The Infamous Napa Cabbage Salad....

Good Morning All...Been a while, I 'm still trying to be consistent but it's pretty damn hard to take pictures while you cook and attempt to cook during the day to have decent natural light! Oh, and having a 3 year old helps too! Oh, and the fact that I take step by step photo's and then forget to take the "final product" photo because I can't get the food in my mouth fast enough (happens more than I would like to admit, heehee)

My brother and sister in law have been requesting this recipe on the blog since I started, so it is finally here.  This was one of those recipes that I had mentioned above, gone before the final snap was taken (may have happened a few times.)
 SO, the story goes...Shawn, "What is that?" Me, "Napa Cabbage Salad..." Shawn, "Gross, I don't eat cabbage....Gross."  Me, "Try it, you'll love it..." Shawn, "Yuck, I'm not going to like it!" Shawn proceeds to take a bite, look at me with a smile, and inhale the rest of his plate! Shawn, "Can I have the recipe?" Me, "Sure."  SO, with that being said, if you do not like cabbage, reconsider for the sake of this recipe.  One, napa cabbage does not have that "cabbage taste or texture." Really, I promise...I am a cabbage hater, I won't even touch sauerkraut if I'm making something with it, I make my friend DD open it, pour it in and stir until I can no longer see or smell it!!


Shawn has requested this salad at every family function since.....


Napa Cabbage Salad
Recipe from our family cookbook, author My Mom


2 Large heads of Napa Cabbage 
1 bunch green onion, sliced thin
1/2 stick of butter or margarine
2 pkg of ramen noodles, crush them up in the bag, seasoning packet saved for another use.
1 small pkg slivered almonds (sliced ones work fine too)
handful of sesame seeds *see my note at the end of blog about purchasing hint*

Dressing:
1 cup of Canola or minimal flavored oil, I would NOT use olive oil here, it will skew the flavors
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup red wine vinegar


A couple notes about serving size. This amount above makes ALOT! However, it will get eaten, I promise you! It will also keep it's crispness with the dressing on for a day after you make.  It also behaves like spinach and mushrooms and lettuce and....that it will "deflate" down to a normal size serving once you add the dressing (or heat up.)

Directions:
Melt butter in large saute pan, or sauce pan (whatever you have) over medium heat.  Add broken up ramen noodles to butter and stir until browned.  Pour onto paper towel lined plate to cool. Be aware, these will turn golden and then burn in seconds, so once color starts to show, pay constant attention.
Add almonds to same pan over low heat and toast slightly, add sesame seeds to warm up and toast a bit and set aside to cool.

Mix cabbage, onion, noodles, almonds and sesame seeds.  Mix the dressing and toss.  Add the dressing a lil' at a time, I have found that it does not require the entire amount.

NOTES ON THE RECIPE:
~If taking as a dish, place ramen/almond/sesame mixture in a ziplock and add after dressing.  The moisture of the cabbage during transport can make the ramen mushy.
~If cutting serving size in half, I always make full amount of dressing, I find the flavor changes if you cut it in half.
~If you find throwing the seasoning packet of ramen wasteful, you can sprinkle on browned noodles after they are cooled but it does add quite a bit of salt so be aware, you may not like the end result. I like salt so it doesn't bother me, but I do not typically do this.
~ Buy your sesame seeds in the international aisle of your grocery store rather than the spice section.  You will save a ridiculous amount!

Homemade Take-Out...Beef & Broccoli

This was my very first time ever attempting an Asian recipe.  There are a few reasons:

1. I'm not a huge fan of Asian food (besides the horribly bad for you fried a hundred times kind.)
2. The ingredients are never "cut and dry."
3. I never really know what the heck the ingredients are or what they are supposed to do/taste like.

I found this recipe on thepioneerwoman.com website, which I love and you should check out.  She, in turn, got the recipe from "The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook" by Jaden Hair.  I have yet to purchase the cookbook because I wanted to try the recipe first but I did flip through it at Borders and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that she lists substitutes for the strange ingredients that typically you would have to go to 3 grocery stores to hunt for, just to find out you can only get it at a specialty Asian store.  I don't know about you, but those stores scare the sh*% out of me! They have some straaaannnnggge stuff in there, like dried shrimp in a bag that is hanging next to the licorice, intended to be popped in your mouth like a potato chip....Cacca!


Jaden’s Chinese Beef Broccoli 
(from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook)

SERVES 4 AS PART OF MULTICOURSE MEAL

1 lb top sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced into 1/8-in strips (I used sirloin)
11/2 lbs broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
1 T high-heat cooking oil (I used canola)
1 T minced garlic

Marinade:

1 1/2 t soy sauce
1 t cornstarch
1/2 t cooking oil (I used canola)
Freshly ground black pepper to season the beef

Stir-fry Sauce:

3 T oyster sauce
2 t Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry) (I used dry sherry)
2 t Chinese black vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)(I used Balsamic)

In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the marinade. Place meat in ziploc pour in marinade, massage, let sit 10 minutes.

Prep your meat,broccoli and garlic.

 

In another small bowl, mix together the stir fry sauce.

In a wok or large sauté pan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cover to steam for 3 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green, crisp tender and you should be able to pierce the stem with a fork. Drain. Dry the pan.

 

*sorry steam was causing issues with my auto focus*

Set the pan over high heat and when hot, add the high-heat cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and fry for 15 to 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the steak strips, keeping them in one layer and fry 30 seconds. Flip the strips and fry the other side. I, as did the pioneerwoman, had to do this in 2 batches because of the size of my pan.

 

Pour in the Stir-fry Sauce and stir to combine. Simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 30 seconds.

 Add cooked broccoli back to pan and your ready to eat....