IHCC: Out of India

There's a little over a month to go cooking with Madhur Jaffrey at I Heart Cooking Clubs.   If you're new to what IHCC is all about...

One chef is featured for 6 months.  Participants cook recipes from that chef, fitting a weekly theme.  You don't have to post every week and you can put your own spin own the recipes.

Or you can totally steal from other participants like I'm doing today.

It's all very loosey-goosey.

Recently, my friend Kim @ Stirring the Pot made Madhur Jaffrey's Stir-Fried Green Beans with Pork and Garlic.  With an entire head of garlic in the recipe, I knew I had to make it too.

You can find Kim's stir fry here.  She's much better at setting up photos and using clever props than I am.

What you need to know:  This was good.  Very, very good.  So good, I hid the leftovers and hogged them all to myself.  All of us loved it.  You must make it.

I used ground beef instead of pork because I had beef in the freezer.  I used fish sauce because I have a bottle stinking up my pantry.  I served it over ramen noodles tossed with a little of the sauce (skipping those super salty flavor packets).

My one complaint is that I found the dish a tad salty.  But no one else did and I should mention that I always think everything is too salty.

What you may or may not want to know: While I was cooking the garlic--the entire head of garlic--The Boy came in from the backyard wanting to know what I was cooking.  When I told him "stir-fry with lots of garlic," he said, "I know.  I can smell the garlic outside."  I wickedly kinda liked that I stunk up the neighborhood with all that garlic!

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Madhur Jaffrey is known as an authority on Indian cuisine.  This week, IHCC is cooking MJ dishes that are "Out of India."  I chose Stir-Fried Green Beans with Pork Beef and Garlic for it's Asian flair.

Food on Friday: Garlic @ Carole's Chatter


Also linking with Foodie Friends Friday

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Stir-Fried Green Beans with Beef and Garlic
Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey and Stirring the Pot

1-1/4 pounds green beans, washed and trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
15 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 lb lean ground beef
few grinds of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1-1/4 cups water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, for garnish
2 packs Ramen noodles, cooked according to package without the flavor packets

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, paprika, ginger, brown sugar, cornstarch, and red pepper flakes.  Mix well and set aside.

In a large skillet, add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and stir-fry garlic over medium heat until it turns golden, then add in the beef.  Season with a few grinds of black pepper.  Stir fry the beef, breaking up any lumps, until it is cooked through and rather caramelized. Add in about half of the soy sauce mixture and mix the sauce into the beef until it darkens.  Remove beef and garlic from the skillet and set aside on a plate or bowl.

Add the green beans, 1-1/4 cups water, and all but 2 teaspoons of the rest of the soy sauce mixture into the skillet and cook on medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes until the beans are tender and most of the water has been absorbed.  Add the beef and garlic back into the skillet and toss until the beef is warmed through and everything is incorporated.

Toss the cooked noodles with the reserved sauce and place on a platter.  Pour the green bean stir fry over the top.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and red pepper flakes, if you wish, and serve.