MONGOLIAN BEEF ala INSTANT POT

MONGOLIAN BEEF serves 6

2 pounds flank steak, sliced into thin strips across the grain
1/3 cup cornstarch
2-1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
2 teaspoons freshly minced garlic
3/4 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
1 cup water
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
1 cup shredded or julienned carrots
Sliced green onions and sesame seeds, for garnish
Cooked white rice

  • Place flank steak strips in a 1 gallon resealable bag.
  • Add cornstarch, seal bag and shake to coat evenly.
  • In a medium bowl, add ginger root, garlic, soy sauce,  water, brown sugar and Hoisin sauce stirring well to combine.
  • Set your Instant Pot to the saute setting.
  • Add olive oil.
  • When olive oil is heated, add beef and saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
  • Pour mixture over beef and stir to combine.
  • Add carrots and stir again.
  • Turn Instant Pot off.
  • Place the lid on and lock.
  • Steam release knob should be set on “sealing”.
  • Cook on manual setting (high pressure) for 10 minutes.
  • Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure.
  • Carefully remove lid and stir.
  • Serve over cooked white rice and top with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.

BLOGMAS 2018 – DAY 8 – FAVORITE STORIES

This story originally came across my email several years ago and I was reminded that it is a beautiful way to celebrate Christmas Holiday spirit so I thought I’d share. This is such a beautiful story that makes you understand that things truly do happen for a reason. Don’t forget to grab the tissue box.

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc… and on December 18th they were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

On December 19th a terrible tempest – a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.

On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.

The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc… to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet.. ‘Pastor,’ she asked, ‘where did you get that tablecloth?’ The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth, but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a house cleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving.

The man asked him where he got the Tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier.

He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

This true Story was submitted by Pastor Rob Reid.

There are so many other Christmas stories.  What is your favorite?  I ALSO love this Helen Steiner Rice poem and try very hard to adopt the Christmas spirit as an everyday way of life.



BLOGMAS 2018 – DAY 7 – MEMORIES

WOW there are so many! One of my favorites was when I was 5 and I got my tea table – my uncle sure looked silly sitting at that table drinking tea with me 😀 Then when  I was 9 my aunt came to visit from Texas for Christmas and was sitting on the floor in a leather dress playing Barrel of Monkeys with the younger kids or maybe the year I got my first bike, whoops wait that was the birthday before Christmas.

My grandfather worked for General Electric as an X-ray technician of sorts (he oversaw the installation and calibration of X-ray equipment) and one year he brought home a GE Snow tree and ornaments (I still don’t know the correlation between between being an X-ray technician and Christmas trees). Anyway this tree had a HUGE cardboard base and once the tree was up and decorated you filled this base with thousands of tiny Styrofoam balls and when you turned the switch on the tree would make it’s own snow.  As a kid I thought it was pretty cool, but as an adult I look back and realize what a MESS it made!! Especially when the wind was blowing and static electricity was high – those damn balls stuck to EVERYTHING!

But wait, that is not my favorite memory.  It turns out that my favorite memory is of trying to stump my dad each year with his gift – it became a mission of sorts to be the first to stump him.  I swear the man was Carnac when it came to knowing what was inside a box. We tried EVERY year to stump him and I don’t remember ever being able to do it.  We tried adding bricks, taping a silver dollar with duct tape to the bottom so it would flip back and forth to make noise when you shook it, adding a pair of shoes… but he ALWAYS guessed!  I don’t know how he did it.



NEW ENGLAND STYLE BAKED STUFFED CLAMS

One of the wonderful things about living near the coast is FRESH seafood!!  Start with steamed clams and mix them with the veggies and seasoned crumbs. They bake to perfection every time!

NEW ENGLAND STYLE BAKED STUFFED CLAMS
8 LARGE quahogs or cherry stone clams
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 Vidalia onion, finely diced
1 LARGE clove garlic, minced
1/4 red pepper, finely diced
1 cup FRESH seasoned breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely minced FRESH parsley
Juice of 2 lemons, divided
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
1/8 teaspoon sweet Paprika

  • Preheat the oven to 350°.
  • Wash the clams free of any grit.
  • Steam clams in around 1 inch of boiling water until they open up, about 8-10 minutes.
  • Remove clams from the water (reserve a couple tablespoons of clam water).
  • Allow the clams to cool before taking them out of the shell – if the “foot” gets stuck, don’t worry about it since it’s not as tender anyway.
  • Split the shells open and keep 8 of them for stuffing.

 

  • Heat the butter in a skillet over medium high heat until onion is soft.
  • Add the garlic and peppers cooking another minute before adding the breadcrumbs.
Add the bread crumbs and blend well.
  • Add parsley, 1/2 of the lemon juice, Parmesan and paprika mixing well.
  • Add a tablespoon or two of the clam water to bind the mixture.
Divide the mixture between the 8 shells you held back and press it so it holds together.
  • Put them in a baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes until they gently brown on top.
  • Drizzle with lemon juice just before serving.

NOTES:

  • If clams don’t open on steaming, don’t use them, this means they were already dead.
  • When I make the bread crumbs I start with 2-3 slices of buttered sourdough sprinkled with lemon pepper, baked to toast in the oven and then ground in a food processor.

BLOGMAS 2018 – DAY 5 – WINTER MUSTS

What I CANNOT live without in winter is many many things, but these are my top items! The one thing I am absolutely sure of is that if I have a sore throat, dry skin, cold feet or hands, cold food or catch a cold I am NOT happy.

I drink a cup of green tea every night and try to make very balanced comfort food meals to warm up my family from the inside out.  Here are a few of our favorite soups and stews links for you.

Split Pea Soup  

Red Chicken Chili

Black Eyed Pea Chili

Tomato Spinach Soup  

Navy Bean & Ham Soup

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo  



BBQ APRICOT PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

BBQ APRICOT PINEAPPLE  CHICKEN adapted from Carrie at Northwoods Scrapbook

BBQ SAUCE
Avocado oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion (1 small onion)
1 tablespoon minced Fresno chile, seeds removed (1 chile)
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
13 ounce jar apricot-pineapple jam
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (1 large orange)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup jalapeño ketchup
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

  • Heat 1 tablespoon avocado oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
  • Add the onions and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Add the chile and garlic; cook an additional 2 minutes.
  • Stir in the jam; cooking until the jam melts, 3 to 4 minutes more.
  • Add the orange juice and cider vinegar, bring to a simmer.
  • Add the ketchup, honey and Worcestershire.
  • Adjust the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, until thickened, 10-15 minutes.
  • Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
  • Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth.
  • Add salt to taste.
  • Remove 1 cup for basting the chicken; reserve the rest for serving.

CHICKEN
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon each FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
16 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Avocado oil
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

  • Preheat the oven to 375°.
  • In a small bowl, stir together the smoked paprika, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.
  • Pat dry chicken breasts.
  • Coat chicken breasts on both sides with avocado oil.
  • Generously sprinkle both sides with seasoning mix.
  • Place the chicken thighs on two foil-lined baking sheets.
  • Bake until the chicken is cooked through, 35 minutes.
  • Turn the oven to broil.
  • Generously baste the chicken pieces with BBQ sauce and broil until the sauce has caramelized and chicken is cooked through.
  • Remove to a platter, let rest for 5 minutes
  • Sprinkle the chicken with parsley.
  • Serve with the reserved BBQ sauce.