Stroganoff...ish

I had 1lb of ground beef in my fridge, but nothing tomato-ey of any kind (so any sort of spaghetti sauce was out), nor beans, or cheese, or any good Tex-Mex-y additions.  I was about to settle on making meatloaf, but then, I remembered that I had mushrooms....and half of a container of sour cream.  AND my new pasta press was just begging to make some more noodles.

While I'm sure it would be way better with sliced sirloin, my Hamburger Helper style beef stroganoff turned into a pretty decent weekday dinner.

Also, I think it's really hard to make Stroganoff look appetizing.  But...here's the picture anyway:

Beef Stroganoff

I used this recipe for Beef Stroganoff as a starting point, because it was one of the simplest I'd seen, but after browsing through a few other recipes as well, here's what I used and did:

Beef Stroganoff (Hamburger Helper Style)

• Ground Beef - about 1lb
• Montreal Steak Seasoning
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Onion, diced (about 1/3 of a medium yellow onion)
• Garlic, chopped (2 cloves)
• Mushrooms, sliced (about 1/2lb)
• Rosemary
• Butter
• Salt and Pepper
• Sour Cream (about 1 cup)
• Dijon Mustard (a couple of teaspoons - to taste, really)
• Pasta Noodles - I used fresh-made Fusilli, but it's usually those big flat egg noodles, right?

1. I browned the ground beef and seasoned it while in the skillet with Montreal Steak Seasoning, salt and pepper, and little Worcestershire sauce, then set it aside when done.
2. I sautéed the onions and garlic in a little butter, then added that to the beef.
3. I sautéed the mushrooms in a little butter, and added some dried rosemary, salt and pepper.
4. I stirred all of this together with the sour cream, and a couple of spoonfuls of Dijon mustard.
5. I did thin mine down with just a little water because my sour cream was very thick.

It wasn't anything fancy but it certainly was easy and tasted good.

Frittata.

Frittata with Sausage, Spinach, Mushrooms, Cheese

• Ground Sausage, about 1/2 lb
• Fresh Spinach, a handful...or whatever looks good to you
• Onion, chopped, about 1/4 medium-sized onion
• Mushrooms, sliced, about 1/4 lb
• Parmesan and Cheddar cheeses, grated (I didn't measure...just make it as cheesy as you want!)
• Eggs, I used 6
• Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat the Broiler and move the oven rack up closer to it - about 4-6" from broiler
2. Brown the sausage in an oven-safe skillet
3. Add the onion, mushrooms, continue to cook until onions translucent
4. Add the spinach just until a little wilty
5. Beat Eggs together in a bowl, add salt, pepper, grated cheeses
6. Fold eggs into sausage and vegetables in skillet, cook just until bottom is set
7. Move skillet to oven and broil until eggs are set and beginning to brown
8. Slice and Eat.  Yum!

Frittata in Skillet

Crispy Polenta and Mushrooms.

Crispy Polenta with Mushroom Ragout

Mark = greatness.

Yesterday, I had planned for us to have crispy polenta with sautéed mushrooms on top as part of a meatless meal (Fridays in Lent, baby).  I was going to be at work until 6pm, so I asked Mark if he'd be willing to make the Polenta so it was set and ready for the skillet when I got home.  He was a bit nervous about it, but I assured him it was as easy as making grits and to just look up a recipe online and he'd be fine.

I expected to come home to need to fry the polenta pieces and sauté the mushrooms...and in a hurry too, because we were going to the Opera at 7:30.

I came home to this:

Appetizer Plate

And this:

Salad with Dates, Grapefruit, Pine nuts, and homemade Red Wine Vinaigrette

And Mark, upon looking up a recipe to see how to make the polenta, saw that it was paired with a yummy sounding Mushroom Ragout, and realized we actually had everything for it in the kitchen, and so I actually came home to him dredging the polenta pieces, ready to fry them himself.

Polenta ready for the skillet

And the Mushroom Ragout he made....fantastic.  It rivaled the crispy polenta with shiitakes made at our favorite Italian place in Little Rock, AR: Vesuvio Bistro.

10 million points for Mark.

Crispy Polenta with Mushroom Ragout
(Mark used milk instead of cream in the sauce.  And you could use vegetable stock instead of chicken to make it totally vegetarian.  And you can also grill polenta instead of frying!)