Chilaquiles

I made these chilaquiles for the family in Utah when we visited over Christmas. The recipe originally comes from Rick Bayless (here). He calls for jars of fire-roasted tomatillo salsa, but I prefer to make the salsa myself. I also use fewer onions than he suggests.

These are very easy to make (especially if you just buy the salsa).

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ½ cup sliced white onion
• 2-3 lbs tomatillos
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 24 ounces tortilla chips
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Mexican melting cheese (such as Chihuahua) or Monterey Jack
• 1 lb coarsely shredded cooked chicken
• 3/4 cup Mexican crema (or sour cream thinned with a little milk)
• A handful of cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions

Peel the tomatillos and wash them. Place the garlic and tomatillos on a cookie sheet and fire-roast them under a broiler until the tomatillo skins blacken. Puree the tomatillos and garlic in a blender. Warm a little oil in a frying pan and, when hot, add the puree. Reduce the sauce over medium-low heat for about 5-minutes. Add salt to taste.

In a very large (6-quart) Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until richly browned.

Add the salsa and broth and bring to a boil. When the sauce is at a rolling boil, turn off the heat and stir in the chips and shredded cheese. Press the chips down to ensure that nearly all are submerged; a few on the top may still be sticking out.

Strew the chicken over the top, cover and let stand for 3 or 4 minutes. Gently stir everything together, then drizzle with the crema, and sprinkle with cilantro.

Roasted Tomato Cream Sauce

Here's the recipe for the roasted tomato cream sauce I made for the fish tacos that Karen made at Aunt Janeen's house.

Ingredients

• 1 large tomato
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 habanero pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

Cut open the habanero pepper and remove the seeds and veins (unless you want the sauce to be very spicy). Fire roast the tomato, unpeeled garlic, and pepper on a cookie sheet under the broiler until the tomato skin starts to blacken. Peel the garlic and place it along with the tomato and pepper in a blender and puree.

Warm the oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the puree. Add salt and pepper and let the sauce reduce over medium-low heat for about 5 or 10 minutes, stirring regularly. The sauce will turn a darker shade of red.

Let the sauce cool a little and then stir some of the tomato sauce into some of the sour cream. Add more of the tomato sauce or more of the sour cream to the mixture until it has the combination of flavor and consistency you like.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

This recipe is courtesy of David Lebovitz. 

I made this last Sunday and was very pleased with the results. I just used dark brown sugar and molasses. I also left out the candied ginger. I think I might try it with next time, cause there will definitely be a next time.

For the toffee sauce

2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
1/2 cup (90g) demerara or muscovado sugar (or another dark brown sugar)
2 1/2 tablespoons golden syrup or molasses
pinch of salt

For the pudding

6 ounces (180g) pitted dates, snipped or chopped
1 cup (250ml) water
1 teaspoon baking soda
optional: 1/3 cup (40g) candied ginger, chopped
1 1/4 cups (175g) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 tablespoons (55g) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (190C) and butter an 8 1/2-inch (24cm) porcelain soufflé dish (or similar-sized baking dish.)

2. Make the toffee sauce by bringing the cream, demerara or turbinado sugar, golden syrup (or molasses) and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring often to melt the sugar.

3. Lower heat and simmer, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick and coats the spoon. Pour half the sauce into the prepared soufflé dish and place the dish in the freezer, and reserve the other half for serving.

4. To make the pudding, in a medium saucepan, heat the dates and water. Once the water begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. Add the ginger, if using, then set aside, but keep it slightly warm.

5. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

6. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then the vanilla. (Don’t be alarmed if the mixture looks a bit curdled.)

7. Stir in half of the flour mixture, then the date mixture, then add the remaining flour mixture until just mixed. Don’t overbeat the batter.

8. Remove the soufflé dish from the freezer and scrape the batter into the soufflé dish and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.

9. Remove the pudding from the oven, and let cool slightly before serving.

Serving: Spoon portions of the cake into serving bowls and douse with additional warm toffee sauce. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream are good accompaniments, although I enjoy it just as it is.

Note: To make the pudding in advance, bake the cake without the toffee in the bottom. Let cool, then cover until close to serving time. Poke the cake about fifteen times with a chopstick. Distribute half of the sauce over the top, as shown in the photo, cover with foil, then re-warm in a 300F (150C) oven, for 30 minutes.

