't sure what part was which with the oyster mushrooms so I used the whole thing.The bamboo shoots were also new to me--I bought slender shoots, and then chopped them into quarters and then in half.

First the pan is heated up on high, then the steak is quickly seared, then taken out of the pan. Then the mushrooms, asparagus, and broth are added to the pot (if I did this again, I'd add some seasonings at this point). I used four of the homemade frozen stock cubes for the broth--makes it easy to have just a little without wasting the whole can. The lid is put on, covering the veggies and letting them steam until tender. Then the peppers and bamboo shoots are added and cooked very briefly.

After all the veggies are in the pan, the steak and cho hou paste are added to the pan and cooked until the steak is cooked through. At this point, I tasted again and found that it was generally underwhelming in seasoning. So I added a dash of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, red pepper flakes, ginger, white pepper, and salt. I also served it with a good amount of siracha. Turns out I like it pretty spicy.



The Verdict: The meat was the most flavorful part of the whole dish due to the marinating, so if you make this, I'd add the chu hou, soy, and rice wine vinegar and garlic to the veggies during the initial cooking. It was also pretty soupy, so I may omit or reduce the broth, since you don't want to cook it off and over cook the veggies. The bamboo shoots added a nice texture, though they don't seem to have any particularly strong flavor. Both of the mushrooms were good--the oyster mushrooms were a little texturally different from the portobella mushrooms, but both were good.

Tunisian Tuna Bricks

I made this quick meal from a cookbook we just got in at the library, Comfort Pie. Since I'm in charge of that area I look at all the books that come in, and was surprised to find a recipe in this locally published book that used harissa. As the title of the book suggests, there is not a lot of healthy cooking contained in the pages, and this recipe is no exception. A fried pastry was not something I was willing to take up, and I couldn't find any brick pastry, but regular pyhllo dough baked in the oven worked as well.

Ingredients:
1 can tuna in water
2-3 tsp harrisa
eggs
red onion
red bell pepper
lemon
corriander
cumin
salt and pepper
cilantro
Phyllo dough sheets


The tuna is drained and mixed with the harissa paste, cumin, coriander, and salt and pepper to taste. I chopped half a red pepper and about a fourth of a good sized red onion and the good parts left from a sad looking bunch of cilantro I found in the back of the fridge. This went into the tuna mixture. The recipe called for more onion, cilantro, and pepper to be made into a salad, but I didn't have much cilantro. I added some lemon juice to the tuna for flavor.

 Part of the tuna is portioned onto two sheets of phyllo dough and a well made in the center and an egg yolk with a little of the white is placed in the center of the tuna. Then the top of the phyllo is wrapped around and folded up and sealed with water. I sprayed the top with some cooking spray and placed the packets in an oven that had been preheated to 375 degrees.

 I cooked it for about 10 minutes and check it, and then let it cook for about 5 minutes more. It probably could have gone a few minutes more, but I was hungry!

The Verdict: There was a nice balance of flavors and textures with the spice from the harissa, the fatty egg yolk, the crunchy phyllo exterior. It was not as light as some of the things I cook, but it was very satisfying and the phyllo actually was the perfect amount of "bread" to tuna salad. I was worried about how the egg would work in it, but I love a runny egg yolk, and this made a nice sauce for the tuna. I re-heated the second one in a sauce pan that was really hot--it got the phyllo extra crispy and was just as good. I still have some of the tuna left, so I plan on making a few more later!

Some like it Hot--with Harissa

So I like spicy foods--not burn your mouth off spicy, but I don't mind my food biting back. So when I was planning my foray into North African cuisine, I wanted to try some of the spicy variations of their dishes. I found that they have a peppery condiment called harissa. Apparently you can buy it pre-made in some stores, but I didn't see any, and it seemed pretty easy to make. One thing that is very easy to find around here is dried peppers, which is the main ingredient.

Ingredients:

1.5 oz dried red peppers
3-4 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground corriander
juice of one lemon
1 tsp olive oil


I bought an assortment of dried chilis from the bulk bins at Winco. They were just labeled New Mexican Dried Chilis, though there were clearly three different kinds represented. I purchased and used about equal amounts of each. I suspect that some were hotter than others, but I figure this would give a good balance of flavor. I looked them up on line and it looks like I used some anchos, arbols, and a New Mexico red chilis.

The first step is to take all the seeds and stems out, which was a little harder with the tiny spicy arbol chilis and the big gummy ancho peppers.This keeps the sauce smooth and keeps the heat level at a reasonable level.

Next the cleaned peppers are covered with very hot water and soaked for at least a half an hour--I soaked them while I ran to the grocery store to get some things I've forgotten, so I'm not sure how long I left them in there. Anyways, when I got back I drained and dried them. They went into the blender cup along with the spices, garlic, lemon zest, and some of the lemon juice.

This gets blended until it forms a fine paste, adding more liquid once it was all broken down and smooth. I added a teaspoon of olive oil and the rest of the lemon juice and continued to puree it. I poured it in a glass jar and will use it in my tagines, roasting veggies, and even with my eggs!

The Verdict: There is a fine balance between hot and so hot that all you feel is burning and no flavor but heat. This still has a great garlic and lemon flavor with different layers of heat and smokiness. I look forward to having this on many more things. It should keep well, with maybe some olive oil to smooth out.