Primal Beef Stroganoff

Primal Beef Stroganoff

Beef Strogonoff is one of my favorite winter meals, for family or for guests

This is SERIOUSLY good, elegant, and actually quite easy!

We try for grass-fed, hormone-free beef--the difference in nutritional value is startling, compared to feedlot animals!  Much, MUCH higher in Omega 3s...I like to think of  the cattle out there peacefully grazing, anyway, like the ones we see as we drive home to our small town.

It's not that expensive, especially if you go in with another family or two and buy direct from the farmer. 


Here's my usual recipe:

1 lb. stew-cut beef (give or take...the package we got today was about a pound and a quarter)
1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped
1 large clove of garlic
4 ounces crimini or other mushrooms, sliced--we got them on sale, two packages for $4, so used one and saved one for another dish.
2 T butter
8 oz. water or broth, also give or take--enough to cover the meat and vegetables
1/2 cup white wine or dry sherry (optional)

1/2 cup sour cream--organic, if you can find it.
1/4 cup unflavored Greek yogurt or heavy cream--again, organic if possible

Sea salt, a sprinkle of fancy paprika and black or mixed pepper to taste

I sautee'd the onions and garlic in butter till golden, with a few browned edges, and removed them from the pan. Then I added the beef and let it brown a little, till the watery liquid had cooked away and turned a deliciously dark, rich brown--don't let it burn, though!

The onion and garlic go back into the pan with the beef and water or broth; meanwhile, I sautee'd the mushrooms in another pan till golden, and added them to the beef mixture.  (Deglaze the mushroom pan with a little of the beef broth--you don't want to lose any of that deliciousness!)

The meat has simmered in the broth till tender, along with mushrooms and onions...

Add the salt and pepper and a dash of paprika, if you like.  Then add the optional wine or sherry and simmer with a lid on till the meat is tender--an hour or two, or all day in the crock pot or slow cooker. 

Remove the lid and reduce the stock by about half, then add the sour cream and yogurt.  (Or you can use one or the other of these, depending on what you have on hand.)

Serve over steamed cauliflower, if you wish, or just pile on your plate or in a shallow bowl.  If you don't mind the carbs, you can use white potatoes or noodles, but I've cut way back on that stuff and feel much better for it!

I served it with a carrot salad, and we're both quite happily stuffed...er, I mean, satisfied!

The Onion Farm

My husband is an interesting guy...when he makes enchiladas or other things that he uses scallions or green onions in, he doesn't use the white part, just the tops.  Soooo...he decided, rather than let them go to waste, he'd stick them in the ground. 

Ah ha, indeed they DID grow new tops...outdoors.

Winter came, and we decided we were fond of those fresh, always-ready scallions, so we put them in a pot indoors, in the kitchen. 

....and that worked, too.  Recently, our CSA, Fresh Connect, offered organic green onions, so of course we got them.  And now we have too many onions for the pot above!  We got a long, rectangular, terra cotta pot, and now we REALLY have an onion farm. 

We cut them back whenever we need a bit of garnish...and so far, we've never run out of green onions, free and fresh.  Doesn't get much better than that.

Simple pleasures...

 

Not only did I enjoy PAINTING the interesting little thing that looked like it was right out of The Jetsons, but the eggs taste great, too...

He'd told me about this thing for years...I was delighted he finally found an affordable one on eBay.  But I'll let Joseph share about this in his own words!

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Ya gotta wonder...

…about the elegantly beautiful inventions from the past that are no more. Why did they become extinct? What stupid business decision caused them to be “improved” out of existence?

Behold the Sunbeam E2 Egg Cooker.




Prick the narrow end of up to a half-dozen eggs with the needle inside the lid (to keep them from exploding), measure the amount of water you need for the desired hardness (using either the graded levels inside the lid or, if you want to be really precise, the plastic measuring dohicky on the top), pour the water in, add the eggs, put the lid on, and turn it on. When the water inside the unit is steamed away, your eggs are done to perfection. A heat sensitive metal contact trips the electric switch to the off position with a loud click. Kate nearly jumped out of her skin the first time this happened!

