Blog #8 - Cooking for a Friend

Today, Chef Lyons wasn't feeling too well, so we had an off day. Although I wasn't cooking at Chef's house, I was at mine! In the morning, my friend Eli came over to help me build a new computer for college. I had all my parts ready, but I didn't know how to assemble it... that's where he comes in! As the day progressed, we were starting to get hungry building the computer, so I thought it would be a great idea to make a stirfry for lunch. I made stirfry on the 3rd or 4th day at Chef's house, but it was fairly easy to make. I had bought the beef, produce, sauces, and spices from the local Asian market and Giant Eagles yesterday night, so I was set on the prep. First, I cut onions and bell peppers. I did the bell pepper first because I knew the onions would make me cry, thus effectively blinding me.To cut the bell pepper, I cut off both ends and made an incision in the flesh to make it rolled flat on the cutting board. To get rid of the seeds and the bitter pith, I shaved off the insides and put it in my trash container. Then, I julienned the pepper into thin strips. I also julienned the onions as well by cutting off the root end and cutting along the lines of the onion. After I finsihed the vegetables, I wiped off my cutting board and opened the beef. I bought skirtsteak for the stirfry last night. First off, I cut the steak into strips so it would be more bite-size. Then, I marinated it with the spices and sauces I got from the Asian market. After mixing for a while, I sauteed the steak in the frying pan, using extra virgin olive oil. Once the steak was done, I added more oil to cook the vegetables. The time from when I cook the veggies to when I finish allows the steak to rest and be juicy. When the vegetables are done, I add the meat back into the pan and let the flavors run into the vegetables. After another minute, I serve it with steamed rice, which I started to make in the rice cooker when I started to prep the vegetables. Eli and I really enjoyed it!