Beef Stroganoff

Not only had I never made beef stroganoff, I'm not entirely sure that I had ever even tasted it.

But husband loves beef stroganoff and I love husband, so when a recipe for "Reduced-Fat Beef Stroganoff" showed up in my email I decided to give it some thought.

Which I did.  For several weeks.

And then I found one of the less familiar to me ingredients (meat tenderizer) and I bought  it.

Finally, it seeme time to try it.  Last night was after all Date Night.

Here is the recipe (courtesy of Cooks Country):

Why this recipe works:

Flank steak has a beefier flavor than mild tenderloin; a little meat tenderizer transformed the thin slices of tough flank steak in a matter of minutes.

Portobello mushrooms cut into slices and roasted with cooking spray provided a low-calorie substitute that allowed us to eliminate some of the meat in our Reduced-Fat Beef Stroganoff. To cut calories in the cream sauce, fat-free yogurt proved the best alternative to sour cream, but it curdled instantly when we added it to the base. Stirring egg white into the yogurt solved the problem.

Traditional recipes have 561 calories, 26 grams of fat, and 12 grams of saturated fat per serving (1 cup stroganoff and 1 cup cooked yolk-free egg noodles). Our changes brought the numbers down to 344 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 2 grams of saturated fat.

Serves 6

Serve stroganoff with 6 cups cooked yolk-free egg noodles (you'll need one 1-pound package of dried noodles).

Ingredients

• 1 small flank steak (1 pound), trimmed of excess fat
• 1 1/4 teaspoons meat tenderizer
• 1 1/2 pounds portobello mushroom caps, gills removed, halved and sliced thin
•   Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 3 tablespoons white wine
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 1 large egg white
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

• 1. PREPARE MEAT Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Following Step by Step photo at left, cut steak lengthwise into 3-inch-wide strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Toss meat and tenderizer together in medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate 15 to 30 minutes.
• 2. ROAST MUSHROOMS Meanwhile, spray rimmed baking sheet lightly with cooking spray. Place mushrooms on prepared baking sheet, spray lightly with cooking spray, and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Roast, stirring once, until golden brown, about 15 minutes; set aside.
• 3. SEAR STEAK Pat steak dry with paper towels. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook half of steak, without moving it, until browned around edges, 1 to 2 minutes. Toss steak and cook until no longer pink, about 30 seconds. Transfer to clean medium bowl. Repeat with additional 1 teaspoon oil and remaining steak.
• 4. MAKE SAUCE Add onion, remaining oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in roasted mushrooms, flour, and tomato paste and cook until paste begins to darken, about 2 minutes. Add broth, wine, and mustard and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
• 5. FINISH Whisk yogurt and egg white in small bowl until smooth. Stir steak into sauce, along with any accumulated juices, and cook until beef is heated through, about 1 minute. Off heat, add yogurt mixture and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Changes/mistakes I made:

1. I'm not sure I had enough portobello mushroom.  I think it was okay in the end.  
2. I inadvertently bought fat free VANILLA yogurt, not plain.  Thankfully I caught that before I added it to the sauce and had some reduced fat sour cream to us instead.  Danger averted!

All in all, I received an A on last night's dinner.  (Josh then modified the grade to an A-, but bumped it back to an A for all my effort.)

Cocktail was some thing called a Delmarva.

• 2 oz Rye Whiskey
• .5 oz Amaretto
• .5 oz dry vermouth
• .25 oz lime juice

This was an interesting choice because classically whiskey is paired with lemon juice (not lime) and sweet vermouth (not dry).  Again, it seemed to work.

Appetizers were Alexia cheddar bites and Alexia mushroom bites.  When do little fried nuggets of anything not please?

Dinner tonight is a frozen pizza.  Finally Digiorno made a pizza that was literally made for us:  half pepperoni, half cheese.  Woohoo!  I don't have to move the pepperonis from my portion to Josh's.

Our best friends are joining us for dinner and Chuck (the 2-hour series finale :-(  ) tomorrow.  I already have a pasta casserole made that we will eat for dinner along with a garden salad.  I also have a variety of "grazing foods" to serve.  My girlfriend LOVES stuffed mushrooms, so I will make this recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 slices firm white sandwich bread
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 20 large (2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter) white mushrooms (1 lb)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
• 1 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

print a shopping list for this recipe view wine pairings

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Tear bread into pieces and pulse to coarse crumbs in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and toss with oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Spread in a shallow baking pan and bake in middle of oven until golden, 6 to 8 minutes, then transfer to a bowl.

Pull stems from mushroom caps (to create space for stuffing) and finely chop stems. Put mushroom caps, stemmed sides down, in a lightly oiled large shallow baking pan and bake in middle of oven until mushrooms exude liquid, about 10 minutes, then remove from oven.

While mushroom caps are baking, melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté chopped stems, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add onion, celery, garlic, oregano, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 5 minutes. Cool vegetables slightly, then add to bread crumbs along with cheese and parsley and toss well.

Turn mushroom caps over, then mound mushroom filling in mushroom caps, pressing gently (there will be some filling left over). Bake in middle of oven until mushrooms are tender and stuffing is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Stuffed-Mushrooms-107963#ixzz1kaPOnPm3

I will also make chocolate pudding.

I have more cooking to do before the week is over, but I'll save that for another post.

happy cooking