July 12, 2012 Dinner – Mexican Beef Stir Fry with Verdelagos

July 12, 2012 Dinner – Mexican Beef Stir Fry with Verdelagos

With the start of the Monsoon Season, the verdelagos is starting to grow outside by the air conditioner again.  I told myself I would try to use it when it was fresh this year, so I diced three small Mexican squashes, one medium white onion, a handful of oregano sprigs, 2 to 3 Tbsp. of fresh garlic and picked a small handful of fresh verdelagos leaves.  I then cut a boneless rib eye steak into ¼ by 1 inch cubes.  This is a dish similar to the one I cooked last year form Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen cookbook that combined green chili, onion and tomatillos with verdelagos into a stew.

I like Verdelagos because it is a member of the arameth family and full of nutrients.

I heated 2 Tbsp.  of Canola oil and 1 Tbsp. of olive oil in a wok and then put in 1 Tbsp. of garlic to release its fragrance and cooked it for about 1 minute, then I stir fried the meat in the wok with the garlic and hot oil for about 2 or 3 minutes until it began to brown.  I then removed the meat and left as much garlic as I could and put the vegetable mixture into the wok to cook over medium high heat.  After the vegetables had cooked for about twenty minutes or until they had softened and began to give back moisture, I added 2 to 3 Tbsp. of Victoria Green Taco Sauce and 1 tsp. of Chulula red chili Sauce to the vegetable mixture and covered the wok and let cook another ten minutes.  Then I put the meat and some more verdelagos and 1 tsp. of salt and a dash of fresh pepper on top of the vegetable mixture in the wok and  let that cook for five more minutes, while I heated 1 ½ cup of cooked rice in the microwave.  When the ice was hot, I stirred the meat and vegetable mixture together and put rice into bowls and then covered it with the mixture.   Suzette had just bought a lovely slicing tomato at the Nob Hill Farmers' Market so she sliced the tomato and we had a lovely nutritious dinner.
I was hot and steamy today and I had sweated some so I wanted a cold red wine.  I went to the basement and found a bottle of Nozzole Chianti Classico Reserva 2008 that I had bought at Jimmies in Dallas for $19.99 in our wine refrigerator.   The label indicates that the Nozzole vineyard is located in the heart of the Chianti wine district and has been in production since the 1200’s.  The Reserva wine is aged sangiovese and had a firm smooth taste.  Suzette drank it cool, but it was not cold enough for me and I added a cube of ice to it, which did not diminish its strength and aged character dramatically.

The cool wine with the hot food and rice was a nice combination and I ate a big bowl of food.

Later in the evening we scooped Rocky Road ice cream and fresh sliced strawberries into a bowl and drizzled it with chocolate syrup and whipped cream and poured glasses of cognac (with Cointreau for me) for dessert.  I am looking forward to visiting the Cointreau plant in Angers, France in August.

Bon Appétit