Peanut "Beef" Maifun

Apparently I tripped and fell off the blogosphere this last week. In my adventures off the web during the last week I've quilted, turned the Christmas music off and turned Amy Ray up, took my wife to A Christmas Story: The Musical (which I hope makes it to DVD eventually so I don't have to watch just the movie 500 times during the month of December, because the movie doesn't have pirates, and the musical does), was taken to Maurice Sendak's Nutcracker Ballet, took a trip to Oly to visit friends and share a squash dinner and my reasoning behind why December is my least favorite month of the year (really, America, do you need an excuse like Christmas to have goodwill and compassion? Can't we just have it regardless of what season it is?), I made a damn good faux beef stew, played slots with my mother-in-law, kicked it at Seattle's best les bar with new and old friends, saw Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (which, btw, is not worth seeing in 3D, or perhaps even in the theater for that matter, but IS worth seeing for Will Poulter of Son of Rambow fame, who pretty much saved the movie), met with the tattoo artist that will be inking my arm in Banksy, found out I'm not shaped like a lemon, read quite a few chapters of the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook, made a small dent in the 80 oz. jar of chunky peanut butter residing in my apartment, had coffee at Cafe Vita while watching an uncharacteristly Seattle type monsoon, drew on a napkin, and made a KICK-ASS asian inspired beef noodle dish.

See? I've been B to the U to the S to the Y. Maybe a little to busy, which is why it may have taken me 'til today to realize I was ignoring my computer on non office hours. The break was swell, but the swellin's gone down, and I'm back with vengeance. So here's one of the dishes I made this week, which I have affectionately dubbed Peanut "Beef" Maifun, and it's even more fun if you make it, share it with a friend, and hit the movies after.

Peanut "Beef" MaiFun

1 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 Tbs sesame oil
4 oz Maifun noodles
1 package Gardien beefless tips
1 Tbs all purpose flour
1/8 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp chili powder
2 large shallots, chopped
2 tsp tamari sauce
1 Tbs chopped ginger
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
3 Tbs chunky peanut butter
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Cilantro for garnish (I love the stuff, which should be obvious from the above pic)


Soak your noodles for 10 minutes in hot water. While the noodles are soaking, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or wok over medium heat and brown the shallots. In a small mixing bowl, mix the flour, paprika and chili and toss the beefless tips in the mixture. Add remaining sesame oil to the pan and pan fry the floured beefless tips. Add tamari, garlic, ginger, peanut butter, lemon juice and pepper flakes to the pan and stir until incorporated. Drain the noodles and toss with 1/2 Tbs sesame oil so noodles don't stick, add to the pan, and toss so noodles mix with the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 2-3 more minutes. Plate and garnish with chopped cilantro and use chopsticks to chow down.