PF Chang's Mongolian Beef - Knock Off

I don't know about you but my family loves some Asian cooking. Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino it's all delicious! Unfortunately for my family I don't have too many recipes I'm good at. Fortunately for them Mongolian Beef is one I make very well if I do say so myself. This recipe is so yummy! Moderately easy to make. If you can fry meat then you can make this Mongolian Beef.

**TIPS
**You want to go ahead and prep your green onions first even though they aren't needed until the very end. That way you aren't chopping veggies on a bloody board after prepping your beef.

**The sauce prep takes about 5 minutes. The beef prep and cooking is not difficult at all but is definitely time consuming. This is made with flank steak. Flank steak needs to be cut AGAINST the grain or else it is very chewy. It is often very fatty so trim those up but don't worry about removing all the fat it cooks off and contributes to the flavor and tenderness of the meat.  

**When coating your beef in cornstarch use only your non dominant hand. You want to keep your dominant hand clean to handle your utensils to turn the beef in the skillet.

This recipe serves about 6 and takes about an hour to an hour and a half to prep and cook.

Ingredients

FOR THE Sauce:

• 1 Tbsp Vegetable or Olive Oil
• 1 tsp minced ginger or 1/4 tsp ground ginger 
• 3 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1'cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water 
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FOR THE Beef:

• 2 lbs flank steak, thinly sliced
• 2/3 cup of cornstarch 
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 2-8 Tbsp of Vegetable or Olive Oil, divided
• 4 cups White Rice
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Utensils you need:

• Cutting Board
• Cutting Knife
• Medium Sauce Pot or Saute Pan
• Large Skillet or Wok
• Large Bowl for Cornstarch 
• Small Container for Green Onions 
• Measuring Spoons and Cup 
• Stirring Spoon
• Fork

Directions 

FOR THE SaucE:

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  1. Prep green onions and set aside.                     
  2. Prep your flank steak and set aside. **Remember to slice against the grain as shown** 
  3. Cook your white rice according to the package directions. Leave covered and set aside while you finish the beef. 
  4. Heat oil in sauce pan or skillet over medium-low heat (4). 
  5. Add ginger and garlic to oil and stir for about a minute. 
  6. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, and water stirring well
  7. Turn heat up to high, bringing the sauce to a boil 
  8. Let the sauce boil for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently
  9. Remove from heat and set aside

  FOR THE Beef:

  • 1. Heat oil in large skillet or wok on medium-high (6/7) heat 
    2. Pour your cornstarch in large bowl       
    3. Toss steak strip in cornstarch and coat well
    4. Shake off excess cornstarch and put steak strips in heated oil. Be sure not to over crowd. This will be done in several batches.                 
    5. Cook the steak strips for about 2-3 minutes each, turning with a fork to cook on both sides.  The steak does not need to be cooked through because it will cook more in the sauce. However it does need to be not bleeding anymore. 
    6. This is on a higher heat so as soon as the outside is browned and feels a little crunchy, remove from the oil with your fork and put straight into sauce that is sitting aside. 
    7. Once all the steak strips are cooked and now sitting in the sauce, put the sauce over medium heat until it starts to boil. Keep stirring and remove from heat. The sauce will continue to reduce and thicken.
    8. Serve over white rice and garnish with green onions 
    9. Enjoy!!
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Creamy Almond Milk Alfredo Sauce

I was feeling lazy and procrastinated my dinner prep the other night until the last minute only to discover I as out of both milk and cream! I had the frozen wild mushroom raviolis from SAMs Club and badly wanted them with some Alfredo sauce. So I did what I do. I started looking in my pantry and Googling to see what I could finagle. Fortunately for me my family lives various fruit and green smoothies so I almost always have some almond milk on hand. This is a healthier and lighter version of a traditional Alfredo that worked out even better than I hoped!!



Mine came out a tad sweeter than I would normally prefer but I attribute that to using vanilla almond milk vs just plain almond milk.

This recipe made 6 servings of Alfredo sauce.

Ingredients

FOR THE alfredo:

• 3 Tbsp Butter
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Minced Garlic 
• 1 3/4 cup Almond Milk, divided
• 1 Tbsp Cornstarch 
• 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1/4 tsp pepper 
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Utensils you need:

• Large sautée pan
• Whisk
• Small bowl
• Stirring spoon 

Directions

1. Melt butter with the olive oil in your large sautée pan over medium heat. 
2. Once melted add your garlic and sautée for a minute. 
3. Next add 1  1/2 cup almond milk, salt, and pepper   
4. Stir often while the mixture comes to a simmer while still on medium heat
5. Add Parmesan cheese to milk mixture and stir well to keep cheese from settling on the bottom and sticking.                                                                       
6. While your milk mixture is simmering add remaining 1/4 cup almond milk to your 1 Tbsp cornstarch in small mixing bowl. Whisk until well combined. It is important to whisk your cornstarch and remaining almond milk in a separate container. If you ever try to add the cornstarch (or flour) directly to the sauce or soup you will quickly see it does not dissolve well and you will have a lumpy mess.                                                           
7. Add to saucepan and stir frequently until sauce thickens.  
8. When sauce starts thickening, go ahead and remove from heat. 
9. Serve over pasta of your choosing and enjoy!!                     
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One Pot Andouille Sausage And Pasta

First of all, if you've never had andouille before your are missing out. It is a delightful pork sausage that originated in France and migrated it's way to Louisiana to become a Creole staple.

Recently I've had a hard time finding andouille sausage at my local grocery store. So when I found they were in stock a while back I panicked and cleared the shelf lol! When I am craving a particular recipe there is nothing worse then to not be able to find some major ingredients. So now I have ridiculous amounts of andouille in my freezer and I honestly do not make gumbo THAT often. SO now what to do with some of this. I started looked in my pantry and throwing a bunch of stuff together. Thankfully it turned out really well!

This recipe takes about 40 minutes from prep to table and fed my family of 4 with just enough left over for another mouth (or 2 toddler mouths).

Ingredients

FOR THE Andouille Pasta:

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Medium Onion, Diced
• 2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
• 16 oz Chicken Broth
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1 can Diced Tomatoes (14.5 oz)
• 8 oz elbow noodles
• 1.5 cups Mexican Cheese Blend (or other favorite Cheese)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
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utensils you need:

• Cutting board
• Cutting knife
• Medium pot or large skillet
• Stirring Spoon

Directions

FOR THE ANDOUILLE PASTA:

1. Heat oil in skillet on low-medium heat (4)         
2. Dice your onions and add to skillet along with minced garlic 
3. Slice your sausage into bite sized pieced like shown and add to skillet  
4. Turn heat up to medium high (7) and cook until brown and oil is all but cooked out. 
5. Once sausage has been browned add your chicken broth, tomatoes, and milk.  
6. Stir well and turn heat up to bring liquid to a boil.
7. Once boiling, add 8 oz of elbow noodles, stir well, cover and reduce heat (1) for 12 minutes  
8. Once timer goes off, stir well and check for doneness. 
9. If not quite cooked then cover and cook for an additional 2 minutes. 
10. If cooked then remove from heat and let sit for a minute to reduce any additional broth. 
11. Now add cheese and mix to melt.                       
12. Now serve and enjoy!!!                                          
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