Oriental Beef with Snow Peas

For all you Northeast coast readers - hope you made it through the storm OK and that you have power!  Snow is one thing, but loosing power in the winter is just no fun at all!  Up here in N. Vermont we didn't get the crazy amounts that MA & ME got, which is a first.  We got about 8-10 inches, which is not bad at all for us.  Hope everyone is safe, warm & cozy and eating good food!  Cheers to staying in and snuggling with your families ☺

I'm sure it's not a surprise that I love watching cooking shows on the Food Network.  I think if I had to pick a favorite it would be Ina Garten's show.  I love what and how she cooks, and I find her to be very inspiring.  However, last weekend I caught an episode of Ree Drummond's show.  Her recipe for beef with snow peas caught my eye for a couple of reasons.  One, because it was quick to prepare and two, because my husband loves stir fry.  I thought this recipe would be perfect to try as my "one new recipe for the week", especially because I knew there was one day during the week where I wouldn't have a lot of time to throw dinner together.  

I did make a couple of adjustments based on our tastes.  We found the marinade was just a tad bitter due to all the soy sauce, so I increased the amount of brown sugar a little.  I also added garlic....just because everything is better with garlic.  Overall, we all enjoyed this recipe, especially my husband.  I asked him if he preferred this to the usual stir fry I make and he said yes.  He said he'd thought it would be better with some more veggies in it, but other than that he really liked it.  Alrighty then, I guess this recipe will be added to my ever growing list of family favorites!  Thank you  Ree ☺

Oriental Beef with Snow Peas (adapted from www.thepioneerwoman.com)

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp cooking sherry
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs London broil steak, sliced very thin (can also use flank or skirt steak)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
8 oz fresh snow peas
5 scallions, chopped into large pieces
Crushed red pepper to taste (I might have used about 1/8 tsp, which gave it just enough kick for us)

In a small bowl whisk together the soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, sugar, ginger and garlic.  Place your beef into a large Ziplock bag and pour in about 1/4 cup of the marinade, seal and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Set remaining marinade aside for later use.

Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet until nice and hot.  Add the snow peas, stirring for about 1 minute, then remove from heat and transfer to a large plate.  Place the skillet back on the stove and get it nice and hot again.  Add about half of the meat and let it sear on one side for about a minute.  Add half of the scallions, and flip the meat over to let the other side brown for a about a minute.  Remove meat from pan and place on the same plate as the snow peas.

Place pan on stove and allow it to get nice and hot again, then repeat the process of cooking the second half of the meat.  After flipping the second batch of meat, add the snow peas and first batch of meat, the reserved marinade and the crushed red pepper.  Stir while cooking for another 1-2 minutes.  Serve hot over rice.