As my last blog entry denotes, I recently had to start cooking for myself *shudder*. I have drawn on various inspirations throughout my life to help with this.

• Friends
• Family
• My Dad
• My past
• Laziness
• Being Cheap

...to name just a few.

In this case though, my Beef Stir-Fry was absolutely inspired by my friend Julia. Not only has she tempted and teased me with the descriptions of her own Stir-Fries, but when I came to her for advice she was quick to offer up some recommendations. Her first thought, I have to, have to, have to get Hoisin Sauce.

So, when I did my shopping the other day, I did indeed get Hoison sauce.

For my dinner, I started by dicing up 3 cloves of garlic and two small nubs of ginger. I added those to a bowl with a 13oz. ribeye that had been cut into bite size pieces. Into that bowl I added Rice Wine Vinegar, Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, Hoison Sauce, Salt, Pepper and a dash of Worcestershire Sauce (don't ask me for amounts, I just put some in there until it looked like the right amount).

I set that aside to marinate for a half hour or so. Meanwhile, I chopped up 3/4 of a yellow onion, 1/2 of a red bell pepper, a whole orange bell pepper and half of a package of Shiitake Mushrooms.

Putting about 2 tablespoons of canola oil in the bottom of a Cast Iron Skillet, I let it heat until the oil was smoking. Then I threw in the veggies. Shortly after I added the meat. If I made a mistake it was washing the excess sauce out of the marinade bowl with water and dumping that in, it made the mixture a bit too wet. But that wasn't bad.

I tossed it around in the pan for about 10 minutes, letting most of that liquid boil off and in the end I was rewarded with a great Beef Stir-Fry. (Thanks Julia).