Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil, divided 

2 lb sirloin steak, sliced thinly

1 lb crimini mushrooms, sliced

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 c all purpose flour

1 c red wine

1 T butter

3 c beef broth

2 T Worcestershire sauce

1 lg onion, thinly sliced

1 shallot, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 c sour cream

2 T Dijon mustard

2 t dried tarragon

2 t thyme

2 T chopped flat leaved parsley or 2 t dried

1 lb Buttered home-style egg noodles, prepared according to package directions

Instructions:

Toss beef with salt and pepper. Sauté mushrooms in a few T of olive oil for about 3 minutes or until reduced. Season with salt and pepper. Remove mushrooms to another bowl. 

Toss beef with flour and shake off the excess flour. Add a little more oil to pan and cook beef in small batches letting both sides get a little color. Put in the same bowl with the mushrooms. 

Deglaze the pan with the red wine. Pour the wine over the beef/mushroom mixture. 

Add butter to the pan and add onions, shallots, and garlic. Add mustard, salt and pepper, thyme, tarragon, and parsley. 

Add mushroom mixture back to the pan and add beef broth and Worcestershire sauce.  Simmer until thickened for about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and add sour cream. Serve with buttered noodles.

Sheila's Mushroom Stew (inspired by Beoseot Jeongol)

Choose a variety of Asian mushrooms to make this dish adding up to the equivalent of about 45 oz of mushrooms or more. You want to have a balance of 50% or more meatier mushrooms (king oyster and shitake) and 50% or fewer lighter mushrooms (oyster, shimeji, and enoki). You can find these mushrooms at an Asian grocery store. You will find that they are much cheaper there too! This version is vegetarian but you could add thinly sliced beef if you want.

Ingredients:

3  king oyster mushrooms, sliced into medallions

1/2 pkg fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1/2 pkg fresh oyster mushrooms, chopped

1/2 pkg of shimeji mushrooms (brown beech/brown clamshell)

1 pkg of enoki mushrooms

2 TB olive oil

salt and pepper

1 red onion, sliced

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 TB mirin

1/8 c soy sauce or tamari

1 block of tofu, cubed

2 c water/broth

1 small zucchini, cut in half then sliced in half moons

5-6 baby bok choy, cleaned and drained

2 c bean sprouts, rinsed and drained

1 TB mushroom powder (or chicken bouillon)

1 tsp smoked red pepper or smoked paprika

3 green onions, chopped

2 tsp sesame oil

1. Heat a braiser or large deep skillet with a lid over medium heat. Add 2 TB of olive oil to heat. Add red onion, king oyster medallions and shiitakes. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Sauté for 2-3 minutes letting the mushrooms release their liquid; then, add minced garlic. Continue to cook a few more minutes until a fond of nice brown bits develops on the bottom of the pan.  

2. Add mirin and tamari and scrape up the fond with a spatula. Add water or broth and tofu and turn up the heat to medium high to allow liquid to come to a boil. Add oyster and shimeji mushrooms to the liquid as it is coming to a boil. Add mushroom powder and smoked pepper. Turn down to simmer for about 5 minutes. 

3. Nestle the baby bok choy in the liquid and let cook for a couple minutes. Add zucchini, bean sprouts, and enoki mushrooms and cover for 3-4 minutes. 

4. Remove from heat and add green onion and sesame oil. 

Serve with steamed brown rice. I like to add some chili crunch oil to the top! 

Beoseot Jeongol (Korean Mushroom Hotpot)

Beoseot Jeongol (Korean Mushroom Hotpot)

This is one of my favorite dishes. Jeongol pans are similar in appearance to paella pans – anything wide and deep will do. Hotpots are generally cooked on a burner on the table while everyone gathers round watching it simmer. If you don’t have a burner for your table, you can just as easily cook it on your stovetop and move it to the table for serving. The broth is the star of this dish. You want to make it multidimensional with lots of umami flavor.

Broth (enough for 2 hotpots):

2 c dried shitake mushroom (or equivalent amount of several dried varieties)

4 c boiling water

2 -2”pieces of kombu (dried kelp)

6  lg dried anchovies

4 c water

½ T salt

Rinse dried mushrooms to remove grit and place in a large bowl. Cover with boiling water and put a weighted plate on top to keep mushrooms submerged, until mushrooms are fully rehydrated for around 1 hour. Reserve liquid for broth and slice mushrooms (remove hard stems) for the hot pot.

Put remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Remove and discard anchovies and kombu. Combine with mushroom liquid and keep at a low simmer.

