Peruvian Steak and Potato Stir Fry

The holiday season is in full swing -- shopping, parties, cookies, baking, entertaining -- I love the excitement and I love keeping busy!  What I don’t love this time of year is coming home from work with a 39-ingredient recipe to tackle for dinner -- and what I hate even more than that is the prospect of not eating home-cooked meal, ie-pizza or Taco Bell for dinner {ok, pizza and taco bell has it’s place, I know...}

This dinner recipe is a simple one pot meal that requires and handful of ingredients but is really packed with spices and flavor.  This past year, I’ve been trying to train my husband to actually enjoy ethnic foods such as Indian.  I’m achieving this by making him  dinners laced with exotic spices he has labeled as “gross”.  My first attempt was the Moroccan Chicken Skewers {which he LOVED} and this was my second attempt -- another success!  Woop woop!  I don’t really know where to go from here without serving him a full blown curry {which I’ve tried before only to have an entire dish to eat myself for several days because husband declared that he “doesn’t like curry” and to which I replied “who the hell says that?!”}  Anyway, if any of you have any curry recipes that are a little on the mild side, I’d love to check them out!  And try out this recipe the next time you’re not in the mood to do much in the cooking department -- you’ll love it!

Peruvian Steak and Potato Stir Fry

from Food + Wine Magazine, September 2012

1/4 c. EVOO

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 garlic clove, minced

salt and pepper

1 lb skirt steak

1 red onion, halved and slivered

vegetable oil, for frying

8 oz french fried

1/4 c. sliced pickled jalapenos

1 large tomato, chopped

1/4 c. cilantro, roughly chopped

hot sauce for serving

1. In a large bowl, combine olive oil, cumin, coriander, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Cut steak into 4 inch pieces; slice steaks across the grain 1/2 inch thick and add to bowl along with the onion.  Let marinate 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat 1/2 inch of oil until shimmering.  Add fries and fry over high heat until golden and crisp, about 3 min; drain on paper towels. {I actually skipped the frying and baked my fries according to package instructions}
3. Heat large griddle until very hot.  Add steak and onion along with jalapeno and stir fry over hight heat until meat and onion are cooked through and lightly charred, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add tomato and cook until softened and starting to char, 1 minute.  Add fries and cilantro and flip with spatula to combine.  Serve with hot sauce.