madbaker | We got a lot of broccoli in our vegetable box. Therefore -

This week's Resolution Recipe: Dry-Fried Beef with Broccoli.

broccoli, some unspecified amount cut into florets
1 lb lean beef
1 1/2" fresh ginger
(I added: a bunch of cloves of garlic, minced)
2 scallions (I used green garlic)
1/3 cup peanut oil (I used about 1/4 cup)
1 Tbsp sherry
2 Tbsp chili bean paste
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp ground roasted Sichuan pepper

Bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch the broccoli briefly, drain, and shock with ice water. Set aside.
Slice the beef evenly into thin slices and then against the grain into fine slivers (less than 1/4" thick). Peel the ginger, slice it, and cut it into fine slivers. Cut the scallions into fine slivers to match the ginger.

Season the wok and add peanut oil. Heat over a high flame until smoking, and then add the beef and mix well. The liquid will become cloudy initially as the beef releases its juices. Stir-fry constantly until the liquid has cleared and the beef has lost most of its water content and is beginning to crisp up - this will take about 10 minutes (you will notice that the beef starts sizzling as the water disappears). As the meat dries out, splash the sherry around the edges of the wok and let it sizzle.

When the oil is clear, turn the heat down to medium, push the beef up to one side of the wok, and tilt so the oil runs into the space you have created. Drop the chili bean paste into the oil and stir-fry for about 30 seconds, until the oil is red and fragrant. Add the ginger and scallions and garlic, mix everything together, and continue to stir-fry for another 10 seconds or so until you can smell the ginger. Finally, add the broccoli, soy sauce, and Sichuan pepper and cook until the broccoli is warmed. Remove the wok from the heat and stir in the sesame oil.

What worked: Yum. Better than our default beef with broccoli which is stir-fried with some random brown sauce (usually black bean or hoisin). The garlic and green garlic added a nice flavor.

What didn't: I lost track of the broccoli and it blanched for three minutes or so - enough to lose all its crispness. It was still fine, but it would have been better with more tooth. I used about 2/3 of our unspecified CSA bag and I could easily have used the whole thing.

Will I make it again? Like many of these recipes, this takes a fair amount of time to prep and virtually none to cook. It'll probably become our default beef with broccoli stir-fry.