Tag: beef

Connie’s Jiffy Beef Stroganoff

When we lived in Kentucky, we belonged to a dinner group which met every other month or so. Couples took turns hosting a special dinner, the hosts determined the menu and members brought the dish assigned to them. It was a fun group, we ate well and everyone learned some new recipes. For me the only downside was the fact that my serious weight gain began around that time.

The husband of one couple taught Russian language and literature. His wife, Helga, was from Germany and was a wonderful cook. I and other husbands used to point out to our wives that she also washed their garage door windows weekly. Actually, we called this to their attention only when we were looking for a fight or were trying to deflect our spouse’s attention from grass that needed mowing or some other such unpleasant chore.

One time, Helga decided to host a Russian dinner. I don’t remember what Jerri’s assignment was, but Russian cuisine features lots of mushroom recipes, so she may have made something with fungi. We had mushroom appetizers, mushroom salad and mushroom soup brought by visiting couples. Helga cooked two different kinds of beef Stroganoff with wild mushrooms which she served with a choice of kasha or noodles.

I am pretty sure that that dinner was the first time I tasted kasha, that wonderful alternative to rice or noodles made with buckwheat groats. Kasha has been a popular Russian dish for hundreds of years, so Helga very likely included it on her menu for a Russian dinner.

Everything was delicious if somewhat repetitious. I have a vague recollection that dessert was baba au rhum and I know that we had ice cold vodka for an aperitif and a good red wine with the meal.

This recipe for beef Stroganoff is not an authentic Russian recipe (note the can of mushroom soup), but it is simple and absolutely delicious. Connie, Jerri’s friend and fellow teacher at Maine South High School, gave it to her before our wedding. Connie was the sharp-eyed friend who spotted the traffic jam on the Interstate and helped Jerri find a way home through fifteen miles of city streets during the Chicago Blizzard of 1967.

Connie wrote the recipe on a “Here’s what’s cookin” card which Jerri files under main dishes in the box she got for the recipe shower her friends gave her before she left Chicago. As you would expect from a teacher, the recipe is clear, concise and foolproof. Here is Connie’s Jiffy Beef Stroganoff. It serves six generously. May you enjoy it as much as we have.

INGREDIENTS;

1 1/2 lbs. beef
2 T all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 T vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 small clove garlic
4 oz. canned mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 T water
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped pimiento
1 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp. brown seasoning sauce
2 T minced parsley
Rice or noodles

PROCEDURE:

Slice the meat into strips about 1 1/2 by 1/4 inches and dredge them in the flour, salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a covered skillet over medium heat and brown the meat.

Chop the onion, mince the garlic and drain the mushrooms while the meat browns.

Reduce the heat to low and mix the onion, garlic, mushrooms, soup and a tablespoon of water with the meat. Cover the skillet while you grate the cheese and chop or drain the pimiento. Stir in the cheese and pimiento, cover again and simmer for about twenty minutes until the meat is done.

Stir in the sour cream and seasoning sauce. Mince the parsley and stir it into the mixture. If the sauce seems too thick, you can thin it with a little milk. Continue simmering the stroganoff over very low heat for an hour. Connie says that you can serve it almost immediately but that it is much better simmered for awhile.

Serve over rice or noodles with a green salad, bread and a glass of red wine.

NOTES: Connie noted that you can substitute hamburger for the beef, but I would not recommend it. She also suggested that the Stroganoff was great with Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice. I can vouch for that, but I still prefer noodles.

It is great warmed up!

Easy Cube Steak and Mushrooms

Take some lean chewy beefsteak, pound it until it cries for mercy, simmer it slowly in a little wine and water until it gives up and falls to pieces and you will end up with one of the most wonderful simple main courses you will ever find. Mom had a wooden mallet with a waffled surface that she used to tenderize the cheap cuts of meat we grew up on. I can still see her slamming the mallet down on a defenseless piece of round steak.

We have a metal meat tenderizer today. It’s smaller than Mom’s but it does the job. However, as I have become older, wiser and lazier, I now buy cube steak, which is round steak that has been tenderized by a machine at the butcher shop. Starting with cube steak, you can put a meal on the table in well under an hour, even allowing a few minutes to peel the potatoes and catch your breath with a sip of the wine you use to help tenderize the beef.

INGREDIENTS:

1 to 1 1/2 lbs. cube steak
2 to 3 T vegetable oil
1 small carrot
1 small parsnip
1/4 cup grated onion
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 3/4 cups water, divided
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 four oz. can mushrooms
2 T corn starch
1/4 cup cold water

PROCEDURE:

Mix the flour, salt and pepper together. Clean, peel and grate the onion, carrot and parsnip.

Put two tablespoons of oil into a covered skillet over moderate heat. Cut the cube steak into serving-size pieces and dredge them in the seasoned flour. Brown the meat and remove it from the skillet. Put the vegetables into the skillet and sauté them over moderate heat for five minutes. Add more oil if necessary.

While the vegetables are cooking, you will notice that the flour from the meat is continuing to darken. This will give a rich brown color to the sauce. Dissolve two beef bouillon cubes in 1 1/2 cups hot water.

Pour the water and wine into the skillet and use a wooden spoon to scrape the flour from the bottom of the pan. Return the meat to the skillet, cover and simmer for fifteen minutes.

Drain the mushrooms and add them to the skillet. Stir two tablespoons of corn starch into a quarter cup of cold water and stir it into the skillet. Simmer for five minutes to cook the starch and thicken the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve with bread, boiled potatoes and a green salad. If you enjoy wine at dinner, pour a glass of the wine you used for the meat.

NOTES: Cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel or merlot are all good wine choices for this dish.

A pound of cube steak will give you three generous servings. A pound and half will serve four or five diners. You might want to use a medium carrot and parsnip and increase the amount of water, wine and flour slightly to give you more gravy if you use the larger amount of steak.

Many people have told me that they have never eaten parsnips, but it is almost certain that they have eaten sauces or stews that include this cousin of the carrot. Parsnips sweeten in the ground after a hard frost and are sometimes harvested when the top inch of soil is already frozen. They are so sweet that they were used as a source of sugar before cane and beet sugar became available. The Romans valued parsnips so much that the emperor Tiberius accepted parsnips as partial payment of tribute from Germany.

When you buy them in the market, they are usually dipped in wax to keep them from drying out. Peeling removes the wax and the outer skin of the parsnip. The parsnip, carrot and onion need to be finely grated and sautéd to flavor the sauce without calling attention to themselves.