Disaster Chef: Traditional Beef Stroganoff

Last month I posted about a beef stroganoff with wine sauce. While I was looking for stroganoff recipes, I found many, most with cream of mushroom soup. While I liked the wine sauce, I wanted to try my hand at a more traditional stroganoff, too. So I made this for my family.

I'm not big on using prepackaged foods, so I made my own cream of mushroom soup. See recipe on last week's post, here.

The recipe I used this time was a quick and easy one from Everything in Moderation, again using ground beef, although I used lamb. I admit, I'm not the hugest fan of lamb, and I ended up with a lot of it when one of my friends offered me a year-old sheep. Since it was raised outdoors and not mass-market, of course I accepted. I have to find recipes that will somewhat disguise the flavor, so this one seemed like a good one for some of the ground lamb. But I don't think it would be much different using beef, except beef may have a bit more fat in it.

Here is the recipe. It was super easy!

1 lb. lean ground beef (I used lamb)
1 med. onion, chopped
1 T. Cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water (I used milk here)
1 tsp. garlic powder (here I substituted 3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I used 2 c. cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 c. whole milk)
1 (16 oz.) pkg. dried egg noodles (we used quinoa for a bed instead of noodles since my sister is gluten free)
1 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)

Brown beef and onion in skillet till meat is done and onion is transparent (I also added about a cup of sliced portabella mushrooms to the pan with the onion and meat). Drain grease (I didn't do this). Dissolve cornstarch in cold water and pour onto meat. Stir in garlic (saute another 1-2 mins if using fresh), salt & pepper and soups. Cook for five minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 minutes (everything was done, so I removed from heat after about 3 minutes). Meanwhile, cook noodles (or rice or quinoa) according to pkg. directions. When done, drain . Remove meat mixture from heat and stir in sour cream and mix well. Add to noodles and mix till well blended.

We topped the quinoa with stroganoff, though you can mix if you want. One of my sisters did not like this recipe at all, but everyone else thought it was okay. I liked it, and my son ate some, though he complained and picked out all the mushrooms. So, for a picky eater, maybe not.

Recipe: 4 of 4 spoons.

Clear instructions, very easy.
Product: 3 of 4 spoons. Tasty enough. I'd make it again, though my family isn't a big fan.

Disaster Chef: Beef Stroganoff with Wine Sauce

For my very first post on my new blog, it's back to Pinterest for some recipes.

This week I had some ground beef defrosted, and I went looking on Pinterest, the old stand-by when I can't decide what to cook. I realized that I don't think I've ever had stroganoff before, although it is apparently a staple. My family was never into the whole noodly-meat thing. They all had memories of eating it in the school cafeteria, and everyone agreed it tasted like dog food.

Nevertheless, I forged onward with my search for a recipe. I found two I wanted to try, and of course I chose the easier one first (easier for me, since I had all the ingredients).

Here's the link to it on Pinterest, and on the website Manila Spoon. Here is My Take on it:

Olive Oil for frying
1 lb ground Beef
 5 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium/small Onion, chopped
1 teaspoons Salt
Ground pepper
2 teaspoons ground Paprika
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup red wine (I used sweet, because that's what I had)
 8 oz Mushrooms, sliced
1 c. frozen peas
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning blend
1/2 - cup water for cooking (I didn't have beef broth)
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2-3 cups brown rice

Directions: 

Put the rice on to cook first. It took me just as long to make this dish as the rice took, so it all came out at the same time. Brown rice does take about 40 minutes to cook, so if you use white, adjust accordingly. While the rice is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onions for about 3-5 minutes until they are translucent, then add garlic and cook for a minute. Crumble the beef and cook until it's fully browned. Season with salt, pepper, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir occasionally.

Pour in the red wine. Let it boil until it has evaporated.

Add the Italian seasoning, frozen peas and chopped mushrooms and cook until the juices/liquid of the mushrooms have been released. Pour in the water or broth and stir in the sour cream. Simmer, while occasionally stirring, until the mixture thickens slightly roughly 5-7 minutes.

