Braised Cod Peperonata for Two

Braised Cod Peperonata for Two - a fresh Italian-inspired dish with cod simmered in a mixture of fresh red bell peppers, onions, garlic, and tomatoes and finished with a delicious sherry vinegar.

If you are planning a stay at home date night dinner with your sweetheart, I recommend serving this braised cod peperonata for two.

Cantonese Style Stir-Fried Pork with Chinese Broccoli | Wok Wednesdays

This Cantonese Style Stir-Fried Pork with Chinese Broccoli was amazingly rich and delicious.

This dish requires quite a bit of preparation prior to the stir-fry (there are 17 ingredients), but it is so worth it. The combination of all of the ingredients creates a sauce that is just simply amazingly flavorful. Once you have the ingredients prepped, the dish takes just minutes to make.

Stir-Fry Sichuan Beef

This Stir-Fry Sichuan Beef recipe is super flavorful. The sauce combines the flavors of soy, ginger, ketchup, hoisin sauce, and chili bean sauce. The vegetables include onions, green bell peppers, and a garnish of scallions, all ingredients that are readily available. The sauce is amazing.

The dish is simply wonderful over sticky rice. Can you see the steam rising?

I used some flank steak I had in the freezer to make this Sichuan Beef recipe and discovered how easy it is to slice semi-frozen meat into bite sized pieces. Doh! Why did I not know this?

I've been on a stir-fry obsession, second only to my bread obsession, and recently purchased The Breath of a Wok by Grace Young. I have been cooking from her book, Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge every other week for two years now, and decided to dip into one of her earlier books. Why should I have to wait for Wok Wednesdays to stir fry, right?

I will definitely making this again and again. Trust me, it's good.

Stir-Fry Sichuan Beef

Serves three as the main course, four to five as part of a multi-course meal

Ingredients

8 ounces flank steak 

2 T Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry

1 1/2 tsp plus 1 T soy sauce

5 slices ginger, smashed
2 1/2 tsp cornstarch
2 T ketchup
2 T hoisin sauce
2 tsp chili bean sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 T water
1 T peanut or vegetable oil
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 C chicken broth
2 scallions, cut into 1 inch slices

Instructions

1. Cut the flank steak with the grain into two inch wide strips, and then cut each strip into 1/4 inch wide pieces against the grain. 
2. Marinade the beef with the rice wine, 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce, and 2 slices of the ginger for 30 minutes. 
3. Drain the beef and toss it with 1 tsp of the cornstarch. 
4. Mix the ketchup, hoisin, chili bean sauce, sesame oil, and 1 T of soy sauce in a small bowl.
5. Mix 1 1/2 tsp of cornstarch and 1 T water in another small bowl and set aside.
6. Heat your wok over high heat.
7. Add 1 T of peanut or vegetable oil to the wok. Add three slices of the ginger and stir for 30 seconds.
8. Add the marinated beef and spread it into a single layer over the surface of the wok. 
9. Let it cook for one minute. 
10. Stir fry the beef for 30 seconds. 
11. Transfer the beef to a colander and let it drain over a plate.
12. Add the bell peppers and onions to the wok and stir fry for one minute. 
13. Add the broth and bring it to a boil over high heat. 
14. Add the ketchup mixture and bring it to a boil. 
15. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and boil until the sauce has thickened. 
16. Add the beef back into the wok and stir for 30 seconds. 
17. Garnish with the scallions. 

Enjoy!

Stir-Fried Hoisin Pork with Peppers | Wok Wednesdays

This Stir-Fried Hoisin Pork with Peppers is amazingly easy to prepare even though it calls for 14 ingredients.

You know I have this wok thing bad when the only thing I had to go out and buy was the pork!

The pork is cut into bite sized pieces and then marinaded in scallions, hoisin sauce, minced garlic, rice wine, ginger, soy sauce, salt, white pepper, and sesame oil. Unlike most of the stir-fries in the book, the ginger and garlic are in the marinade rather than seared separately. This cut down on the number of final steps and made this dish pretty easy to execute.

Once you've prepped the red bell pepper and carrot slices, along with some shredded scallions, The whole process takes about 4 to 5 minutes, if that.

I loved this stir-fry, and will definitely be making it again. It's easy, delicious, and has a great balance of protein to veggies. We served it with steamed rice. We also got to use our delicious but somewhat twisted looking home grown red bell peppers.

I am participating in Wok Wednesdays. Check out the site as well as the Facebook page for more information. Those of us who are participating have agreed not to provide the specific recipe. Instead, we'd love it if you'd get the book, Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge by Grace Young (who also helps us by discussing techniques, finding ingredients, and maintaining our woks), and join us in this adventure.

Sichuan Pork with Peppers and Peanuts | Wok Wednesdays

The recipe for this Sichuan pork with peppers and peanuts is from Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge by Grace Young, the James Beard award winning cookbook filled with amazing stir-fry dishes.

This pork stir-fry calls for ingredients that are fairly easy to find, and because I have been participating in Wok Wednesdays, I actually had all of the ingredients on hand, with the exception of the pork, bell peppers, and the peanuts. Yes, I have a jar of chili bean sauce. In fact, I've been so in love with making the dishes from this book that I've taken over a couple of shelves in our refrigerator with ingredients.

Even better, this dish is super easy to make on a weeknight.

This recipe consists of pork, red bell peppers, and peanuts flavored with lots of garlic, red onion, soy sauce, Shao Hsing rice wine, white pepper, chili bean sauce, and Chinkiang or balsamic vinegar. After the initial prep, it takes about five minutes to make.

Verdict? One of my favorites from the book. Totally dinner party worthy. How does Grace do it?

The recipe (although doubled in volume) can be found on the NPR website. Even better, get the book. It's full of all kinds of information about cooking with a wok. I'm totally hooked.

Chinese Burmese Chili Chicken

This Chinese Burmese Chili Chicken represents a combination of Chinese and Burmese cuisines. It also includes Indian spices such as paprika, cumin, and chili powder.

The ingredients also include skinless chicken thighs cut into large pieces. onions, ginger, bell peppers, fish sauce, garlic, Anaheim chilis, and zucchini.

The ingredients are really fresh tasting, and are a wonderful contrast to the last few weeks of traditional holiday foods and baked goods.

After prepping all of the ingredients, this dish takes just a few minutes to stir fry, and the flavors are amazing.

The sauce in this stir fry has so many dimensions.

This stir fry recipe comes from Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge by Grace Young. Wok cooking has become a bit of an obsession for me, and this dish is one of my favorites. Plus, the ingredients aren't too exotic and are pretty easy to find.

Get a wok, make this dish, and get hooked on wokking!

This recipe, with rice, serves 3. As part of a multi-course meal, it serves 4.

The recipe can be found at Saveur.