A tribute to the almighty Jamie Oliver

So...

Washing still on the couch? Yep.
Kitchen still a bomb site? Uh-huh.
Kids still attempting to raise themselves due to my less-than-excellent parenting? Um. Correct.

Nothing new there, then.

Well, anyway, while we're sitting here on the couch ignoring my life, why don't I share a little recipe I made the other night for din-dins which was a resounding success?? As I recall, we discussed the whole supermarket / bulging shopping bags / squeezing into pantry mess / cooking for the ungrateful masses / scraping said cooking into the bin after every meal situation not long ago, right? And I know I'm definitely not alone in struggling to find an evening meal that actually makes it into the digestive systems of the entire family. (Do you know what would be helpful, though? Actually receiving an answer to the question, "What would you like for dinner tonight?" I realise that "Anything you feel like, honey" is intended to be non-demanding and accommodating, but PLEASE!! Just tell me what YOU want for dinner, just once. Because then I won't have to think about it!!! Ok. Rant over.)

So recently, the inner-anal-retent has pulled all of my beautiful cook books out on Sunday afternoons, when the kids are a bit sleepy after swimming, and before the almighty supermarket battle begins. And I have trawled through the glossy pages of Donna and Nigella and Jamie, attempting to find recipes that are kid-friendly, budget-friendly, and not designed to propel me towards auditions for the Biggest Loser. I've found a couple of concoctions that were received well. However, the other night Mr.Jamie Oliver handed me a hands-down winner, and I thought it might be nice to share it with you (as opposed to my usual sooky-la-la raving about kids or traffic or washing or something).

No jokes, Christian loved it (and even though he's very easy to please, I can always tell when I've made a dinner that he's not fussed about...and this one he took to school for lunch the next day!), Jack devoured it, the Ballerina kept repeating, "Mumma, this is a beautiful dinner! Well done!", and the Mouse ate every scrap in her little bowl, with the most enormous grin on her face. She didn't even drop any over the side of the highchair for the dog.

So here it is:

Jamie Oliver's Sizzling Beef with Spring Onions and Black Bean Sauce.

(I modified it slightly to suit the kids by removing the chilli and the garlic. Oh, and Jamie's version has an egg in it, but obviously I didn't put that in either. Anaphalaxsis on the side, anyone??)

Long grain rice
Sirloin or rump steak, cut into strips
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger (I used crushed gear from a jar)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 a fresh red chilli
2 spring onions
fresh coriander
sesame oil (I used olive oil, don't tell Jamie!!)
2 tablespoons black bean sauce
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 limes

Finely slice the garlic, ginger, chilli, spring onions and the stalks from the coriander.
Combine these with the steak strips.
Add a dash of oil and mix everything together.
Preheat your wok, add some oil and swirl it around.
Add all your chopped ingredients from the bowl.
Stir-fry quickly for a couple of minutes. Add the black bean sauce, 1 tblsp of soy sauce and the juice of one lime.
Keep moving the stir-fry around, adding soy sauce to taste.
Once the meat and veg is cooked, serve on a bed of rice.
Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve with wedges of lime. Delish!

If you give it a burl, let me know how you go. And if you want the egg part of the recipe - you only need ask!! But seriously, if you make it, I'd love to know what your kids thought. Even if you end up scraping it into the bin. My next project is to find a Nigella recipe that is low-calorie.....bahahahahahahaha!!!!!