You’re probably thinking, “Welp, Tory’s off the blogging again, what a flake. In the summer she travels, in the fall she travels, and I guess in the winter, she travels. What she doesn’t do is blog. This blog is dead. I’m over it.”

But you’re wrong! I’m not traveling – I’ve been MIA, yet again, because I’m moving! Not far, though. I’m moving to a new neighborhood in Brooklyn, so A Pinch of This will still be a .nyc. For now.

I’ve been thinking of moving for a few months. I’ve needed something fresh and different. So with the new year came a roommate search followed by an apartment search and all of a sudden, I’ll be lugging all my pots and pans and bowls and cake stands to an amazing new apartment in February.

Sadly, this will be the last post featuring all that beautiful exposed brick in the background. But the kitchen in this new place is a New Yorker’s dream come true. Just wait and see. While we won’t be making any structural changes (obviously), I’m still thinking of doing a little before and after for ya. This is my first time moving into an unoccupied place and I’m so excited to make the kitchen something special with my two new roommates. Luckily, we were given verrrrrry good bones to work with, so it’ll be a piece of cake. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, here’s a little Beef + Brussels Bowl I first made while I was still in New Hampshire, using our leftover Christmas filet. I’d been itching to make the Momofuku Brussels Sprouts ever since I saw the recipe on Food52 and this was my chance. My parents have become very fond of the whole “bowl meal” phenomenon and we happened to have the perfect ingredients for a (most definitely non-authentic) Thai sort of bowl.

After a movie and a glass of wine at my grandparents’ house, we swung by the Market Basket, grabbed fish sauce and rice vinegar from the “ethnic” section (lol New Hampshire), and we drove home through the first fluffy flurries of the night. I used a few recipes as guides (see here and here), but just kinda threw this one together with what we had.

We had some more wine as we watched the snow come down and enjoyed our late faux take-out. Turns out it was pretty tasty so I recreated it with flank steak a few weeks ago.

I’ll be back in a few weeks once I’ve settled into the new place a bit! There are a few recipes I’ve been enjoying out of one of Melissa Clark’s cookbooks that I’m just dying to share. Wish me luck, and see ya on here soon!

Beef & Brussels Bowl

Serves: 4 folks

Note: I know it seems like a lot of ingredients, but a lot of these are pantry items and used more than once in the recipe. I measured what I did the second time I made this to give y’all a base to work with, but a lot of this can be made to taste. Last thing – I’d make a little bit more of the marinade (see stir-fry ingredients) next time to have more sauce in the final dish.

Ingredients:

For the stir-fry:

1 cup rice (I used stubby brown rice)

1-2 bell peppers, slivered

½ red onion, sliced thinly

1 large carrot

2-3 cloves of garlic, one smashed, the others minced

½ to 1 lb flank steak, sliced into roughly bite size pieces

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup fish sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Juice from a quarter or a half of lime

2-3 tablespoons brown sugar

1-2 tablespoons cornstarch

1-2 tablespoons water

Canola oil

For the Brussels sprouts (adapted from Food52’s adaptation of Momofuku’s recipe):

1 lb Brussels sprouts, halved or quartered

¼ cup fish sauce

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1 garlic clove, minced

Juice from a quarter or a half of lime

1-2 red bird’s-eye chili (aka Thai red chili), sliced

Canola oil

Topping options:

Shredded purple cabbage

Toasted sesame seeds

Chopped cashews

Chopped cilantro

Squeeze of lime juice

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the ¼ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup fish sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, the smashed garlic clove, a good squeeze of lime juice, and 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar. Whisk to combine.
2. Add the sliced steak to the bowl, and set aside to marinade.
3. Pre-heat the oven between 400-415 degrees, depending no how hot your oven gets. If you’re not sure, stick to 400.
4. While the steak is marinating, cook the rice according to package directions. This will take about 30-45 minutes.
5. While the rice is cooking, toss the Brussels sprouts in a tablespoon or two of canola oil, until evenly coated, and spread it on a sheet try. Season them lightly with salt and pepper, but not too much. Roast for about 15-20 minutes, checking/tossing every now and then.
6. In the meantime, mix together the other ¼ cup fish sauce, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 minced garlic clove, a good squeeze of lime juice, and 1 Thai chili (or more if you like heat – I’m a little bit of a wimp). Whisk to mix.
7. In a small measuring cup, whisk together the cornstarch and an equal amount of water until there are no lumps.
8. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon or two of canola oil. Once heated, add the steak while retaining the marinade. You’re going to use it.
9. Let the steak cook for a few minutes, making sure to stir a few times for even cooking. Then add the peppers and onions. Cook for just a few minutes and add the minced garlic you haven’t used yet (should be 1 or 2 cloves). Cook for about 30 seconds.
10. Give the cornstarch mixture another quick whisk and add to the marinade, whisking some more. Add this mixture to the pan, stirring as you pour.
11. The marinade should become a sauce and thicken slightly after about 20 seconds in the pan. Only cook for about a minute more.
12. Toss your Brussels sprouts in the fish sauce vinaigrette you made. There will be some left over to drizzle over should you wish.
13. Once everything is finished cooking (which it all should be by now), assemble your bowl. Add a scoop or two of rice to the bottom, followed by the stir-fry. Add some Brussels sprouts, and whichever toppings float your boat. Now cozy up and tuck in!