Thursday, January 31, 2013

RQ Cooks: Stroganoff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like I've posted this already. Have I posted this already? OH FUCK IT! Imma post it anyways. I've been looking for a good stroganoff recipe for years, decades even. The problem is this, to make it quick, you get this chewy, tough meat that is impossible to eat without a knife and doesn't make any sense in a pile of delicious mushroomy, noodley goodness. Boyfriend made the mistake of suggesting using hamburger BUT THAT WILL NOT DO, NO WAY SIR, NO. So braising, which takes a while but if you get buy one get on free on a decent roast you can make double portions and get many many meals out of it.

It did take some work to get the liquid portions right. And since I am adding extra liquid at the beginning and don't want it to be soupy at the end, I am gonna braise in the oven instead of the crockpot so it cooks down.

You need:
3 lb chuck roast, sliced into pieces of similar size to the noodles you will serve it with
salt and pepper
butter with a little vegetable oil to keep it from smoking
2 cups beef stock
1 cup red wine (or you can use my go to substitution for red wine when I am out or too poor to buy wine- beef broth in the amount of the wine you need, plus several solid glugs of worchestshire sauce and a glug or 2 of red wine vinegar. It's the red wine vinegar that sells it)
3 tablespoons flour
more butter for the mushrooms and onions
1 and a half lbs sliced mushrooms (I use cremini because they are always the same price per pound as button mushrooms and I like them better)
2 diced medium yellow onions
1 and a half cups sour cream
2 packages egg noodles

Preheat your oven to 300, if you can remember to do that kinda thing. In a braiser or dutch oven or oven proof stock pot, melt the butter over high heat and add a little vegetable oil to keep it from smoking. Season beef with salt and pepper and brown it, in batches. When it's all brown, put it all back in the pan. Add the flour and continue cooking until there are no white or floury bits. You can add a little extra butter if you need to. Then add either the wine or the faux-wine to deglaze the pan. Keep cooking on high until it's been reduced by half. Then cover it with a tight-fitting lid and chuck it in the oven. Ignore it for a minimum of 2 hours. 2 and a half is best.

When you are nearing the finish mark, put a big ole pan of water on to boil for the pasta. Don't forget to salt the water. Seriously DON'T FORGET TO SALT YOUR PASTA WATER YOU HEATHENS. While pasta is pasta-ing, dice your onions and slice your mushrooms. Saute them in some butter until the onions are all carmelly awesome. Then stir them into the beefy awesomeness. Add the sour cream. Stir that too. Serve over the noodles. Enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that everyone around you thinks your are a better cook than them and will now worship at your feet and bring your offerings of booze.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Oh ah fun!

So after much hard work - the podcast is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Boyfriend's podcast for Machine Court that is. If you want to give it a listen- GO HERE! You will get to hear a little of my weirdly breathy voice even! We are also already busy putting together podcast number 2, so if you like what you hear and want to be part of next one, volunteer for a Skype interview! All you need is a computer and microphone. It's fun and weird and you can even have cocktails while I ask you ridiculous questions. But go listen and enjoy.