Today we’ll do another good recipe from Blogchef…

I particularly like it because the beef stays tender and moist, because it contains yummy vegetables and because the sauce is delicious!

Ingredients:

- 750g / 1,65 pounds steak sliced into thin strips

- 3 tbsp cornstarch

- vegetable oil

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 red bell pepper, I sliced it in thin strips too

- 1 green bell pepper, also in thin strips

- 1/2 onion, in slices

Ingredients for the marinade:

- 1 egg

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 3 tbsp water

- 1 tbsp cornstarch

Ingredients for the sauce:

- 4 tbsp water

- 4 tbsp sugar

- 3 tbsp ketchup

- 1 tbsp vinegar

- 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes

- 2 tsp cornstarch

Cooking instructions:

In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the marinade together with the beef. Marinate for 15 minutes.

Then mix the ingredients for the sauce in a separate bowl.

Add the 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to the beef, and deep fry in a wok in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Remove all the oil from the wok except a couple of tablespoons. Add the garlic and fry for a few seconds. Add the peppers and the onion and stir fry as well, until you reach the desired level of “softness” for the vegetables. It should take less of 5 minutes though, or else the vegetables will disintegrate. Set aside the vegetables.

Remove all the oil from the wok and pour the ingredients for the sauce in it. Heat until it boils and remove from the heat.

Add the beef and the vegetables into the wok and coat them with the sauce.
I served it with some white rice,

Enjoy!

Finally spring has arrived, nature wakens up, the days become longer, one feels like spending the day outdoors…It’s time to open the BBQ season!!

Here is the perfect complement, a BBQ sauce based on a recipe from The Perfect Pantry that has nothing to envy to the manufactured versions…

See for yourself…

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil

- 1 cup (125g) minced onion

- 2 tbsp minced garlic

- 28-ounces (800g) can crushed tomatoes

- 2 cups (500g) ketchup

- 1/2 cup (125ml) water

- 3/4 cup (175ml) Worcestershire sauce

- 1/3 (80ml) cup cider vinegar

- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar

- 2 tsp dried chili flakes

- 1/4 cup (60ml) mustard

- 2 tsp ground black pepper

- 1/2 tsp ground allspice

Cooking instructions:

Pour the oil into a large saucepan at medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and stir, cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a minute.

Then add the rest of the ingredients, bring to boil, simmer for 10 minutes to thicken.

Cool or chill and then use to slather the meat when it is about to be grilled.

Remainings can be frozen, or else you can choose to halve the recipe

Enjoy!!

This article is specially dedicated to the garlic lovers out there. If you are like me, you simply cannot conceive any savory dish without this precious and amazingly healthy ingredient.  Simply because “my mama told me so”, and she is a fantastic cook.

You see,  I was actually born in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain), and even though I left when I was 4, I still have a bit of a sentimental link to this beautiful spot in the planet. I’d invite you to check this , and this for some general tourism information on Gran Canaria.

As I won’t be visiting these islands any time soon, at least I have the consolation of this fabulous recipe from Canary Girl, who explains how to make this quintessential Canary “spicy sauce”.

Ingredients:

- 7 cloves of garlic (yes, 7, you heard me)

- salt to taste

- 2 dried chili peppers

- 1 generous teaspoon cumin seeds (I used cumin powder)

- 1 generous teaspoon smokey paprika (I used the regular version)

- breadcrumbs to taste

- 1/2 cup – 125 ml olive oil

- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

-  minty candy/ minty chewing gum (this is my own addition to the recipe – to use liberally throughout the day if there is any chance that you encounter another human being after you have eaten this sauce)

Instructions:

Using a mortar and pestle, mash garlic, salt, cumin and chili to a paste.

Add paprika and mash. Add bread crumbs and mash. Add olive oil and mash again. Add vinegar little by little, mashing constantly. There you go, ready!

I served it with boiled potatoes (in their skin) and plain grilled white fish. I didn’t add any seasoning to the potatoes or fish except for some salt, because mojo picón constitutes an explosion of flavour in itself. A-ddic-tive.