My mom had one of these, probably from when it first came out in 1954. It was in her kitchen cupboard up until around the time she passed away. Whether she gave it to someone, or it got moved to some other place in the house, garage or storage shed, or someone simply walked off with it, remains unknown. But courtesy of eBay I now have a replacement.

I love soft-boiled eggs but I have never had the patience to sit beside the stove with a timer to get them done properly, probably because I grew up with this marvelous device. I’m happy to have one in our kitchen once again.

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Gotta love those simple pleasures, too...

Oh, my...savory cream cheese onion pie!

I tweaked a recipe that turned out to be just the basic inspiration for this dish...the original was in Diane Mott Davidson's novel, Prime Cut, but I took off (wildly!) from there. 

Almost no carbs, lots of protein and LOTS of taste...

1 package cream cheese or neufchatel 

4 eggs (preferable free range, cage-free)

1/2 yellow onion, diced and sautee'd in butter or oil

1 C. spinach or wild greens...cooked, drained well and chopped  (we had some heavy-duty salad greens from a biodynamic farm that made great cooked greens...)

1/2 T. Dijon mustard

1/4 C.  grated Parmesan (I used a mix of Parmesan/Asiago/Romano)

1 C. grated Gruyere, if you have it.  If not, any amount of whatever cheese you like.  I had Cotswold chive...and only about 1/3 cup.  Whatever.  It's not an exact science!)

Sprinkle of paprika (I used smoked)

Little bit of cumin or cayenne (I couldn't find the cayenne)

Sea salt

Pepper to taste (you can use Pepperman for these last two...it's gorgeous!)


If you think you need more liquid, 1/4 C. cream, milk, white wine, chicken stock, whatever.  No biggie.  It's only 1/4 cup!

If you've got scallions or chives, add 1/2 cup chopped.  If not, don't worry about it, it's going to be delicious anyway!

I skipped the crust 'cause I'm skipping empty carbs as much as possible.

Mix the cream cheese/neufchatel till soft, beat in the eggs one at a time (or all at once, who cares?)  Add the Dijon and mix well with a mixer.

Saute' the onions, drain and chop the greens, grate the cheese and stir them all in along with the spices and salt.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and bake for about an hour, until the mixture is set and browned on top.  The scent will drive you crazy well in advance of this, of course...

Perfect for a chilly late fall day...

Buffalo Chicken Soup!

Y'know, it's much faster taking photos...honest, I WILL do sketches again when I catch my breath!  Meanwhile, here's Joseph's delicious

 

Buffalo Chicken Soup

 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/4 cup tapioca or arrowroot flour
• 3/4 cup milk or cream
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon Better Than Bullion Chicken Flavor
• 2 boneless chicken breasts or 4 boneless thighs, cut in bite size chunks
• 1/4 C. of your favorite hot sauce, more or less...we use Cholula
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• Bleu cheese/gorgonzola crumbles

Directions

You can start with cooked chicken breasts, (if you do, skip this step) but it’s even better if you start with raw. Melt a tablespoon of the butter in a large pot over medium heat, sprinkle the chicken chunks with salt & pepper, and sauté them until just done. Once done, set them aside. This leaves nice chicken gooey bits in the pot – leave them there, add the rest of the butter to the pot, add the celery and onion and cook over medium-high heat until tender. 

This part is kind of tricky – sprinkle the flour and fully coat the onion & celery, ensuring all the butter is absorbed. Then slowly stir the milk into the mixture, stirring briskly with a fork as though you were making gravy. It’s easy for this to turn lumpy if you’re not careful.

Add the bouillon and stir until it’s dissolved, then slowly add the chicken broth, stirring constantly.

Cube the chicken and add it to the pot along with the buffalo wing sauce, and cheddar cheese. Reduce heat to low, stirring occasionally. Allow the soup to simmer until the cheese has melted completely, but do not allow to boil. 

Serve with a sprinkling of bleu cheese crumbles on top.

While this is just spicy enough for Kate, I usually add a little more wing sauce or Cholula Hot Sauce (which can be done after it’s been served) to liven it up a bit. [Hey, it was PLENTY lively.  Yum...]

