Disaster in the Kitchen: Coconut and Ginger Beef and Vegetables

Tonight was an absolute disaster.  Anything that could have gone wrong did go wrong and surprisingly, the meal wasn't half way at the end of cooking.

Here is the original recipe.  When I see the word slow cooker, I think of throwing ingredients in a pot and letting it cook all day.  This recipe, however, said use the slow cooker pan on the burner-- I was and still am confused by why you would do that and not use of slow cooker or just use a wok pan.  Instead of following those directions, I just used a wok on the burner.  You'll also see that the recipe calls for chicken.  When I went to cut the chicken, it felt very sticky instead of the normal slimy consistency of chicken.  I think there might have even been a little odor.  The only other thing that was defrosted was a flank steak, so it became a beef stir-fry.  Flank steak wouldn't be my first choice, but it worked out just fine.

 

I never used turmeric and coriander before, and it smelled delicious.  Wal-mart also came through with their awesome stirfry veggies.  Next time, I would buy some extra baby corn.

Here's where the recipe went really wrong.  I opened up the coconut milk, and this is what I found-- solid coconut milk :(  It's supposed to be a thicker liquid on the bottom with a thinner, translucent liquid on top.  This was not that...ah!  Luckily, I had 1/2 a can of coconut milk in the fridge and threw it in instead.

Cornstarch is another mystery to me.  It supposed to thicken the sauce, but I didn't think it needed to be thickened, so I added water before adding the cornstarch.  Still not sure why I was using it (if anyone knows, comment and let me know!), but it did change the texture.  Overall, good but not great....maybe next time :)

Coconut Ginger Beef & Vegetables

Ingredients 4 garlic cloves  1 tsp ground ginger    1 cup onions, chopped    1 Tbsp olive oil    2 Tbsp cornstarch    1 package frozen mixed vegetables, Stiry fry with baby corn    1/2 tsp black pepper    1 tsp ground cumin    1 tsp ground coriander    1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric    1 tsp table salt    1 cup uncooked basmati rice    1 cup light coconut milk    1 pound uncooked lean and trimmed beef flank steak, cut into chunks    Instructions In food processor, combine ginger, garlic, and onion. Pulse until it forms a paste. In wok style pan, heat olive oil. Add paste from food processor. Cook for a few minutes and then add pepper, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and salt. Cook, stirring constantly. Move things to side of wok and add beef. Cook beef on all sides. Pour coconut milk over top. Add veggies and cook/simmer. Once frozen veggies are warm/hot, add corn starch. Cook for 1/2 hour. Make rice according to instructions.  10 points overall.