Two Recent Stir Frys - Lots o Pix

Yesterday I was taking part in a thread regarding stir frying and it reminded me of this recent two item stir fry. The recipes were Wok Seared Vegetables from Grace Young's Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge and Crispy Chili Beef from The Food & Cooking of West China & Sichuan. The veggie dish was like a course on how to deal with ingredients of different sizes, hardness & consistency. The large asparagus were cut to  uniform length and blanched. The hard carrots were cut to a uniform length and julienned. Similar with the celery. These items went on first when it came time to cook them. The mushrooms and tomatoes which were soft were cut to uniform sizes and went on at the very end. The beef dish was the first time I had ever deep fried in my wok and it was eye-opening how little peanut oil was required vs. deep frying in a Dutch oven. The meal was great except for one stupid human trick I pulled. The first thing I did was deep fry the beef because this required a lower temp of 300 for deep frying vs 600 degrees for the stir frying. The beef came out just the way it was supposed to. I brought the wok in to clean it before doing the veggies. After the veggies were done, I brought the wok in to clean it a second time before starting the beef dish. When I was getting ready to pull the wok from the heat I realized I had left the welder's gloves in the kitchen. I had to run in and grab them and the extra 30-45 seconds meant the beef was a little darker and crispier. Not the end of the world, it was still good, but after cooking it perfectly to start I was annoyed I messed up at the end. I now will be sure to look more my welders gloves prior to starting my stir-fry. Onto the pix: