What's up Wednesday--cheater Korean Beef

My cooking is very non-geographical--if that is a term.  I don't branch out much in terms of ethnic variety.  I do American and Italian with a slight sprinkling of fried rice about once a month and homemade egg rolls once a year.  I think I need to expand more.  I have never tried anything Korean, so when I first saw this recipe here, I has very hesitant--sesame oil?  Never used it, but I actually did have some in my pantry because I bought it years ago to make another Asian type recipe that I never made.  But as I was reading through the recipe I was thinking "this looks really easy."  And I am all about easy, so I gave it a try.  Wow!  It was really easy, and my whole family loved it!!!  Score!  And I think I have made it about 2 times a month since.  It is a keeper.  We serve this over rice, and I never cook my rice "plain" so that is why this rice looks brown in the picture even though it is not brown rice--although I think this recipe would make brown rice almost palatable (sorry, not a brown rice fan).  I will also share my super easy yummy "good" rice recipe--as my 8 year old calls it.  Enjoy!  I think I am going to make this the Saturday after Thanksgiving when nobody wants leftovers, and we will have had pizza on Friday.  It will be perfect! 

Cheater Korean Beef

1 pound lean ground beef

1/4 cup brown sugar or more if you want it sweeter

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tes ground ginger **original recipe calls for fresh, but I never, ever have that, so I used this and it is great

1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper depending upon how spicy you want it.  I use 1/2 tes

salt and pepper

green onions sliced for top

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and brown the ground beef in the sesame oil.  Add the garlic towards the end of browning and cook until meat is completely done.  Drain fat if needed.

Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors.  Serve over rice topped with sliced green onions.

Good Rice

1 cup rice

2 cups chicken broth or 2 cups water and 2 tes chicken bouillon

1 Tab. dehydrated onion

Place all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  When starts to boil, cover with a lid, turn down to low and simmer 20 minutes.  Turn off heat after 20 minutes and let sit with lid on a few more minutes then fluff and serve.  The bouillon is what makes it a darker color depending upon how dark your chicken bouillon is.

When I make rice I usually double or tripe this because we like rice in our family, and then I can use the extra to make that occasional fried rice :)

Enjoy!