For this month’s Kitchen Play, I selected the appetizer course as the dish that we would attempt to recreate. The recipe was prepared by Shawn of It All Starts With Butter. The original recipe calls for Canadian beef, which I don’t think is readily available here since there is plenty of Californian beef. However, if you are up in Canada, go out and grab some Canadian beef for this recipe! Also, since we had some vermicelli left over from the previous Kitchen Play attempt, we used that instead of the rice noodles.
Thai-inspired Beef and Vegetable Soup over Vermicelli
1 tbsp. fresh ginger (peeled & chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
2 stalks of lemon grass (chopped)
4 tsp. of Better Than Bouillon organic beef base / 4 cups of water
1 pkg. vermicelli
10 oz. natural beef – NY steak cut into strips
2 tsp. grapeseed oil
1 red pepper (sliced)
4 small carrots (sliced)
4 tbsp. cilantro (chopped)
2 tbsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
Juice of one lime
Kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Directions:
On the stove, heat a medium-sized pot to medium-high. Add the bouillon, water, lemon grass, garlic and ginger. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 min.
We picked up Better Than Bouillon from Costco recently, and we love it! Organic, fat-free and GMO-free – it’s a quick solution when you don’t have beef stock sitting around.
While stock is simmering, heat a large skillet to medium high. Add the grapeseed oil and beef and cook until browned. Remove beef and set aside. Add the peppers and carrots to the skillet and sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Return beef to the skillet and deglaze with soy and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
When the stock is finished simmering, add the vermicelli to it and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes. When soft, remove from heat and portion the noodles and beef mixture into bowls. Top each portion with cilantro and serve.
Voila!
Looks pretty good, huh? The vermicelli ended up soaking in too much of the broth and became a little gelatinous. I would definitely recommend preparing the vermicelli separately or using less sponge-like rice noodles. In terms of flavor, just the right balance between lemongrass and ginger without being too salty!
Each month, Kitchen Play hosts a sponsored Progressive Party with six food bloggers assigned to create a dish incorporating the same product into one of the following courses: cocktail, amuse bouche, salad, appetizer/soup, entrée (main course) and dessert. At the end of the month, a contest is held for blog posts and recipes inspired by the creations in each course.
This month’s sponsor is Canadian Beef. Look for the logo if you’re in Canada! It means you are supporting one of 86,000 farms and ranches with beef cattle in Canada, 61% of which are small family farms with less than 47 cows each.
I purchased the 2-lb. box of peppermint bark from Costco not too long ago. It’s $10 and more peppermint bark than we’d ever think we’d need/use! It’s a good thing we put them in our coffee now.