Good day one & all!
Today I am sharing some Peppered Ginger Beef stir fry and an Apple Galette that I tried to make with another blogger's dough recipe, which was leftover from making pumpkin pies.
If you are not familiar with Apple Galette, it is a rustic style apple pie that does not get baked baked in a traditional pie pan. It's actually a perfect pie for beginning baker's as it requires very little skill, is not highly stylized with special cutouts or crimping, and is beautiful when finished baking. See for yourself:
Just scroll down below if you only want the pie recipe.
We were at the health food store recently and in the freezer there was organic beef on special, we got a few items, I am not a big beef person. Having been a vegetarian for so many years, macrobiotic, raw vegan, and hyper aware of how poorly these animals are all too often treated, I veer away most times. Since my difficulties with my thyroid, low iron and calcium, along with some other stuff, I do on occasion, indulge. It often requires a few digestive enzymes, as I struggle to digest red meat, and I usually add a lot of heavy seasonings and marinades to cover the beefy taste.
Honestly, I prefer poultry and fish.
This recipe is very quick when it comes to cooking, it's a high-heat stir fry, as such, I seriously recommend three very important things before you make it.
1-Read through the ENTIRE recipe & instructions twice before you begin and keep the recipe close at hand when you are making it.
2-Have all the ingredients ready and near by before you start cooking. Chef's, call this advanced ingredient prep, Mise-en-Place. It means all items in place (at the ready to begin).
3-No distractions when cooking, you cannot be on a phone call, handling a baby, scrolling through social media, answering the door, etc. This recipe cooks in 5 1/2 minutes, yup, that fast. The meat cut for this is usually tender and over cooking will create a seriously tough end product.
PEPPERED GINGER BEEF STIR FRY
Ingredients:
3-4 Lbs Organic Beef Stir fry steak pieces, cut in strips (Ours was pre-cut)
1/4 Cup Organic gluten-free Tamari
1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp Organic Sesame oil
1 Tbsp Fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp Fresh grated ginger
1 Clove garlic crushed
1 Onion chopped
1 Yellow or Orange pepper chopped
1 Bunch scallion aka green spring onion, cut thinly on an angle
2 Cups Rich beef stock, (I make my own and reduce it by half by cooking it down, if you need a recipe, click on the link after the recipe & pictures, down below.)
3 Tbsp Tapioca starch mixed with some beef stock to form a thick paste
Method:
-In a bowl place beef that has been patted down with paper towels to remove excess moisture & blood
-Add to beef the Tamari, 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil, pepper & ginger. Allow to marinade, covered in the fridge for 30 minutes. (Not longer or it will become way too salty.)
-Once the beef is ready, in a pan, heat the remaining oils, on a medium high heat cook the onions for 1 minute.
-Add beef and stir, after 1 minute of cooking, add garlic, stir to keep from burning, cook 1 minute. Remove to a bowl to add back once the peppers are cooked.
-Working quickly, add peppers and remaining ginger, cook- stir constantly for 1 minute, add beef back in.
-Add beef stock and heat through for 1 minute then pour in the tapioca mixture, you must stir quickly to make sure it thickens throughout the whole dish and does not get lumps. Cook 30 seconds and remove from heat.
-Serve over steamed rice and sprinkle with the scallions just before serving. Feel free to add any other vegetables of choice as an extra side dish if you like.
Now we move onto the dessert, as I said earlier, this is not my pie crust recipe but it did the trick. It was not a crisp shell, it had more of that flakiness to it.
Here is the link to the blog, Flippin' Delicious, where the crust originates from:
http://flippindelicious.com/2014/11/best-all-butter-gluten-free-pie-crust-pastry.html
When I make apple pie, I NEVER use packaged pie filling. That would be sacrilege, no touchie!
The only canned pie filling I use, in a serious pinch, is cherry and that's because out of season cherries are expensive and unavailable. Besides, apple pie filling is really not expensive or difficult and you get such a great tasting product from it, you really need to give it a whorl, I must insist that you bake it with loads of love though. It makes a difference, trust me.
APPLE PIE FILLING FOR GALETTE
Ingredients:
5 Granny Smith Apples (They hold up better when baking)
1 1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
Pinch of ground clove
1/4 Cup REAL apple juice (The brown one, sometimes called apple cider-no alcohol)
1 Tbsp Tapioca starch mixed with some apple juice to form a paste
3 Tbsp Grade B maple syrup
1 Tbsp Organic coconut sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 Cup cold salted butter
1 Egg mixed with 1 Tbsp milk of choice or water
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
-In a bowl mix together apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, maple syrup, vanilla, maple syrup and coconut sugar.
-*In a non-reactive sauce pan, place apple mixture with apple juice. Heat on medium heat and cook for 5 minutes, you don't want mushy apples, just slightly cooked. Then add tapioca mixture and remove from heat while stirring constantly until it thickens. Leave to cool.
-Between two sheets of parchment paper roll out your dough large enough to accomodate your filling and to 1/2" thickness. Gently remove the top layer of parchment, you can use the bottom layer as parchment to line your sheet for baking.
-Place the dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet that has lipped edges to catch any juices that may run.
-Chill in freezer for 4 minutes.
-Remove from freezer and dot with a few chunks of butter, place apple filling over the butter and in the center of the galette. Some of the juice will run, do not panic, this is normal.
-Quickly dot more butter over the apples and begin to carefully fold in and upwards, the edges of the pastry crust. You fold one part over the next as if closing a sectioned envelope.
-Place the last of the butter on top, then using the egg and a pastry brush, run the egg wash over the outside of the crust to help with browning. You may sprinkle it with a bit of coconut sugar or cane sugar if you like. I only used the egg wash.
-Bake in your preheated oven for 45-60 minutes until it is a nice golden brown.
*If you look at my pictures below, I did not cook my apples in the sauce pan before, I placed them directly in the crust after they were well seasoned up and I had also added the apple juice and tapioca to that mixture before. The reason is, that I am a weirdo and like my apples to be super firm when I eat pie, I am not a fan of apple mush. This means the apples are not as soft as the average person is used to and people who don't like it that way will complain. I think it's leftovers from my Rawfood vegan days, I am used to a snap in my fruit when I bite. If you prefer a more solid apple bite, the Granny Smith's will give that, which is the reason I choose them over red apples like a McIntosh. However, if you want a serious apple bite with a slightly harder texture, then you can make it my way but I suggest cooking it a bit longer so the apples are softer and halfway through, lower the temperature to 325 degrees so you don't burn the crust. Otherwise, follow the original recipe if this is all too much for you.
Here you can see the simple folding process.
This is how beautifully she turned out when she was finished baking.
So scrumptious, nothing says comfort like a wonderful piece of apple pie.
I hope you liked this post, please ask any questions you like and leave comments down below. I like to hear from you and know how your kitchen adventures turn out. Don't forget to subscribe!
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