Twice-Baked Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

Our electric co-op sends a magazine every month. It has, among other things, recipes. I came across this one today. It sounds really yummy, but it has goat cheese in it, so I won't be able to use it. I'm hoping that somebody else will give it a try and let me know how it turns out.

Twice-Baked Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

6 medium sweet potatoes

1 tbsp oil

8 oz goat cheese, softened

2 tbsp butter, softened

1/2 c cilantro, minced

1/2 chipotle pepper, from can

1/4 c adobo sauce from canned chipotle

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

Scrub sweet potatoes and rub skins with oil. Wrap each potato in foil. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour, or until potatoes become soft. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in mixing bowl.

When potatoes are done baking, remove from foil and allow to sit until cool enough to handle, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Cut potatoes in half and scrape out most of flesh, taking care not to tear skins. Add potato to goat cheese mixture. Mix well, using potato masher or mixer. Spoon into potato skins, or, for a fancier presentation, use a pastry bag and star tip to fill skins. Return to oven until tops are browned and potatoes are warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Grilled Skirt Steak Tortas

I made another Rick Bayless recipe today. I think this was one of the best dishes I've ever cooked. The sauces and spreads on the sandwich (torta = sandwich) were awesome, particularly the chipotle steak sauce.

The recipe called for steak or zucchini, but I used both.

Ingredients

• 1 medium red onion, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
• A little vegetable oil
• ½ pound skirt steak
• 1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise a little less than 1/2-inch thick
• 1 24-inch baguette
• Simple Mashed Black Beans
• Chipotle Steak Sauce
• Avocado-Cilantro Mayonnaise
• 4 ounces (about 2 cups) shredded Mexican Chihuahua or Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

Make the simple mashed black bean spread, chipotle steak sauce, and avocado-cilantro mayonnaise (follow the links above for the recipes... they're all really simple).

Grill the onions. Light a charcoal fire and let the coals burn until they are covered with grey ash and medium-hot; set the grill grate in place. Or heat a gas grill to medium. Brush both sides of the onion slices with a little oil, sprinkle with salt, then lay in a single layer on the grill. Grill, turning at least once, until richly browned and soft, about 10 minutes. Scoop onto a cutting board.

Grill the steak and zucchini. Brush both sides of the steak and zucchini slices with a little oil, sprinkle with salt and lay on the grill. Grill, turning at least once, until the steak is medium (or more well done if you like) and the zucchini tender, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board. Chop the onion, steak, and zucchini into small pieces (about 1/2-inch). Scoop into a skillet and keep warm on the grill.

Assemble the tortas. Cut the baguette in half, then split each half lengthwise. Scratch out most of the soft bread from the top and bottom. Smear the bottom pieces with beans and lay face-down on the grill to warm for a minute. Flip them over and spoon a portion of the filling into each piece. Splash about 1/4 of the chipotle sauce over the meat on each piece. Smear each top baguette piece with avocado mayo, then press in a portion of the cheese. Set each top piece over a bottom. Turn the tortas over the fire until the cheese is melted and the bread is crisp, usually about 8 minutes. Cut each half in half and serve to your lucky guests.

Shrimp Tacos

This recipe comes from Rick Bayless. You may have seen his cooking show on PBS: Mexico: One Plate at a Time. You can find the original recipe here.

We ate this for dinner today. Even Josie loved the shrimp.

Ingredients

• 1 lime, halved
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, very coarsely ground
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice berries, very coarsely ground
• 3 bay leaves
• 12 ounces shrimp, deveined but unpeeled
• 1/2 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 ripe medium-small tomato, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 5 radishes, finely diced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil, preferably half olive oil and half vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Squeeze the two lime halves into a medium saucepan, then add the two squeezed rinds, the black pepper, allspice, bay leaves and 1 quart water. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

Raise the heat to high, add the shrimp, re-cover and let the liquid return just barely to a simmer. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, hold the lid slightly askew and strain off all the liquid. Re-cover tightly, set aside for 5 to 8 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through, then rinse the shrimp under cold water to stop the cooking.

Peel the shrimp. If the shrimp are medium or larger, cut them into 1/2 -inch bits; place in a bowl. Add the red onion, tomato, radish and cilantro to the shrimp. In a small bowl or jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the lime juice, oil and salt.

