Chinese in a Dutch oven!

I had to work today on Thanksgiving and wanted something other than more turkey and ham for dinner. So, in the middle of the night last night or was it early morning I decided to try something new! I love tomato beef chow mein with pan fried noodles. Which are smaller than regular chow mein noodles. I found a recipe and i liked it for a starting block. I made some changes and cooked away in a 10" Dutch oven and it turned out well.... There are no left overs and everyone at work wanted to know what Chinese restaurant I bought it from. Here's the recipe and a new addition for my cook book. It's delicious!

Dave’s Tomato Beef Chow Mein

David Herzog

1 6oz. package pan fried noodles

1 lb. skirt steak, sliced thin against the grain

1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. soy sauce

1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. corn starch

2 tsp. sugar

2 medium onions, wedged and separated

1 large green bell pepper

2 large or 3 medium tomatoes, cored and cut into 8^th’s

4 Tbs. oil

2 Tbs. minced ginger

2 Tbs. minced garlic

Sauce:

2 cups chicken broth

2 Tbs. corn starch

½ cup catsup or ¼ cup tomato paste

¼ tsp. Kosher salt

3 Tbs. sugar or equal measurements of Splenda®

Slice the beef in 1/8” thick slices across the grain. In a medium bowl combine all ingredients for the sauce and set aside. Be sure to stir well to keep in a slurry.

Boil noodles in a 10” Dutch oven for 2 minutes, drain, rinse and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine beef soy sauce corn starch and sugar, mix with your gloved hands to combine well.

Heat 2 Tbs oil in a wok over high heat and fry the noodles until lightly browned, turning only one time. Remove noodles from wok and set aside. Heat 1 ½ Tbs. oil over high heat and add beef, stir frying until beef is cooked through remove beef and add remaining oil to wok.

To smoking oil, add ginger and garlic and stir fry 15 seconds. Add onions and stir fry 1 minute, add peppers and stir fry 1 minute. Return beef to wok and stir sauce then add to mixture, stir until thickened. Add noodles and tomatoes, gently toss to separate the noodles. Enjoy!

Serves 4 to 6