Monday, October 15, 2018

Crockpot Monday: Mongolian Beef

Every so often I just crave something a little bit different than the things we make around here. I know that you know how it is. You're super busy and you don't want to spend a million years cooking but you still want something delicious when you walk in the door after a long day...Enter....

Mongolian Beef:

Ingredients:

FOR THE MEAT:
1.5 pounds flank steak
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 sliced green onions – set one aside for garnish
1 teaspoon dried minced onion (or 1/2 fresh onion, diced very small)

SAUCE:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup cooking sherry
1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar (optional)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon peanut butter (if allergic, use black bean paste)
3 tablespoons brown sugar

AND THEN:
1/4 cup cornstarch (to dredge meat -don't add to sauce mixture!)
1 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)

Directions:

Slice meat into thin strips and toss in a Ziploc bag with cornstarch. Add all of the liquid and dried spices to your crockpot, and then the peanut butter, and mix well. Add the garlic and three of the sliced green onions. If you are using fresh onion, add that now, too. Place meat on top and carefully toss to coat.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Flank steak is thin and has very little fat, and will cook quickly. There isn't a lot of liquid in this dish, so if your crockpot tends to cook hot, check it after 3 hours.
The meat is done when it is no longer pink and has reached desired tenderness. Serve over rice and garnish with freshly sliced green onion.

I know that seems like a lot of ingredients but it goes together super fast! I haven't tried it yet, but I'm guessing that this would make a great prep in advance and freeze meal. Just keep your dredged meat in a separate bag from your sauce. If you try it that way, let me know. I'd love to hear how it turned out!