Ginger Beef Stir Fry
Actually it was Ginger Venison Stir Fry. Our beef recipes become venison recipes since Mr Chiots is a hunter and we are lucky enough to have 3 deer in the freezer. During the winter we enjoy rich hearty venison stews and warming bowls of venison chili. In the summer I’m much happier eating a venison burger or stir fry. The great thing about stir fry is that you can use whatever vegetables you have in the garden. In the spring we’ll use sugar snap peas and garlic scapes, later in the summer it’ll be zucchini, carrots and onions. It’s quick and easy to whip up a stir fry.
Currently we’re harvesting those golden peas, green onions, kale and garlic scapes, so that’s what I’ve been using as vegetables in my stir fry. I was also lucky enough to find some lovely oyster mushrooms at the farmer’s market and I’m always happy to add those to just about anything.
GINGER BEEF STIR FRY
(adapted from Simply Recipes)
Sauce:
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or coconut water vinegar
5 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce (naturally fermented is best)
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp peeled, grated fresh ginger
1 tsp red pepper flakes (less if you’re of delicate palate)
1 tsp freshly ground cumin (feel free to omit or substitute other spice)
(if you want a thicker sauce add a Tablespoon of corn starch as well)
Stir-fry:
3 Tbsp coconut oil or lard
1 – 1 1/2 lb steak cut into strips
2-3 cups mixed chopped vegetables of your choice: green onions, onions, mushrooms, asparagus, garlic scapes, sugar snap peas, carrots, zucchini, etc.
chopped fresh cilantro if desired
cooked rice or noodles for serving
Mix ingredients for sauce in a bowl and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large skillet (cast iron works best) over high heat. Working in batches, sauté beef until just brown outside but rare inside, about 1 minute, transfer to plate.
When all of the beef is cooked, add more oil to pan if necessary and stir fry the vegetables for a minute or two – until vegetables reach your preferred level of doneness. I usually add longer cooking vegetables first, and throw in green onions for the last 30 seconds or so. Return beef to pan. Add sauce and mix everything together. Cook for 1 minute. Mix in cilantro if desired.
Serve over freshly cooked rice or noodles. Should serve four people unless you’re super hungry. (rice is especially good if made with some virgin coconut oil so it has a slight coconut taste)
Nothing beats a quick stir fry with freshly harvested vegetables for a summer evening meal. The great thing about this dish is that you can substitute in other spices if you’d like. Things like coconut milk, ground coriander seeds, orange zest, various chiles and other spices would pair well with different kinds of vegetables and make the dish taste differently each time.
Do you have a go-to quick recipe for using fresh summer vegetables?
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Friday Favorite: Open Windows
This past week the weather has been really nice here in NE Ohio. I’ve heard people complaining about how cool it has been, but I for one LOVE it. It’s the perfect weather for keeping the windows open all day long: in the high 70’s during the day and dipping down into the low 60’s or high 50’s during the evening.
I really enjoy having the windows open so I can hear the birds, feel the breeze and enjoy the fresh air in the house. Sadly, here in NE Ohio it can get pretty hot and humid during the summer months and our home is not built to cool off when it’s hot. We open the windows whenever we can and close everything up when it’s simply too hot to handle. We’re hoping to install a whole house fan this fall or next spring so that we can keep the windows open more often during the summer.
Are you and open window person?
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They’ve Hatched
Remember those pearly insect eggs I showed you on Sunday?
I checked on them on Tuesday evening and they had hatched. It looks like they are leaf footed insect nymphs just as I thought. The tiny little insects are just as beautiful as the eggs were, stunningly bright red.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of these little guys in my garden before. I probably have just never stopped long enough or been in the right place at the right time to see them.
I grew up in South America so I’ve seen my share of crazy insects. Yet nature never ceases to amaze me, especially when it comes to the insect world!
What’s the craziest insect or animal you’ve spotted in your garden?
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I Spy With My Little Eye…
When I was tying up my tomatoes on Monday, I noticed that a few of the plants were blooming. It’s always exciting to start seeing the lovely yellow flowers on the tomato vines. So far, only a few of the plants are blooming, the rest look like they’ll be blooming in a week or two.
I also noticed that I had a few tiny tomatoes on my ‘Tess’s Land Race Currant’ tomato. These were planted because I figured a tomato this small should provide early tomatoes for salads. I may have been right, we’ll see how long these take to ripen up.
I won’t be eating a ‘Brandywine’ anytime soon, but it looks as though I’ll be eating a tiny tomato in early July!
How’s your 2011 tomato season coming along? blossoms, fruit, harvesting any ripe tomatoes yet?
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Growing Sweet Potato Slips
Last winter I found some ‘Hawaiian Sweet’ purple sweet potatoes at the farmer’s market. I purchased a few, some to eat and some to use for growing slips. I cooked a few for eating, they were good – much different in taste than a regular sweet potato. They have more of an earthy flavor than the regular sweet potato flavor.
This spring I put a few of them in water to start growing my slips. Starting your own sweet potato slips is quite easy. All you have to do is place sweet potatoes vertically in a jar of water and wait. You want the bottom of the potato in the water and the top out of the water. Ideally you want at least 2 inches of the potato out of the water. Use some of the nicest potatoes from the previous year’s crop, none that are shriveled. Place the jar in a warm spot, sweet potatoes prefer warmth since they’re tropical plants. Change the water occasionally to keep it fresh.
Once the vines are about five inches long pick them off and put them in water. One potato will produce a lot of slips. You can keep pinching them off and more should form. They’ll sprout roots quickly and you can plant them in the garden when the soil warms. Around here that means around the first of July. There’s no need to hurry to get them in the soil early as they’ll languish if the temperatures are too cool, especially at night. Ideally you want to start your slips about 12 weeks before planting outside.
I didn’t think these potatoes were ever going produce slips, they sat in their jar of water for about 6 weeks. Just about the time I was going to compost them I noticed a few little buds forming. I have since read that purple sweet potatoes take much longer to sprout. I’ll be planting these along with a few other heirloom varieties that I purchase from Sand Hill Preservation. Let’s hope we can keep the voles out of them this year!
Do you grow sweet potatoes in your garden? What variety does well for you?