Remove the rice and stroganoff from heat. Top rice with stroganoff and a dollop of sour cream.

I did vary the recipe a bit, adding peas so it would have a little more vegetables, adding extra garlic and leaving out the garlic powder, etc, from the original recipe. But I stayed pretty close, and it turned out well. It isn't my favorite food, but it was certainly better than dog food! I am going to try the ole cream of mushroom soup variety next time, as I think I would have liked it a little more creamy. The source recipe was good, though, and the wine adds a bit of a twist. Even my son ate his whole plate of it, once he got past the less than lovely appearance. He promised to try it to be polite, and then ate up the whole thing. Around here, that qualifies as a success!

Recipe: 5 spoons of goodness
Product: 3.5 spoons of goodness

Disaster Chef: Taco Casserole (project pinterest) (ammended Weight Watcher's recipe)

I found a recipe for Taco Casserole on Pinterest last fall, but when I went back for it, the blog was gone. Super disappointed, since it looked awesome. I really wanted to make it anyway, so I searched and of course about a hundred recipes came up. After reading a few, I settled on this one, which sounded good.


Unfortunately, it was a Weight Watcher's recipe, which stands for everything I'm against! If it works for you, my apologies, and good job. So I'm posting the recipe below, along with my NOT low-fat recommendations.


1 lb extra lean ground beef (drained or rinsed!) (...NO NO NO! Do not use lean meat, and do not rinse. Saturated fat is not the enemy! lol...seriously, regular grass-fed beef, no draining and dear lord no rinsing...are you trying to remove all taste?!)                                     

1/2 cup onion (chopped)

1/4 cup canned jalapeno slices, chopped (I skipped these, since my son doesn't like spicy food, but I also put salsa on top once it was done)                                           

2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped or 1 (15 ounce) can diced canned tomatoes

1 (15 ounce) can kernel corn (drained) (I used frozen corn since that's what I had)

1 (15 ounce) can black beans (rinsed and drained) (Used red beans, since I had some cooked)                                    

1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning mix (chili powder, cumin and salt did the trick).                                          

8 corn tortillas

3/4 cup nonfat sour cream (REGULAR)                                                  

1/3 cup reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend, shredded (About a cup of regular shredded cheese on top was perfect)                                          

1/3 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped, to taste (or less (or more) 

(GARNISH: I USED SALSA, OLIVES, SOUR CREAM, LETTUCE, CILANTRO)                                    

Directions:

1. 1
   Brown ground beef and chopped onions in large skillet; brown 10 to 12 minutes or until thoroughly cooked, stirring constantly. Drain well and rinse with warm water to remove all fat; return beef/onions to skillet. (Please don't wash your beef. It's weird).
2. 2
   Add corn, black beans, tomatoes, chilies/jalapenos and taco seasoning mix; mix well. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes.
3. 3
   Meanwhile spray 12x8-inch (2-quart) baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cut each tortilla in half; place 8 halves in bottom of sprayed baking dish, overlapping slightly.
4. 4
   Spoon half of beef mixture evenly over tortillas. Spoon sour cream over beef mixture; spread evenly. Top with remaining 8 tortilla halves and remaining beef mixture. (Cover tightly with foil & Freeze for later OR cook as directed below…).
5. 5
   (Thaw overnight if frozen) Heat oven to 350ºF. Bake at 350ºF for 25 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle with cheese. Cover; let stand 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve with fresh chopped lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, black olives, etc… /.
6. 6
   Makes 6 large Servings at 6.5 weight watcher pts/each.

It turned out pretty tasty, especially after garnishes. Without that, it was a little plain. Also, the corn I used was really sweet for some reason, and tasted a little off in the recipe. I might leave out the corn next time. But, there will definitely be a next time. It was really tasty, and pretty easy to make. It did take a bit of time, but it was worth it. Everyone liked it, picky-eater son included, though he said he'd rather have tacos next time.