Beef Stroganoff

Seems like some weeks we just have "the old favorites" or the newest find (currently Mushroom Arugula Salad) over and over again.  I had broken the pattern by making New England Boiled Dinner when the markets were full of corned beef and cabbage for Saint Patrick's Day and had sour cream left from the sauce.  It occurred to me that I had not made Beef Stroganoff in a very long time.  I remember Ed's Mom (Florence Pfalzgraf, "Grandmother Up-Down" to Alex and Chris) making this from part of the huge steaks she got from William's Market.  I looked for her recipe, which I was unable to find (still looking), so I winged it (using less beef than FPK, I'm sure):

2 Servings

Thinly slice, trimming off any fat

1/3 pound sirloin steak and dredge* in

2 T flour, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste

In a medium size skillet heat:

2 T olive oil (am sure FPK used butter)
1/4 cup onion, thinly sliced and cut in quarters
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

and cook until onion is wilted. Then add beef and cook over medium heat until meat is browned on both sides.  Then add:

1/2 c baby bella/crimini or other mushrooms, stir gently for 2 -3 minutes, then add in this order:**

1 t Hungarian sezged paprika (not sure FPK used this, maybe tomato paste and/or mustard - see below)
2 T red wine
2/3 c beef stock
1 T parsley, chopped

Stir well with a wooden spoon incorporating any loose flour (brown bits) from pan sides and bottom until sauce is smooth and mushrooms soft;  add additional stock if sauce is too thick.  Finally, add:

1/3 c sour cream.

Mix just until smooth and warm but do not bring to boil.

Serve with noodles.  Homemade would be best; I used Trader Joe's Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta.

* (June 2011) As I read more about "browning" I am inclined to omit the dredging next time.  Brown the raw, dried beef in the oil then blend butter with flour as in the recipe below or roll the browned beef in flour, then proceed as above.  January 2013: See Browning for discussion on whether to flour meat before browning, not at all, or as Julia Child does after initial browning.  This post also notes heating pan to 400 to 450 degrees before adding oil will minimize contents sticking to the pan.

** While I successfully combined all the ingredients in one pan all at the same time, the recipes I subsequently consulted in in The New York Times Cookbook (1961edition) and The New York Times International Cookbook (1971 edition) both by Craig Clairborne cook ingredients and sauce separately.  In the former the sauce (for 1 1/2 pounds of meat "about 6 servings": 1 1/2 T butter blended with 1 T flour to which 1 c boiling consomme is added all at once followed by 1 t prepared mustard) is prepared in a separate pan, the meat, not dredged, and onions are sauteed  in butter until browned on both sides in another pan.  The meat is then removed to a hot platter, sour cream is added to the sauce and then the sauce poured over the meat.  In the recipe in the The New York Times International Cookbook, the dredged meat (1 pound, "about 6 servings") is browned in butter, then the mushrooms, onion and garlic are added and cooked for about 4 minutes then removed from the skillet and kept warm.  The sauce (2 T butter to which when melted 3 T of flour are blended then 1 T tomato paste and 1 1/4 c beef stock added) is then made in the same skillet, adding sauce ingredients to "the pan drippings". The meat is then returned to the pan containing the sauce and  1 c sour cream and 2 T dry sherry are added and the mixture heated briefly.  This latter approach might be preferable if making more than 2-3 servings.

Reviewed 5/7/17

Grass Fed Meat

© 2013 Edward C Kern, Jr.

It's not that I don't like hamburgers.... When I was at Harvard GSD I joined the guys in my class (and sometimes the one other gal) for lunch at Bartley's Burgers several times a month.   After Alexandra arrived, restaurant lunches were replaced by picnics in Harvard Yard, and subsequent stories of CAFO feedlots led me to choose a portobello burger over a standard hamburger when dining out.

