Indiana Garden Stir Fry Recipes

Steps:

• Slice the meat of choice (works great with beef or pork, as a substitute to chicken) into stir fry style strips (1/2 inch wide by 2 to 3 inches long). Then slice all the vegetables into medium to large chunks or slivers. Press and finely chop the garlic and place in a bowl with the vegetables. The mushrooms can be sliced and also go with the vegetables, even though vegetable they are not. I keep the meat separate from the veggies since it will be used first.
• Place your wok (or a nice big skillet) on the stove and turn the heat on medium high. Coat the entire inside surface of the wok with olive oil, and add enough to cover the bottom about a 1/4 of an inch. Toss in 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter. When the butter has melted, and the oil is starting to get good and hot, its time to brown the meat. Continue to stir and fry the meat until it is mostly browned (medium rare). If there is an excess of meat juice, now is a good time to drain it. I usually leave a little bit in the pan to help with the sauce though.
• Now you can start to add the vegetables. I usually start with the onions and peppers, and let them cook a couple minutes, and then add the other goodies. This is also the time that I add the spaghetti pasta so that it has enough time to get soft, should you choose to go that route If you happen to be cooking on the quick and cheap plan, you can get away with a bag of the frozen California mix instead of fresh broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, but when guests are over, I always stick with fresh. If mixture starts to get a little dry, remember to add a little olive oil so it doesn't scorch.
• Now it is time to add the curry, soy & gourmet sauce, and salt and pepper. Mix this so it makes a nice golden sauce that covers everything and let it cook down some. This just happens to be my curry recipe, but you can always experiment with the sauces, and never have the same thing twice if you want to. Sometimes I mix up ginger, soy, and pineapple juice to make a nice teriyaki. When I'm in a spicy mood, I'll add some brown sugar and some assorted hot peppers to make a sweet and spicy. Once the sauce has cooked down but before the vegetables get overcooked, (I always sample a couple vegetables to make sure they are cooked, but still crisp and crunchy) it's time to take it off of the stove and place in a large serving bowl. When it's ready to be served up, those crunch little lo mein noodles make a great topping. Keep the wok out and the heat on to get ready for the next recipe. Nothing goes better with stir fry than my fried rice recipe.