Cooking in the time of COVID-19: Bravo,Logan on your Delicious Beef Broccoli
The deal is, Logan learns a new dish every Monday and Friday. Tonight’s diner…Beef Broccoli.
My son and I share a deep and meaningful love of Chinese cuisine. For the past 7 years, we would go to Toronto for March Break and have the 3 but at least 1 all day Chinese food and Dim Sum feast. This would also be the time he would bring all his gift cards he received at Christmas and buy new clothes. If we had time we would take in a play, catch a movie or visit an attraction (usually the Hockey Hall of Fame). In addition to other spots we would try, out two spots are Rol San on Spadina for Dim Dum and Island Mix in Pickering on our way home for Chinese food made by a Trini hand. It is so crazy, that we promised each other if we ever had anything of major significance to tell each other we would do so at Rol San. But there was no all Chinese food weekend for March Break this year because of the COVID-19 Pabdemic. So, if we cannot go to the Chinese food, we will make it here at home with whatever ingredients we can find.
I taught him how to boil rice the other day and he decided to do rice as his base dish as we were out of the broad rice noodles we usually serve with Beef Broccoli (we only have Basmati rice in our pantry and we are not going out if we don’t have to). He remembered everything I told him. He measured out 1 1/2 cups for our meal and he washed it the way I showed him 3 times until the water drained clear. He put it in a medium saucepan and added just over 2 cups of water, a squirt of sesame oil salt, pepper and a bit of parsley as we were out of green onions and we weren’t going out just for that. He stirred the pot occasionally and reduced the heat so it went from a boil to a simmer. As the water evaporated, he lowered the heat and put the lid on it until it was moist yet fluffy. I have to say, teaching him to cook with the Rock pots is a blessing as we don’t have to fuss over food sticking and we don’t have to worry about any non-stick coating peeling off and getting into our food. I also f=don’t have to worry about having to use certain utensils with these pots. When he eventually moves out I think I will be getting him his own Rock set of pots.
Taking some pre-seasoned meat we thawed earlier, He put a table spoon of sesame oil in the Instant Pot and selected saute. He let the meat cook for about a minute and a half, stirring occasionally.Because we knew we were going to do beef broccoli with this batch of stewing beef, we did not season with salt, This allowed him to put a table spoon of soy sauce in with the meat, and by his choice, a table spoon of Hoisin sauce. Stirring that in with 3 table spoons of water, he switched the key pad to meat/stew and sealed the pot and had it cook for 20 minutes.
Next he prepped the broccoli. He used frozen broccoli and it was semi-thawed which was perfect. Throwing it in a bowl, he cut up some ginger and sprinkled in some sesame seeds and microwaved it for about 30 seconds on high. He drained the water and set the broccoli aside.
Once the beef was done in the Instant Pot, he gingerly let the steam out. (It is funny watching a newbie hesitate with the valve — a very safe valce by the way, and still get stunned by the steam). He tasted the sauce and was happy with the flavor he was able to capture with the ingredients we had available. He stirred in the broccoli, ginger and sesame seeds and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
He garnished his rice with a little more parsley and called us to the table. He plated our meals for us to, giving himself the largest portion, (lol) sprinkling some extra sesame seeds for a bit more garnishing. He has the capacity to consume a whole lot more than we do and still stay lean, even now that he can’t do any sports until the pandemic is over.
The beef was tender and juicy and we could taste the ginger and soy and whatever else the Hoisen sauce brought to the dish. Logan has always loved broccoli and is always looking to incorporate it into a lot of his meals and he really enjoyed how each piece was soaked in the sauce.
I apologize I only have a few photos of this, but my attention was on showing him what he had to do.
Dad thought it went very well with beer
This is a very quick and easy dish to prepare that is tasty and flavorful. we even had a little bit left over which I believe he ate later that night as a snack, as per usual.
Try this at home if you have the ingredients and us know what you think. Remember to share your recipes too. This is a good time to cook what you have in your freezer teach your kids to cook and experiment a little. Stay home. Stay safe. #flatten the curve. If we all do it , we will beat this virus sooner rather than later. ~ Daniella and family.
