Cubed Steak with Snow Peas

All the ingredients I had on hand for the Cubed Steak with Snow
Peas recipe. 

A month or so ago I wrote a post about how we have an abundance of cubed steak in our freezer and I posted a recipe I found for cubed steak parmesan. That recipe is delicious and I highly recommend it!  Adam and I are still working on depleting our supply of cubed steak and Jennifer Dewey recommended a recipe from The Pioneer Woman. If you haven't had a chance to check out Jennifer's blog be sure to do so here.  She takes breathtaking photos of her life in North Dakota and also has some great recipes, which I can't wait to try!

This was a quick, easy, and delicious recipe for cubed steak, I made it last night and it turned out really well. The original recipe and much better pictures of the step-by-step process can be found on The Pioneer Woman's Website. I made a few deletions and modifications to work with what I had in the kitchen.  If you have a chance to make it let me know what your thoughts are.  Also, if you have another great cubed steak recipe be sure to share it with us, Adam and I still have a few more packages to get through!

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 15 minutes Serves: 4

Ingredients 
4 Cubed Steaks cut into thin strips
(the original recipe calls for flank steak)
1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce
3 Tablespoons Sherry or Cooking Sherry
(I didn't have any Sherry on hand, so I didn't use this ingredient.)
2 Tablespoons of brown sugar
2 Tablespoons of cornstarch
1 Tablespoon of ground ginger
(the recipe called for fresh ginger)
8 Ounces fresh snow peas, ends trimmed
5 Whole scallions, cut into half inch pieces on the diagonal
(I didn't have any scallions either)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Crushed red pepper for sprinkling
Whole grain rice, cooked according to package instructions

Preparations Instructions

Step 1: In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger.  Add sliced meat to bowl and toss with hands. Set aside.

Step 2: Heat oil in a heavy skillet or wok over high heat. Add snow peas and stir for 45 seconds.  Remove to a separate plate.  Set aside.

Step 3: Allow pan to get very hot again.  With tongs, add half the meat mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl.  Add half the scallions.  Spread out the meat as you add it to the pan, but do not stir for a good minute.  ( You want the meat to get as brown as possible in as short amount of time as possible).  Turn the meat to the other side and cook for another 30 seconds.  Remove to a clean plate.

Step 4: Repeat with the other half of the meat, allowing the pan to get very hot again first.  After turning it, add the first plateful of meat, the rest of the marinade, and the snow peas.  Stir over high heat for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat.  The mixture will thicken as it sits.

Step 5: Serve immediately over rice.  Sprinkle crushed red pepper over the top to give it some spice.

Even with my deletions of the sherry, and scallions this dish was still amazing!  The Pioneer Woman is an awesome cook, so I knew that even though this was a new recipe it would be great!

I usually err on the side of caution when adding spice to my dishes, but decided to add the red pepper anyway.  It was a bit spicy for me, so in the future when I make this dish I will forgo the red pepper. If you like spice though, it definitely gives it a kick!

Step 1: mix soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger.

Cut the cubed steak into strips.  Add the meat to the above mixture
and toss with hands. 

Wash the snow peas.

Trim the ends off of the snow peas. 

Step 2: Heat the oil in the skillet and add the snow peas.
Cook for 45 seconds, place peas on a plate. 

Step 3 and 4: After placing the meat in the marinade put half of it in
the skillet to cook. Brown on both sides, remove from the
 skillet and cook the other half of the meat. 

Make the rice according the package instructions.

Step 4: Add the half of meat that was set aside to the meat cooking
in the skillet. Add the peas, and marinadeas well. 

Step 5: Serve the cubed steak and snow peas over the rice and top with
crushed red pepper if you like some spice. Enjoy!