Shortly before serving, mix the dressing ingredients thoroughly, then pour over the shrimp mixture. Toss to coat everything well, cover and refrigerate or set aside at room temperature.

Serve with tortillas.

Serves 4.

Here are a few of my own recommendations:

• Use less that the 5 tablespoons of oil that it calls for. Next time, I'll try it with 2 tablespoons oil.
• We left out the radishes (because I forgot to buy them). We didn't really miss them, but I think it would have been good with them in.
• We used flour tortillas, but I think corn would have been better. I always prefer flour tortillas to corn, but I think this dish may be an exception.

Pork Ribs

For Labor Day, we barbecued pork ribs. I pulled out the old charcoal grill for this one.

First, I got the charcoal going with the goal of getting the grill to 250 degrees. I overshot (it got up over 450) and had to wait for it to cool down.

While the coals burned, I seared the ribs in some oil, meat side down for just a few minutes. Then I added a little bit of seasoning (Lawry's mesquite, I think).

After an hour and a half, the coals were down to 350 and I couldn't wait any more. I pushed all the coals toward the outer edge of the grill so that the ribs would cook by indirect heat. I put the ribs, bone-side down, in the middle of the grill and let them cook for an hour and a half.

After that, they were ready to eat. We had a few bottles of barbecue sauce. The one we liked best is one made with habaneros (although it's not very spicy) that I bought in Austin called Salt Lick.

Buffalo Burgers

Again with the stinky cheeseburger. But this time I made it with ground buffalo. And I took pictures.

The Stuffing

The Grilling

The Finishing

Pork Chops with Grilled Peach & Chipotle Salsa

I got this recipe from the Whole Foods app on my iPhone. It let's you put in a few ingredients you have on hand and gives you a recipe that uses them. I put in peaches and chicken and got this one. The original recipe uses chicken, but I decided to use pork chops instead.

2 ripe peaches, pitted and quartered
Salt and pepper to taste
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 bunch chilantro, chopped
4 boneless pork chops
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Preheat grill. Season peaches with salt and pepper, transfer to grill and cook, turning occasionally, until just blackened, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a plate, set aside and let cool then roughly chop and transfer to a bowl. Add chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, green onions, cilantro, salt and pepper and toss gently to combine. Set salsa aside.

Toss pork with oil, cumin, salt and pepper and transfer to grill. Cook, flipping once, until just cooked through. Transfer to a platter, spoon salsa over the top and serve.

Fried Dumplings

I think most of you already have my fried dumplings recipe. I recently came up with a very good sauce for them, so I thought I'd share the sauce.

First, in case you don't have the fried dumplings recipe, here it is:

2 lb. ground pork
3-4 chopped green onions
3 leaves Chinese cabbage
1½ tsp. garlic
1 tsp. ginger
1 tbsp. sesame oil
2 large mushrooms, finely chopped (optional)
1 egg
1 pinch salt
wonton skins

Mix all ingredients. Form mixture into a small ball and wrap in a wonton skin. Fold the wrapper similar to a diaper. Secure the edges of the wrapper with a small amount of water.

Fry dumplings in a small amount of oil until golden, turning once. Once both sides are golden, add ¼ cup of water and immediately cover the frying pan with a lid. Reduce heat to medium and cook 5-6 minutes. Serve with rice and dumpling sauce or soy sauce.

Here's the sauce:

Mince about a teaspoon of ginger and a couple teeth of garlic. Warm some sesame oil in a saucepan and lightly sauté the ginger and garlic. Before the ginger and garlic burn, but while the heat is still on, add about a cup of low sodium soy sauce. (I found that regular soy sauce is too salty and requires more sugar to balance the salt.) Add a few tablespoons of brown sugar until the sauce is just sweet enough. Remove the sauce from the heat and add some finely chopped green onion and another dash of sesame oil.

If you want to make them spicy (I do), put some chili garlic sauce on your dumplings along with this sauce.

Stinky Peach Burger

I had about 15 minutes to make a quick dinner tonight before McKenzie's soccer practice, so I made a quick variation on Hebe's Stinky Cheeseburger recipe.

