Halloween Dinner - Beef Stroganoff

Halloween, in my family, is traditionally the day my Mom makes chili. I would have loved to make chili, but this brings back memories of a crowded kitchen, kids in costumes, and massive candy trading sessions. Since I will be spending the evening doing laundry & watching movies, I decided to go will something a little less nostalgic...Beef Stroganoff. I went to my favorite recipe browsing website - TasteSpotting, and came across this recipe. Now this may seem like something Paula Deen would cook because of the copious amounts of butter, but come on people...sour cream & butter...delicious.

Beef Stroganoff
•1 lb top sirloin, trimmed of fat and sliced into thin strips
•6 tbsp butter, divided
•8 oz mushroom, sliced
•1/2 onion, diced
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•1/4 cup dry white wine (optional, can use brandy, Marsala, etc)
•1 cup beef broth
•1 cup sour cream
•1 tbsp flour (if needed)
•1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
•salt and pepper
•12 oz extra wide egg noodles, cooked

1.Heat a heavy skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add 1 tbsp of butter and as soon as it melts and before it starts to brown add steak slices. Toss, then cook witout stirring for a minute or two or until well browned on one side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2.Flip steak pieces over and brown the other side, about one minute. Remove steak to a plate.
3.Repeat with 1 tbsp of butter and sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle mushrooms with salt and pepper. Reserve to the plate with the steak.
4.Turn heat down to medium and the last of the butter. Add onions and garlic and saute until soft.
5.Add white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits in the pan. You can also use a small amount of beef broth if you don’t want to use alcohol.
6.Once wine has cooked off add sour cream and beef broth, stir and heat until smooth.
7.If the sauce seems too thin you can thicken it by removing a 1/4 cup of sauce and stirring in 1 tbsp of flour and adding it back in.
8.Add steak and mushrooms back into sauce. Stir and simmer until hot. Boiling the sauce heavily will result in the sour cream curdling but it isn’t so fragile that you can’t bring it to a nice simmer.
9.Taste and add salt and pepper. Stir in chopped parsley. Serve over egg noodles.

Hope

Happiness

the brief guide
less TV, more reading
less shopping, more outdoors
less clutter, more space
less rush, more slowness
less consuming, more creating
less junk, more real food
less busywork, more impact
less driving, more walking
less noise, more solitude
less focus on the future, more on the present
less work, more play
less worry, more smiles
breathe

Squirrely

So this is my first blog...and therefore, my first entry...ever. Don't get me wrong, I've had the diaries, but nobody ever read those, except for my nosey sister.

Today was a pretty good day. I left work at 3 and I can't remember the last time that happened. Here's the strange part though...were squirrels suicidal today? I had three of these guys jump in front of my car in a last ditch attempt to end their little lives. Once I swerved, once I slammed on the brakes, and the last time I just closed my eyes and prayed there was no 'bump'.

Anyways... I left at 3 for a specific reason. My condo association has recently switched management companies and they've asked that I supply my bank records for the last 27 months to show that I'm current on my association dues. Who keeps their bank statements that long?! Not I, thanks to my handy, industrial-strength shredder. Anyways, my bank wanted to charge me over $100 for these records...Eff that. The management company pulled some strings and got them to me for free. So I left work early to get to the bank before they close and then head to the management office to straighten everything out. I called Friday and asked their hours...open til 5. Perfect.

So I leave work in a rush... to get to the bank in a rush... to get to the management company in a rush... all the while avoiding squirrels who are in a rush to cross the street, and low & behold...the management company decided to close shop early. I was staring at a "Closed" sign & locked door at 4:30.

Squirrely, I tell you...squirrely.