When Ed and I skied Snowmass recently we found that Ullrhof, a restaurant at the base of the Big Burn (which we frequently choose for convenience rather than food), had been transformed to a "burger - shakes -  fries" stop. While  portobello and mahi mahi  burgers were options so was a locally raised grass fed beef burger;  I opted for the latter and found it quite good, cooked medium rare, and served with lettuce, onions, tomato and house dressing. I could identify with Barbara Kingsolver  (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life ) and her family ordering hamburgers at The Farmers Diner (moved to Quechee Vermont, now closed):

"The Vermont-raised hamburger with a side of slaw, home fries, or a salad is $6.50. At any price, it's an unusual experience to order a diner burger that does not come with a side of feedlot remorse.  For our family this was quiet a little red-letter occasion, since we'd stopped eating CAFO-produced beef about ten years earlier..... In Lily's life, this was the first time we'd ever walked into a diner and ordered burgers.  Understandably, she kept throwing me glances - this is really okay?  It was."(1)

As part of writing this post I called Bartley's Burgers and was delighted  to discover that they are now serving grass fed beef.  It really is okay to go there now too.

Right after we arrived home this week I got an e-mail from Alexandra sharing an article on grass fed Oregon beef as well as a link to the website of the farm she and Dan were about to try (pork chops that night).  She reported that the chops were excellent but the pick-up location still problematic.

1  Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life, page 149

© 2013 Edward C Kern, Jr.

March 2013:  Riding up the Big Burn chairlift this month, I noticed a factoid: last year the restaurants at the Aspen Skiing Company's four mountains served "43,000 pounds of Milangro Ranch beef." The "classic" Ullrhof hamburger, shown at left and above, is actually two (for faster, more-even cooking) 2.5 ounce patties.







Reviewed 5/7/17

Links to Bittman

If I were to pick my 2 most used cookbooks, they would be: How to Cook Everything (I have original edition/1998) by Mark Bittman and The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins .

Rosso and Lukins's The Silver Palate Cookbook (again I have the original edition) is also one of my very favorites but is not as all emcompassing as The New Basics Cookbook.

So on one hand I was sorry to read in The Minimalist Makes His Exit that one of my favorite cookbook authors, Mark Bittman,  would no longer be contributing recipes to the daily New York Times. On the other hand, as promised, Bittman is writing excellent op-ed pieces on the food industry and has also started contributing recipes to the NY Times Sunday Magazine.

As part of this transition, along with The Minimalist Makes His Exit (the pasta link on the first page of this article leads to some amazing information and additional links), the New York Times also published The Minimalist Chooses 25 of His Favorites; this list can also be found on Bittman's blog. There are a number of recipes within these links that I plan to try in the near future.

Reviewed 9/23/2017

Dark Chocolate Drizzle

Although last minute assembly is required, this dessert is so easy and if made with no-fat frozen yogurt (I use Stonyfield Farm) or sorbet, relatively healthy. In the photo at left, I have combined vanilla and chocolate no-fat frozen yogurt with sliced kiwi.  The topping is melted Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips.*  To melt the chips, place chips in a ramekin and microwave at high power for 30 seconds.  Stir and repeat this process until the chips are almost completely melted.  Careful, they will burn! Remove from microwave and continue stirring until all chips are melted and have a creamy consistency.

When entertaining in Colorado recently I gave guests a choice of Haagen Dazs Chocolate or Raspberry Sorbet or Boulder Ginger Ice Cream. They all said, "all three" and ate every bite with rave reviews (photo at left).  Another night, to finish a Mexican-theme dinner, I combined Boulder Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream  and Haagen Dazs Mango Sorbet with fresh sliced mango (photo below). This is a desert that works with infinite combinations.  For a slightly more time consuming variation see: Sort of Pears Helene. 

I make this so often that I just cover the ramekin containing any remaining melted chocolate and refrigerate until next use.

*  Ed's current preference for chunky (not metled) chips on (Java) frozen yogurt is Whole Foods 365 Dark Chocolate Baking Chunks (67% Cacao); I now use these for melting as well.



September 2017:  In reviewing this post I almost removed the bottom two photos. Combination of too much food, though the camera angles make it look like more than there actually is, bad plating and not very "artistic" drizzle. But then I thought about the "learn from your mistakes" bit,  Bottom two photos are examples of how not to serve this dessert; top photo how this dessert should look. Of course when guests ask for "all three", serving does become a challenge.

Reviewed 10/1/2017

Mustard Shrimp

The idea for this recipe came from a small plate I had at Zaytinya  (Turkish, Greek and Lebanese inspired cuisine) in Washington DC this fall.  The Garides me Anitho, (sauteed shrimp, dill, shallots, mustard, lemon juice), was especially good; after making and adjusting the recipe several times, this is my version .  Serves 2, scale accordingly.


