Stroganoff

We're doing a happy dance here.  Why?  We have flowers - YAY!  The first crocus of the season is happily blooming and the second one is close. 

Typically, a yellow crocus is the first but this year the lavender one wins.  We also have hellebores blooming like crazy.  I'd never had one before and am loving this guy.  I have room for a couple more so will hunt for a couple I like this summer. 

We've also got tons of daffodils with buds.  The hyacinths and tulips have loads of leaves up.  And the daylilies, rhubarb and peonies are just now starting to pop up.  Wow.  I love spring!!!  Hopefully this weekend we'll have an opportunity to go dig in the yard a bit. Well, that is if the weather cooperates...  I'm reading that it's supposed to drop below freezing again on Sunday and I've got appointments all day on Saturday.  So, probably Connie'll get to dig and I won't :-( 


Back to food...  My friend Christiane at Taking on Magazines posted a blog about a stroganoff recipe from Fine Cooking. Boy oh boy did that bring back memories. When I was a kid, Mom used to make Nikki's Beef Stroganoff. It's very good and very quick.


Then, when I was working at Indiana National Bank one of my colleagues gave me her recipe for beef stroganoff. It also has ground beef in it but is made with consomme rather than tomato soup. Along the way my "other mother's" (aka my high school best friend's mom) stroganoff came along. It's got dill and ripe olives and waterchestnuts and is amazing. Finally, back in 1994 a date fixed me stroganoff made with steak. Yummmmm!


Over the years I've tried probably a dozen more stroganoff recipes. And, I've loved them all.  I've narrowed down my favorite to one made with consomme.  So, here I am with a huge package of stew beef to make Lou's Barbecue Beef. And, Christiane posts her blog. I've just got to try this.  I held back about a pound of the better pieces of stew beef.  It's better on the budget than steak but doesn't tend to be as tender.  After teaching my Social Security class way west in Danville, I finally got home at 7:30.  My desire to follow a new recipe had waned.  I wanted MY stroganoff.  I read Christiane's recipe and it was pretty darned close to my recipe.  She used beef broth, I used consomme.  I added more mushrooms and onion.  And, I used lowfat sour cream.  We did miss the steak but our wallets were happier!  One interesting note here...  Fine Cooking does a segment where they have a chef prepare a classic preparation then have a different chef create one with a twist.  Christiane's version was the classic.

Stroganoff

Ingredients:
1 lb steak or stew beef
1 medium onion
12 oz mushrooms
2 T olive oil
1 T chopped garlic
1 can consomme
1 T red wine
1 T flour
1 c light sour cream

Directions:

Pour one tablespoon of olive oil into a medium saucepan.  Add the sliced onions. 

Pour 1 T olive oil in a large saucepan.  When it is sizzling hot, add the beef.  Try not to let the pieces touch or they'll steam rather than brown. 

When the beef is browned, remove it from the pan and set it aside.  Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan.  When the mushrooms are almost cooked and the onions are just starting to brown,

add the garlic to the onions.  If it's added too early, it'll burn.  After the garlic has cooked for about a minute, sprinkle the flour over the onions stir it in and allow it to cook for about a minute.  Pour in the consomme and red wine and stir well.  When the onion mixture has thickened a bit, add it to the skillet with the mushrooms.  Add the beef and the sour cream and stir well. 

Serve over wide egg noodles.