Steak in a Garden

Tasty and colorful beef stir-fry. Original recipe by Lucille Treat, posted with a few changes. The secret to making this recipe is to have everything chopped and set out in order of addition to the wok. I've used a Dutch oven before, and it works, but not as well as a wok. Serve over hot cooked rice. Prep time does not include getting the steak partially frozen.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 lbs  boneless sirloin steaks
• 3  tablespoons  peanut oil, divided
• 3  tablespoons soy sauce, divided
• 3  tablespoons cornstarch, divided
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt (I usually leave this out because of the soy)
• 1  cup beef broth
• 1⁄4 teaspoon sugar
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2  carrots, scraped and thinly sliced
• 2  green bell peppers, cut into strips (I use 1 if they are large peppers)
• 1  red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 3⁄4 cup celery, diagonally sliced
• 8  green onions, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 (6 ounce) package  frozen snow pea pods, thawed and drained (may use fresh if you can find them)
• 1  garlic clove, minced

Directions

1. Partially freeze the steak; slice diagonally across the grain into 2 x 1/4 inch strips.
2. Combine 1 tbsp peanut oil, 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper; stir well. Pour soy sauce mixture over the steak; cover and let stand for 20 minutes. (You can chop the veggies while this is happening).
3. Combine the remaining 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch, beef broth, sugar, and ginger; stir well and set aside.
4. Pour the remaining 2 tbsp oil around the top of a preheated wok, coating the sides; heat at medium-high (325 degrees) for 2 minutes. Add the reserved steak mixture, and stir-fry 4 to 5 minutes. Add the carrots, and stir fry 3 minutes. Add the pepper strips, and stir fry 3 minutes. Add the celery, green onions, snow peas, and garlic; stir fry 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Add the reserved broth mixture to the steak mixture, and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture is thickened and bubbly.
6. Serve over rice.