In a large wok sautee:


1 1/2 T olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped


Until shallots and garlic just begin to brown, then add:


12-14 shelled and deveined, 21-35 count shrimp
Zest from one lemon 


Cook stirring often until shrimp are pink on both sides and cooked through, ~2 minutes, then add a mix of:
1 T whole-gain mustard
1 T Dijon classic mustard*
1 T dill weed, stems removed, chopped*
2 T lemon juice 


Cook another ~2 minutes until the sauce is warm and the shrimp are pink and firm and well coated with the sauce. Garnish with:


Parsley, chopped (optional) 


* Since I usually don't have dill on hand and don't want to buy a quantity if I am only cooking for 2, I use Duck Trap Dill Mustard Sauce instead of the the smooth mustard and chopped dill.

Reviewed 7/9/2017

Jason's Mushroom-Cheese

When I was in New Hampshire a few weeks ago, my brother Jason and I talked about a mushroom dish that he started making during his vegetarian days in Alaska (early 1970s).  He no longer had the recipe. I came home and unsuccessfully tried to locate the recipe I had copied from his, then yesterday when I was looking for another recipe I found:

"Sautee:

Mushrooms in
Butter and
Minced garlic

til soft and brown.

Make white sauce:

4 T butter
3 T flour
1 c milk
1 # sharp cheddar
Dash of nutmeg
1 T Worcestershire sauce
Dollop of Kirsch

Cook

Brown rice (1 c rice  - 2 c water)

45 minutes or until done.

Combine mushrooms, cheese and rice.  Serve."

NOTE: No quantity is given for the mushrooms and as I recall Jason used relatively small mushrooms and left them whole - more is probably better, at least a pound given the quantity of cheese.  Also in making the white sauce, melt the butter and the flour and mix well until butter and flour are combined in a smooth paste.  Gradually add the milk and then the GRATED cheddar cheese and remaining ingredients.

Reviewed 8/30/2017

Veal Stew/Paprikash

Good dinner for a cold night.  Ed and I were on our way home from spending Sunday in Brooklyn with Christopher who made us awesome homemade pasta for dinner. We stopped  for a few groceries, and I asked Ed to get something for dinner.  He appeared with veal stew meat that was on special.  "You used to make something with veal", he said.  I had, but not for a very long time. We came home and I dug out my (pre-blog) recipe and revised it to reflect our changing tastes and available ingredients. I only wish I had taken the extra pasta Chris offered us; it would have been awesome with this.

Serves ~4 (We ate half and saved half for another night.)

Trim off any extra fat and cut  into smaller cubes if necessary so no cubes are larger than 3/4 to 1 inch on a side, some will likely be smaller:

1 # veal stew

Dredge* veal in:

2T flour
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat sautee pan.* Saute:

2 T olive oil (heat first, this will also help minimize sticking)
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

until the garlic is browned, then add the stew beef and saute until it is browned on both sides.  Add:

1/2 c sweet onion, chopped finely
1/2 c celery, chopped finely
1/2 pound baby bella/crimini mushrooms, sliced (optional - not in my original recipe: "Hungarian Veal")

and sautee until the onion is wilted.  Add:

1/4 c dry white wine
1 t paprika (I used Hungarian Szeged)
1/4 t celery salt
1 T fresh parsley, finely chopped

Mix well then add:

2/3 c chicken stock.

Cover and simmer 45 minutes to one hour. Stir occasionally, adding more liquid if necessary. Scrape any browned flour residue off the bottom of the pan and incorporate into the sauce.

I had intended to add:

8 oz yogurt mixed with
1 T cornstarch

about 10 minutes before serving but there appeared to be enough sauce of the right consistency that I chose not to.  Next time I am going to going to use only 1/3 c of chicken stock to start, adding more if necessary, then uncover the pan and add the yogurt mix about 10 minutes before serving.

* January 2013: See Browning for discussion on whether to flour meat before browning, not at all, or as Julia Child does after initial browning.  This post also notes heating pan to 400 to 450 degrees before adding oil will minimize contents sticking to the pan.

Reviewed 5/7/17