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And yep, I had to have it with a nice green salad...yum...

Fresh and crunchy, with celery hearts, romaine lettuce, onion, cherry tomatoes, and  fresh basil--with extra virgin olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar...luscious!

Italian Egg Brunch

OK, as I mentioned, I finally realized one reason I haven't been doing this as much is because I don't always take time to do art first!  So, since I JUST finished a lovely Italian Egg Brunch and it's a lovely, lazy Sunday morning, I'm going to share it with you anyway!  (Hey, cooking itself is an art!)

We like Victoria Marinara Sauce, but haven't been able to find it locally.  Happily, Bertolli Organic with Olive Oil, Basil and Garlic certainly takes its place with style, AND it's organic! 

I aim for that whenever I can, even though much commercial organic isn't like buying from the farm or growing your own...according to a lot I've read, you just get more from the food you eat if you go organic.  More vitamins, more minerals, more LIFE.  Maybe even fewer doctor visits!

Seems like a good use of our food dollars, to me...


So.  Let me know what you think?

ITALIAN EGG BRUNCH

1 cup of the Italian sauce of your choice--home made and organic is marvelous, of course!

2-4 eggs (we get the most wonderful orange-yolked, farm-raised, organic eggs through my best friend's food coop, or from the organic section of our grocer's.  They stand up and salute in the pan!)

1 T. extra virgin olive oil OR butter

1-2 T. grated cheese (if we buy the commercial stuff, we like the Parmesan, Romano, Asiago mix)

or (and?) 1 slice of Provolone cheese, diced

1/2 sweet Vidalia onion, if possible (any sweet yellow onion will do, of course), sliced like this and sautee'd till golden:




Add squash, mushrooms, green pepper, whatever, if you have it, and saute till soft.

I went for butter to grease the pan--luscious, though...





Put the tomato sauce into the same skillet and bring it to a simmer, then drop in the eggs.  Sprinkle with cheese and herbs, if you like (we got some fantastic Tuscan Herb mix from Penzey's Spices.  Oh, yum...)





You can sprinkle on some bread crumbs if you like--I'm avoiding gluten, so I didn't! n

Cover the pan, turn the heat to low, and let the eggs poach till the whites are, well, white instead of transparent.  Check it occasionally, I like this with the yolks still soft...if you want, spoon some of the hot tomato sauce up over the eggs to speed their cooking.

This is SERIOUSLY good, and just filling enough...great brunch for a chilling winter morning!

Roasted Red Peppers

Honest, it's not like I've given up eating--or cooking!  I just have been a tad occupied lately.

I've got tons of recipes all written out, but haven't had time to ILLUSTRATE them...siiiigh.  So this time we're going for photos and the heck with it!

Roasted red peppers can be bought at the store, of course--jars of them!  But 'tis the season, the farmer's market has been full of wonderful things, and I like 'em fresh and slightly smoky-flavored so I like to do it myself.

In case you didn't know, bell peppers are on the "Dirty Dozen" list for those of us who care about pesticides and such.  You can buy organic, which we do sometimes, grow your own, which we don't seem to, or buy them at the grocery store or farmer's market...then, you can either wash them VERY well (fruit and vegetable wash or a home made mixture of water, white vinegar, and lemon juice will strip off most contaminants) or do what I did and roast them.

They're lovely in Mexican food, salads, soups, you name it!

Sooo...here's how I learned to do it.  You may choose the broiler or oven, but this is more controllable...and more fun!  Of course you need a gas stove for this method.  You can use a campfire or outdoor grill too, if you wish.

A long handled fork works great...turn over an open flame till the skin blackens all over...

Of course you can do two (or more) at a time, without the fork...just turn them as the skin begins to blacken.  Careful, though, they're HOT.  Use tongs or that fork to move them.  And yes, they will drip pepper juice onto your stove...sooo worth it!

Let cool, then remove as much skin as possible under running water (it's the edible skin of peppers that holds the pesticides.)  Your thumbnail's a handy scraping tool, here.

Remove the stem and seeds, and slice as shown or dice any size you like them.  Use immediately or store in the fridge for a few days.  You can even pickle them, if you want!