mandragora

Here's a quick recipe for those of you who like rice, beef and random vegetables. I put it together when I was out of power this week and quickly losing all my perishable food. It makes a nice slop. All measurements are approximate.

Make some rice, however much you want.

To make the sauce and toppings, fry up
- 2 full tablespoons of garlic
- any beef you want in it
- any stir-fry type vegetables (onions, peppers, peas, mushrooms, etc.)

While that's cooking, to make about 2 cups of sauce, to another bowl add:
- 2 tablespoons of flour (or less if you want a thinner sauce)
- and about 2 cups of warm water

Stir the flour till it seems dissolved. Then add to the bowl:
- 2 teaspoons of beef oxo (or the Knorr beef broth powder)
- about 1/6 cup of sugar or less depending how sweet you want the sauce (this just makes it mildly sweet, like a chinese sauce)

Stir the sauce together completely and add to your frying veggies and meat. Let the sauce simmer til it's as thick as you want it. Spread it over your rice on a plate and serve!

It's just a nice alternative to your regular stir fry. And it was as close as I could get to Golden Chop Suey's killer beef satay sauce that I ask for extra when I order it on my rice.

I'm such a bachelor sometimes. I make so many different types of yummy home cooked slop and I'd probably never serve to anyone. I can usually come up with something, no matter how little food you may have kicking around.

A side hint for those of you who like to thicken sauces without bothering with the boiling water and flour... put a bit of flour in a cup. Add a bit of water, usually about 1/3 cup. Swish it around a bit and the water will pick up as much flour as it can but won't be supersaturated. Pour the water out into the sauce or stew you're trying to thicken, and it should be relatively free of any floury clumps that we all hate had you just added the flour to the sauce directly.

But that's one of my secrets. So keep it in the club.