Beef and pepper stir fry with spinach

The other day, I still had some roast beef left that I needed to use up. I was in the mood for a stir fry, so I figured why not. I used that with some peppers, onions, and some baby spinach. 

Now, you could just as easily do this with strips of round steak. I had rare roast beef, but the procedure is the same. I used both a bell pepper and a couple of jalapeños. I find that, when cooked, today’s store bought jalapeños aren’t any hotter than bells, but have a different flavor. Here’s how I made the stir fry.

A cup and a half of roast beef, cut into strips

4 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped

1/4 of dry white wine

Soy sauce

Peanut oil

5 thin dried red hot chiles

2 stalks of celery, cut up

1 bell pepper, cut into strips

2 jalapeño peppers, cut into strips

1 large onion, cut into wedges

1 tbs. dark molasses

2 cups of baby spinach leaves

Toasted sesame oil

1 cup of converted rice

2 cups of water

Adobo seasoning

Preparation

First order of business, is to put the rice on. For stir fries, I like Uncle Ben’s converted rice. Place that in a pot. Sprinkle on some adobo seasoning, and then add about a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Add the water, bring to a boil, simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, about fifteen minutes.

While that is going on, chop everything up. Place the beef in a bowl, add the wine, a generous splash of soy sauce and the garlic. Stir to mix, and set aside. 

Heat your wok. (I remove the little round deflector from my gas range, and have the wok over a jet of flame.) Add a small puddle of peanut oil, and then add the beef and garlic. Stir that until all the beef is sizzling, and starting to brown, and all the liquid was boiled off. Remove the beef and garlic to a bowl, and set aside.

Add a spec more peanut oil to the wok, and add the dried chiles, along with the celery. Stir that for about a minute, and then add the pepper strips. Stir as that cooks for about a minute. Add the onion wedges and break them up as you stir fry. 

Once the onions just start to clarify, add the beef and garlic back in. Now add the molasses, and give this several shakes of soy sauce. Stir to mix well. Finally add the spinach leaves and stir until they just begin to wilt. Splash on a spec of toasted sesame oil, give it one final stir, and turn the flame off.

Serving

Place the rice in the center of the plate, and spoon the stir fried beef mixture all around the rice. Have soy sauce on the table (Hey, that’s what the blood pressure pill is for, right?) Even though this is a beef dish, I prefer a cold crisp white wine like Pinot Grigio, or even a German Riesling. I find red wine doesn’t match well with a spicy stir fry.