Bulgogi:

1 lb of thinly sliced beef (bulgogi style) such as flank steak

½ onion, sliced

3 green onions, split and sliced in 2” pieces including green and white parts

5 T soy sauce

2 T sesame oil

2 T sesame seeds

1½ T sugar in the raw

2 T minced garlic

1 T minced ginger

½ t black pepper

Combine and set aside for a least 1 hour.

Make Two HotPots (one with beef and one without):

Ingredients for one hotpot

2 -3 lb fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (oyster, king oysters, enoki, brown, shitake, etc.)

rehydrated mushrooms, sliced

bulgogi

1 onion, sliced

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch green onion, split and sliced in 2” pieces including green and white parts

1 block tofu, sliced

watercress, chopped (optional)

1 T Korean red pepper flakes (gochu karu), optional

½ c soy sauce

1 T black vinegar

1 T sesame oil

In large wide jeongol pan, lightly coat with oil and arrange vegetables and beef. Reserve a few green onion tops for adding at the end.  Put a mound of raw bulgogi in the center (omit in the vegetarian pot) and arrange mushrooms, onions and green onions in little stacks all around it. Here is an example below:

Add slices of tofu on top of the other ingredients. Sprinkle generously with black pepper. Heat pan over medium for about 5 minutes, until fresh mushrooms release their liquid. Add warm broth until vegetables are just covered. Bring to a boil and turn down to simmer until beef and vegetables are cooked, about 10 minutes. Add soy sauce and black vinegar.  Taste broth and adjust seasoning if necessary. As it cooks, stir it around. Sprinkle with watercress and a few reserved green onion tops. Add enoki mushrooms if using and cook until wilted about 1 minute. Add 1 T sesame oil.

Serve with steamed rice.

Continue adding additional broth as necessary as people serve themselves from the pot.

Winter Squash, Kale, and Mushroom Quiche with Sausage

I love to think creatively about what I can do with ingredients that I have on hand. This is the result.

Winter Squash, Kale, and Mushroom Quiche with Sausage

Filling for four quiches + extra for frittata:

1 lb ground sausage

1 onion, minced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bunch of kale, chopped

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

4 C butternut squash cut in bite-sized pieces

Quiche (you need to quadruple for four, I like to prepare each custard individually):
1/4 to 1/2 c of shredded cheese (I like to combine different kinds)
4 eggs
2 c whole milk or combo of milk and cream equiv. to 2 cups
1/2 t salt
a couple twists of Trader Joe's South African Smoke Seasoning Blend
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1 c filling, drained

Your favorite pie crust recipe or use pre-made placed in 9 in. pie pan. You will have to use less liquid if your pan is smaller than 9 in.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425 F. Saute onions and garlic with sausage until no pink remains in sausage. Drain. Add mushrooms and squash cooking until they release their liquid. Add kale and cook while preparing other ingredients. Drain.
2. Add eggs, milk, salt, seasoning, and nutmeg to a large bowl. Whisk until well blended.
3. Mix in filling.
4. Sprinkle crust with 1/4 to 1/2 c of shredded cheese.
5. Pour custard mixture into piecrust. Repeat steps 2-5 for additional quiche.
6. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 F and bake for 30 minutes or until eggs are set and golden brown.
7. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Serve either warm or cold.


Use remaining filling for a casserole, frittata, or crust-less quiche cups.

Here is my quiche.

I made the remaining filling into crustless quiche cups.

Lamb Shanks/Chops in the Crock Pot

I just made some Majorcan Eggplant and the recipe suggested that it would be tasty with lamb. I had two lamb shanks in the freezer, so I put them in the crock pot thinking that I could go to the store and get some more to add to it, but there were no lamb shanks anywhere! Apparently they are strictly a fall item.  I added some lamb chops to the crock pot instead. My house smells so good. mmmm.

4 lamb shanks (or 2 lamb shanks and 3 lamb chops; or two lamb shanks and a 2.5 lb boneless leg roast)
2 lg onions cut into rings
10 cloves of garlic
1 lb sliced mushrooms
1-2 tsp or a couple of glugs of Worcestershire sauce
salt
Trader Joe's South African Smoked Pepper
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
4-5 smallish tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c double-strength beef broth
1/2 c red wine
1 T Herbes de Provence
1 bay leaf

Place the sliced onions on the bottom of the crock pot. Salt and pepper the lamb generously and place on top of the onions. Add the garlic, mushrooms and bay leaf. Sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce.

Mix the tomatoes, beef broth, wine, herbs, and smoked paprika in a small bowl. Add to the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with Majorcan Eggplant and rice.

Note: You can convert the leftovers into an easy cassoulet. I shredded the remaining meat in the sauce and put it in a casserole dish. I added some broth, white beans and sprinkled the top with bread crumbs. and baked in a 350 oven until everything was nice and bubbly. It was amazing.