Beef Stroganoff

Holy smokes: A blog entry from the long lost belle of Mass Confusion! Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's procrastination, but nonetheless, a post is born.

I figure that if I start writing about kitchen adventures, it might give me something to write about other than diapers, baby meals, unwritten dissertations, and gushy recaps of AGM's latest feats of greatness.

When I moved to Boston, I reconnected with an old friend from home who reminded me of everything I love about home, minus all things I don't so much love. Then, said friend abandoned me and moved to Portland, OR. Luckily she still shares great recipes with me. She sent me the link for this Beef Stroganoff recipe from Cooking Light.

There was no top round at my grocery store (And I've never been able to ask the butcher for something specific, despite how easy Ina Garten makes it look.), so I settled for beef round stew meat. The plus of this was that I didn't have to bother slicing it. Of course, I couldn't just get 1.0 lb of meat because there never are 1.0 lb packages. The package I settled for was 1.33 lb. Since I don't have a clue what a person does with a third of a pound of stew meat, I just chucked it all in. To compensate for the extra meat I added a bit extra broth (which I made from beef base rather than using a partial can) and a bit extra of each of the seasonings. The only other change I made was adding about 1/2 cup of red wine. Smelled divine all day. When it came time to turn it off and add the sour cream (which I upped a bit because of the extra liquid and meat), there was still a bit too much liquid for my liking (I presume this has to do with my last minute decision to add the wine.) To solve this problem I made a slurry of roughly 2 tbsp of cornstarch and some water. I transferred everything from the crock pot to a deep saute pan, brought it to a low boil, added the slurry, and let it bubble away for a bit (10ish min?) and thicken up. Worked like a charm!

As a side, I halved two roma tomatoes, drizzled with some olive oil, topped with a mixture of panko, parmesan, and herds, finished with a spritz of cooking spray (to help panko brown without adding any butter or oil), and popped in a 400 degree oven. Tops brown before tomatoes softened, so I just put a sheet of aluminum foil on top and finished baking. Not bad for just trying to get rid of odds and ends reaching the end of their shelf lives.

In the end, I lost the ever alluring one pot meal designation, but I was pretty well pleased with the outcome. Pretty perfect supper for a snowy, snowy day.