Stir Fry Pork Steak and Green Beans

So we're still desperately trying to work through last year's produce to make sure we have room for the new stuff from the garden. In this case, we needed to use up some surplus green beans. We had a couple nice pork steaks in the freezer that worked perfectly.  I can't promise you'll have all these ingredients on hand. Black bean garlic paste and hoisin sauce are not something every home keeps in stock. If you don't have those, you can probably get away with teriyaki sauce, or a molasses based barbecue sauce. Or just drown it in Sriracha, which is never wrong. This ended up being a very tasty and fairly quick meal. Over rice, it was filling and a fair substitute for ordering out Chinese food for dinner.  As always, notes are in blue.

Stir Fry Pork Steak and Green Beans

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons sesame oil (in a pinch, vegetable oil would work, but you'll lose the wonderful flavor you get from the sesame oil)
• 1.5 lbs. pork steak, cut into 1/2" wide strips
• .5 lbs. green beans, cut into 3" pieces
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (we used reduced sodium. Otherwise I blow up like a balloon.)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon black bean garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1-1/2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1-1/2 tablespoons cold water
• Cooked white rice, for serving

Directions

1. In a wok (or whatever large pan you have) heat oil over medium heat. 
2. Add garlic and onion. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes or until the onion starts to get tender. Do not let the garlic burn.
3. Add the pork and stir fry for another 5 minutes or so, or until the pork is not longer visibly pink.
4. While the pork is cooking, in a bowl, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, pepper, black bean paste, and hoisin sauce. 
5. Add the green beans to the wok, along with the sauce mix. Toss to coat evenly. Cover and cook on medium for 5-6 more minutes. There will be a fair amount of liquid in the pan. This is fine.
6. While everything is cooking, in a small cup, mix the corn starch and water. 
7. Take the lid off the wok (I feel I have to emphasize taking the lid off or some smartass will just pour the cornstarch over the lid) and add the corn starch mixture. Stir contents of the pot until sauce thickens. Turn off the heat.
8. Serve over rice. (I imagine this would be good over rice noodles as well. Or even without rice.)

Good times!

Red Sauce with Yellow Squash, Zucchini, and Pork

Bad news, we're still stuck at home. Good news, the garden is in! This means we need to start using up the veggies we put aside last season to make room for the glut (hopefully) of new produce! This recipe was really nothing more than a desperate attempt to use up two pounds of squash and zucchini. It actually was quite tasty and works really well with rotini pasta (yes, I know the picture shows linguine. We had it with rotini the next day). My only complaint was that we used sliced squash and zucchini that we had frozen. I wasn't a huge fan of the consistency, and in the future will chop them instead. The Wife said they were fine and I was just being nitpicky. That could be. I have some weird consistency issues with some food. That aside, it was easy to make and good. It also converts easily to vegetarian by simply leaving out the meat. This sauce could also be served over rice if you wanted a more goulash vibe.

Red Sauce with Yellow Squash, Zucchini,
 and Pork

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground pork (ground beef or ground Italian sausage would work, too)
• 1 pound zucchini, chopped
• 1 pound yellow squash, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into 1" strips
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, with liquid
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil

Directions

1. In a large pan (I used a 5 quart Dutch oven), heat oil over medium heat. Add ground meat and brown (my meat did not yield much grease, so I didn't drain it. You may find you need to depending what you used).
2. Add zucchini, squash, onion, and peppers. Cook for about 7-10 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure the veggies cook evenly. (If you like the veggies with more snap, shorten the time. Lengthen the time if you want your veggies to be a bit mushier.)
3. Add the tomatoes, paste sauce, and seasoning. Stir to get the tomato paste evenly mixed. 
4. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.