Making Black Pepper Beef and Sauteed French Beans

Friday Night - My boyfriend has agreed to take the visiting turn and see me in Singapore this weekend. He was supposed to reach my house at around 9.30pm and for his dinner, I proposed a planned to him that I'd cook something for him for the night. No need to eat out.

He was excited and replied me with: Happy. :). 1 egg. 1 meat. 1 veggie.

Then the pressures hit a bit. At work, I was already thinking what to cook for dinner. My dish has to taste at least good.

Few days earlier, my sister posted some of her cooking creativity on  Facebook after she got inspired by some food blogs. Thanks to her, I chose one of her menus which I thought was doable for an amateur and seasonal cook like me.

Before I left my office, I consulted my cooking plan with Iris Tan, who cooks rather often than myself. She told me what to buy and roughly how to cook the black pepper beef.

Right after work, I hit NTUC and shopped all the veggie and meat ingredients for my planned cooking attempt. At about 8pm, my food was ready and I was expecting my hungry man to come. I made extra steamed white rice and dishes.

Only at 9.30 my man reached my house by driving all the way from her site in Mersing. I had to reheat the food in microwave before we ate our supper which was supposed to be the dinner.

Here's what I prepared for our Friday's dinner:

Black Pepper Beef.

Black Pepper Beef Ingredients:

• 200gr Sliced Beef - Marinated with oyster sauce, bit of pepper and fish sauce then mixed with bit of corn starch
• 1 Sliced yellow onion and garlic
• 1 Sliced capsicum
• 1 pack of Black Pepper Sauce (as I don't cook this often hence it's not economical if I buy 1 bottled of ground black pepper for one time use)
• Pepper and sugar
• Bit of Water
• Cooking oil
• A bunch of separately steamed brocolli for decoration

Sauteed French Beans with Garlic.

Sauteed French Beans with Garlic Ingredients:

• French beans
• Lots of chopped garlics
• Pepper, salt, sugar and bit of fish sauce
• Cooking oil

Our Dinner: Black Pepper Beef, French Beans and Scrambled Eggs with Herbs.

Eggs with Herbs Ingredients:

• Eggs
• Sliced Onions
• Sugar
• Fish Sauce
• Pepper
• A pinch of Italian Herbs
• Cooking oil

Overall, I considered my cooking attempt was pretty successful albeit my abstinence in cooking for the longest time. Especially the beef - my boyfriend said it's pretty good. What a motivation to cook more in the near future.