I took a turkey burger patty and stuffed some Shropshire Blue cheese into it. (In case you're not familiar with Shropshire Blue, I included a picture. I can sometimes find it at Whole Foods.) I threw that on the grill and dashed on some Texas Pete hot sauce (very much like Frank's Red Hot). I didn't have time to make full-fledged buffalo sauce. While the burger grilled, I toasted my hamburger bun on the grill.

I put some spicy brown mustard on the bottom bun and topped the burger with a fresh sliced peach. (We got a bushel of fresh picked South Carolina peaches last week.) That was it.

The burger was awesome. Multiple flavors blended nicely: the spice of the Texas Pete and mustard, the tang of the cheese, and the sweet of the peach. I will definitely do it again... every year when the peaches are in season.

Carley's Spaghetti

Just as a note, I don't measure most of what I put in here. So start with the measurements I have listed and add more or less to your tastes. The two most important flavors are the brown sugar and the red wine vinegar.

1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
1 onion - chopped
2-14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes
2 small cans of mushrooms (I've made will less or none - Hebe doesn't like them)
1-15 oz can tomato sauce
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C red wine vinegar
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves

First, brown your hamburger in a pan with the chopped onion. Brown the meat until it's cooked through and onions are clear-ish. (At this point I take the meat and onions out of the pan an blot with a paper towel to get the excess grease off - you decide)
Next, just dump it all in and mix it around. Play with the flavors a little. Sometimes I add a little salt and more basil and oregano. Like I said you want it a little sweet and a little tangy.

There really isn't a rhyme or reason to this recipe. It's a sort of use what you have and make it taste like you like. It would also be good to use Heather's spaghetti pie recipe with...

Lomo Saltado

This is the Peruvian recipe I made at Mike & Karen's last week. I always substitute chicken for beef, which technically makes it "Pollo Saltado" (Lomo Saltado means "tossed beef").

Aji amarillo can be hard to find. At Mike & Karen's, I had to substitute sweet yellow peppers. They worked fine.

Ingredients

• 1 cup corn oil
• 2 lbs large potatoes, peeled and cut into French-fry sized pieces
• 1 lb beef fillet, cut into little finger-sized slices
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• ½ cup sliced onion
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup chopped fresh tomato
• 1 fresh aji amarillo, seeded and cut into thin slices, or 1 teaspoon dried yellow aji chilli powder

In a wok or skillet heat the oil over moderate heat until hot. Add the potatoes carefully and French-fry them. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Carefully pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil.

Combine the beef, garlic, onion, cumin, salt, and vinegar. Heat the oil in the wok or skillet, add the beef, and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, tossing.
Add the tomato and aji and fold in the French fries. Combine gently, frying the saltado for 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Serve warm, with rice.

Serves 6

Chicken & Dumplings

This recipe comes from my food storage cookbook, which tries to encourage the use of wheat flour as much as possible. I'm sure you could use only white flour.

Soup

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 onion, diced

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons dried parsley or 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

Dumplings

1 cup white flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons dried parsley or 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

1/4 cup butter or margarine

3/4 cup milk

Place soup ingredients in a stockpot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. While soup is simmering, make dumplings.

For dumplings, combine flours, salt, baking powder, and parsley in mixing bowl. Cut in butter with pastry cutter until dough looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in milk and mix with a fork just until dough is moistened and holds together. Gently roll dough into 2-inch balls with the palm of hands. Makes about 15 dumplings.

Take each chicken breast out of soup and chop with a knife and fork on a cutting board. Return chopped chicken to soup. Drop dumpling balls into the simmering broth. Cover and continue to simmer for 20 minutes without lifting the lid. To serve, ladle soup into soup bowls making sure each serving gets a couple of dumplings. Delicious! Serves 6.

FRUIT SALSA and CINNAMON CHIPS

This recipe came from Laurie East, who got it out of a book. I made it for the Wrights homecoming. Very nummy!

FRUIT SALSA

2 Granny Smith apples

1 Bartlett pear

1 c strawberries

1 mango

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbs. brown sugar, packed

To make salsa, peel, core, and chop apples. Wash and chop pear, strawberries, and mango. Place fruit in medium bowl and stir in lemon juice and brown sugar to coat. Chill. You can mix and match any of your favorite fruits to make this salsa.

