Easy Beef Stew for Two
It’s cold out today! When it’s cold out I immediately think of warm, comforting food and this super easy full-bodied stew is perfect for cold days! This red wine-braised beef stew is the ultimate one-pot meal, loaded with tender potatoes and carrots. Don’t forget a loaf of crusty French bread for sopping up the rich sauce.
Many stew recipes call for cooking the meat and vegetables at the same time, leaving the vegetables overcooked and mushy. Instead, first braise the meat with onions in red wine and beef broth until a rich sauce develops. Then, after about an hour, add carrots, and potatoes. By the time the vegetables are cooked, the beef will be tender, then just stir in some peas if you like, for a little freshness and color. I sprinkle a little fresh parsley in at the end. You can also spoon the stew over buttered egg noodles. YUMMY!
Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry for Two
I have to admit…we eat Chinese take-out a lot! It’s just too easy because they are literally right down the street! I’m really not a fan of any of the beef take-out dishes though, the beef is usually tough and kinda chewy…ewww. Not my favorite! I have been on the look-out for the BEST beef and broccoli recipe and I found it! You just won’t believe you made something so good when you try this one. Take-out can’t match this, no way, no how!
When I first started thinking about posting this recipe I thought to cut it in half but if you love this as much as we do, there might not be any leftovers, so I decided to keep it as is.
You’re going to want to have everything prepped before you start this recipe because once you start it goes fast! Do yourself a favor and put your steak in the freezer for 20 minutes before slicing it, it will be much easier to slice partially frozen. Slice up the partially frozen beef in thin strips and put it in a bowl with the soy sauce and put it in the fridge for an hour, don’t forget to stir it once. In the meantime you can chop the red pepper and mince the garlic and ginger. I just put my garlic and ginger in the food processor. Put the garlic and ginger in a small bowl and add the sesame oil and set aside.
Next you’ll need to drain the beef and get your pan ready by adding 1 1/2 tsps of the peanut oil. Make sure the oil is smoking before adding half the beef, you’re doing this in two batches. Once you add the beef just quickly make sure each piece is touching the pan and not on top of other pieces and don’t touch them for one minute so they start to develop that nice browned color, then stir the meat and cook for only 30 seconds more. You might feel like the meat isn’t done but trust me…it will keep cooking after you take it off…don’t cook it longer. Put it in a bowl and do the next batch the same way, adding 1 1/2 tsp peaunt oil before adding that next batch of beef strips. Add this beef to the rest in the bowl and set this aside. Once you’ve done that add a Tbsp of peanut oil to your now empty pan and heat just until starting to smoke. Add the broccoli and cook for 30 seconds only. Add 1/3 cup of water, cover the pan and steam the broccoli for 2 minutes on medium heat. Transfer the broccoli to a paper towel lined plate. Our goal here is to keep the broccoli nice and green and still crunchy. Nothing worse than limp broccoli in your beef and broccoli! Next you’ll add the remaining 1 1/2 tsp peanut oil to the pan and then add the red peppers. Cook for 2 minutes and then add the ginger and garlic mixture to the middle of the pan and cook for 20 seconds or until fragrant, then stir into the red peppers to combine. Add the beef and broccoli back into the pan, re-whisk the sauce and add it to the pan, tossing until everything is hot. Serve this with white or brown rice and maybe some hot tea would make it especially authentic!
