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Cinnamon Beef Noodles: Good food when you're feeling blue.

Attention shoppers:
Good buys on beef

Take advantage of best buys on boneless chuck steak at Sack N Save ($1.77 a pound) and Foodland ($1.79 a pound), or boneless stew meat at Safeway ($2.69 a pound) and Foodland ($2.99 a pound), to cook up a dish of Cinnamon Beef Noodles from Nina Simonds' new book, "Asian Noodles" (William Morrow & Co., $21 hardcover).

"This is the dish I crave when I am feeling a cold or the flu coming on.," Simonds writes.

"Asian Noodles" features 75 beautifully illustrated noodle recipes from China, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand and Japan.

Cinnamon Beef Noodles

1 teaspoon safflower or corn oil
8-1/2 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 pounds chuck or beef stew meat, trimmed of fat and gristle and cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
10 ounces spinach
1/2 pound Chinese wheat flour noodles or other flat pasta
3 tablespoons minced scallions

Chile-Cinnamon Seasonings:

6 scallions, trimmed, cut into 1-1/2-inch sections and smashed lightly
6 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed lightly
4 slices fresh ginger (each about the size of a quarter), smashed lightly
1-1/2 teaspoon hot chile paste
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon aniseed

Heat a large pot or casserole over medium-high heat. Add oil and heat until hot, about 30 seconds. Add the Chile-Cinnamon Seasonings and stir-fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds.

Add water and soy sauce; bring to a boil. Add beef and return to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 112 hours or until beef is very tender.

Skim the surface to remove impurities or fat. Remove ginger slices and cinnamon sticks; discard. Add spinach and bring to a boil.

Divide noodles among six bowls. Ladle meat, spinach and broth over noodles and sprinkle with scallions. Serve. Makes 6 servings.

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Nutrition information unavailable.

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