CINNAMON CHIPS

6 large flour tortillas

4 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. cinnamon

To make chips, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine cinnamon and sugar in small bowl. Using water spray bottle, lightly spray tortillas and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Using pizza cutter, cut each tortilla into 8 wedges. Place tortilla wedges on baking sheet and bake 10 to 12 minutes or until crispy. Cool. Serves 6

Sweet and Sour Chicken

You need to plan ahead when you make this. With 45 minutes cooking time and at least 15 minutes of preparation, it's best to get started early. It's worth it, though. Serve it with rice and maybe some steamed carrots. Yummy.

2 lb. chicken, cut up to nugget size

1 c. vinegar

8 Tbsp. ketchup

2 tsp. soy sauce

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. pineapple juice

2 tsp. Accent

Combine all ingredients, except chicken, in a saucepan and bring to boil. Shake chicken pieces in flour, salt, and pepper and fry until brown on outsides. Put chicken in casserole dish and cover with sauce. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Stir and uncover halfway through.

The Potato Secret

Our bishop's wife makes the best rolls. Her secret is the potatoes. She says you can't get rolls that soft any other way. The trouble is that her recipe looks very intimidating. So, I did some reading and found that adding potato flour or even dehydrated potato flakes to bread recipes results in softer bread. Ultimately, my rolls are very good. But, they're not even in the same league as Marianna's. But, as Jeff says, "If it wasn't hard, every one would do it." Or was that Tom Hanks?

Here is my recipe and Marianna's recipe. If anybody is brave enough to try her's, let me know how they turn out.

Basic White Rolls

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 packages active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water (105 to 115°F)

1/4 c potato flakes or potato flour

5-6 cups all-purpose flour

Place milk, sugar, salt, and butter in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 c flour. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute.

Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix about 1 1/2 minutes, or until dough starts to clean sides of bowl. Knead on Speed 2 about 2 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, for 10 minutes.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Shape as desired. Cover. Let rise for about 15-30 minutes. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

Marianna's Dinner Rolls

1 medium potato (for best results, use a freshly cooked potato)

3/4 c. warm water

1 Tbsp. yeast

1 Tbsp. sugar

3/4 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. salt

1/2 c. butter (in dough)

1/2 c. butter (to spread on dough)

2 eggs

4 to 5 c. unbleached flour (I use only unbleached flour - you will be amazed how much more tender any baked product will turn out)

Peel and boil potato in water until tender. Drain water and whip the potato; set aside.

Dissolve yeast in 3/4 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar. Mix yeast mixture, eggs, one cup flour, sugar, salt, 1/2 cup butter, then the potatoes. Add the flour, one cup at a time, until dough is cookie dough thickness. It is a soft dough unlike bread dough which is firm. Knead for five minutes.

Place dough in a buttered bowl; cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 5 to 6 hours.

Roll dough out onto a floured counter into the shape of an extra large pizza. Spread 1/2 cup softened butter onto dough. Cut like pizza slices. Roll each crescent shape into croissants, rolling from the fat side to the skinny side. Place on greased pan. Let raise until 50 bigger. Do not over-rise! Bake in 400° oven for 12 to 14 minutes.

Note: You can use instant potatoes or leftover mashed potatoes in this recipe. I use leftovers all the time but I get the best results with a freshly cooked potato. Potatoes are very yeast friendly. They help the yeast work better. Potatoes make rolls lighter and more tender. Potatoes also keep the finished roll from drying out. They are moist even the next day.

Note: Yes I really use 1 tablespoon salt. I personally like the combination of a lot of salt with a sweet batter.

Mongolian Beef

Mongolian Beef is a standard dish we order almost every time we go to a Chinese restaurant. So we decided we'd better just figure out how to make it ourselves. Thanks to my friend Google, we figured it out. We tried this on Tuesday. We found a store that sold the beef pre-sliced, which made the preparation easier. It turned out great.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup water
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup)
• 1 lb flank steak
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 2 large green onions, cut into 2 inch sections
• ½ cup sliced white onion

Directions

Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Don't get the oil too hot. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat.

Slice the flank steak into ¼-inch thick bite-size slices. Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.

While the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and sauté for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly. After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet.

Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute. Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green and white onions. Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate. Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.

Serves 4