Pepper Steak and Mushroom Pilaf

A yummy and easy recipe from Rachael Ray. I've made this a couple times and it was success. My 20 month old daughter loves peppers (even though she calls them apples) and comes looking for a snack every time I'm chopping them. I'm not always in the mood for big pieces of mushrooms in my food but I LOVE the flavor of mushrooms so this rice really hits the spot.

Recipe (serves 4 plus leftovers)

Rice

(I make some changes to the rice as I don't often buy boxed rice and often have plenty of long grain rice in the house)

1 T olive oil

1 T butter

8 oz white or cremini mushrooms, chopped

broken spaghetti

1 1/2 c rice

3 c beef stock (you could also use chicken stock or water)

Pepper Steak

2 T oil

1 1/2 - 2 lb tenderloin, sirloin, flank steak - cut in to thin bite-sized pieces

2 T butter

2 bell peppers (green or red), cut into 2 inch dice

1/2 large onion or 1 small onion, sliced

2 T flour

1 T tomato paste (look for the tubes so that you don't have to open a whole can)

1/4 c sherry

1 1/2 c beef stock

salt

1 t black pepper

In a medium pot over medium heat add 1 T each of oil and butter. When melted, add broken spaghetti pieces and saute until the begin to brown. Add mushrooms and saute 3-5 minutes. Add rice and stir to coat. Add stock or water, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low an cover. Simmer for 18 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil to skillet, then meat and sear on all sides, about 5 minutes. Season with salt ans then remove meat to a plate and cover with foil. Reduce pan to medium and add butter, peppers, and onion. Saute about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook about 1 minute (just enough to get the raw flour taste out). Whisk in sherry and then the beef stock, tomato paste, and black pepper. Return meat to pan with sauce, stir and reduce heat to low. Simmer about 5 minutes. Serve over rice pilaf.