Beef with Snow Peas

This is a Pioneer Woman recipe that I tried when I first started to learn how to cook. I loved her website because she showed how the food was supposed to look at each stage of the process (something very valuable for a newbie cook like myself!). 

This recipe is very quick...the longest process is cooking the rice. The sauce is delicious, and you can substitute the snow peas for any vegetable (peppers, broccoli, onions). When I first made the dish, I had a Teflon pan, and burnt the Teflon off because the recipe said to make the skillet HOT. Oops. I still don't have a cast iron skillet, just stainless steel pans, so I don't get it super hot, just hot enough. :)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound Flank Steak
• 1/2 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 3 Tablespoons Sherry Or Cooking Sherry
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger
• 6 ounces, weight Fresh Snow Peas, Ends Trimmed
• 5 whole Scallions, Cut Into Haf-inch Pieces On The Diagonal
•  Salt As Needed (use Sparingly)
• 3 Tablespoons Peanut Or Olive Oil
• 1 cup Jasmine Rice

Cook rice according to package directions.

Trim as much of the fat off the steak as you can. Then slice it very thin against the grain in long strips.

In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Pour half the liquid over the sliced meat in a bowl and toss with hands. Reserve the other half of the liquid. Set aside.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. Add snow peas and stir for 45 seconds. Remove to a separate plate. Set aside.

Allow pan to get hot again. With tongs, add half the meat mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl. Add half the scallions. Spread out meat as you add it to pan, but do not stir for a good minute. (You want the meat to get as brown as possible in as short amount a time as possible.) Turn meat to the other side and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove to a clean plate.

Repeat with other half of meat, allowing pan to get very hot again first. After turning it, add the first plateful of meat, the rest of the marinade, and the snow peas. Stir over high heat for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Check seasonings and add salt only if it needs it. Mixture will thicken as it sits.

Serve immediately over rice. 

Original Recipe: The Pioneer Woman