A Simple Stir Fry

My thought process was to make a bit of a pepper steak for dinner.  I had a couple of red peppers that needed using up and had pulled a piece of round steak out to thaw before work...  When I opened the cupboard to start dinner, I saw a bottle of Wegmans Asian Sauce.  I had picked it up a while ago without any real plans for it.  Pepper Steak became a Stir Fry.  It seemed like the perfect no-brainer meal.

I thin-sliced the round steak and sauteed it with celery, carrots, red peppers, mushrooms... and then went in about a half-bottle of the sauce.  It wasn't bad...  It just wasn't all that great.  It really lacked spice.  I should have added some sambal oelek to it - but I didn't.  Since there's still a half-bottle in the 'fridge, I'll know better for next time.

The ingredients are good - no artificial garbage and no high fructose corn syrup  - but as I find with almost all bottled sauces, they're made for a much meeker consumer.  I rather like bold flavors and lots of heat and spice, and don't like it when there's an abundance of sweet without an abundance of savory.

It's usually easier just to throw something together than to spend the time doctoring up a bottle of something, but who knows...  maybe I'll give it another shot.

by Tim Dineen

Veal, Mushroom, and Red Pepper Goulash

I've been home for a couple of days with another cold.  Ugh.  While it doesn't seem to be as nasty as the last one, it's just good manners to not go to work and spread it amongst the co-workers.

I've been a good boy and have been drinking my liquids and eating lots of homemade chicken soup.  LOTS of homemade chicken soup. Feed a cold, feed a fever, I always say.

Tonight, I needed something other than chicken soup.

I had some veal stew meat so I went looking for something a bit different.  I stopped by the Epicurious web site and found a recipe for a veal, mushroom, and red pepper goulash.  I had the ingredients, so I thought I'd give it a try.

For those of you who have never been to Epicurious, the comments on the recipes are worth the visit, alone.  Some of the most obnoxious and pretentious "cooks" in the world feel it their duty to let the rest of the world know just how wonderful they are.  I especially like people who go on about how they made a dish completely different that the recipe - used different ingredients, cooking methods, you name it - and then state that the recipe sucked and they will never make it again.  HELLO?!?  You didn't make it in the first place!  Or rate a recipe with one fork - their equivalent of "star" - without ever making the recipe at all, because real Hungarian Goulash would never have a tablespoon of tomato paste in it! Really. (The recipe never stated it was "Hungarian.")

And, of course the "...Since my boyfriend is a chef, he suggested that I use boudon blanc sausage ..." or in a classic Beef Wellington recipe "If you wish to lighten it up a bit, use phyllo dough instead of puff pastry ..."  Uh...  if you're worried about those four calories in your slice of Beef Wellington, perhaps you should make something else?!?  In my not so humble opinion, classic recipes should be made as intended.

This particular recipe had its share of detractors, but it looked good and I had the ingredients on hand.  I wasn't leaving the house.

One of the things that really caught me was the introduction where the author said they always served it with egg noodles mixed with sour cream and dill!  I was fairly enthralled with that idea.  In all my years of cooking, I don't think I ever tossed egg noodles with sour cream before topping it with something.

And after doing it tonight, I see many more dishes where I will use the idea!  It was really yummy!

Veal, Mushroom, and Red Pepper Goulash

Gourmet | October 2000

We like this stew with egg noodles (12 ounces of dried pasta), cooked and tossed with two tablespoons of reduced-fat sour cream and a quarter cup of chopped fresh dill.

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Active Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 2 1/4 hr

ingredients

• 1/2 oz dried mushrooms
• 2 1/2 cups hot water
• 1 1/4 lb boneless veal shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, halved and sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 lb fresh cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved (quartered if large)

preparation

Soak dried mushrooms in hot water until softened, about 30 minutes.

Remove mushrooms from liquid, reserving it, and rinse mushrooms. Squeeze out excess moisture and coarsely chop. Pour reserved liquid through a paper towel–lined sieve into a bowl to remove grit. Return mushrooms to liquid.

Pat veal dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then brown veal in batches. Transfer as browned to a bowl.

Add 1 teaspoon oil and onion to pot and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until softened. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in flour and paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Whisk in soaked mushrooms with liquid, scraping up any brown bits, and tomato paste, then bring to a simmer, whisking. Add veal with any juices.

Cover and simmer over low heat until veal is tender, about 1 1/4 hours.

While meat is simmering, lay peppers on their sides on racks of gas burners and turn flames on high. Roast peppers, turning with tongs, until skins are blistered and blackened in spots, 4 to 5 minutes. (Or cut sides from peppers, discarding seeds and stems, and broil, skin sides up, on rack of a broiler pan about 2 inches from heat.)

Transfer peppers to a bowl, cover, and cool. Peel and seed peppers and cut into 1-inch pieces.

Heat remaining teaspoon oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste, stirring occasionally, until browned and tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir into stew with bell peppers and salt and pepper to taste and gently simmer goulash 10 minutes to blend flavors.

Serve over noodles.

Cooks' note:

•Goulash, like all stews, will taste even better if made 1 day ahead. Cool uncovered, then chill, covered. Reheat gently before serving.

My change to the above recipe was to use a jar of roasted red peppers instead of roasting my own.  I know, I know... but it's what I had.  I'm sick, remember?!?

It came out great even with my substitution and the noodles with sour cream and dill?!?  Yumlicious!

by Tim Dineen

Simple Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff may be one of the easiest dishes to make.  Really.

It's a toss-together-in-a-skillet dinner that can be on the table in 10 minutes.  I really love it - and don't make it nearly as often as I should.

It's a cold-weather dish, for sure, which makes sense since it originally hails from Russia.  The original 1800's recipe called for beef cubes in a mustard and beef bouillon sauce with sour cream.  The 1938 Larousse Gastronomique (I had a 1961 English edition.  No idea what ever happened to it...) listed it as being made with beef strips and either mustard or tomato paste.  It was wildly popular in the 1950's and 1960's and least one restaurant I worked in (Red Chimney?  Val's? Too long ago to really remember) made it with tomato paste.  Served over rice.  I've always preferred it with mustard over noodles.

Simple Beef Stroganoff

• 1 small onion, large-dice
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 12 oz beef, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup marsala or other wine
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp mustard
• pinch sage
• salt and pepper, to taste

Saute onions and mushrooms in a bit of olive oil and butter.  Add beef strips and cook.  Add marsala and bring to a boil.

Lower heat and stir in sour cream, mustard, and sage.  Taste and add salt and pepper, as desired.

Serve over buttered noodles, rice, mashed potatoes...

I made a slight variation tonight.  I had some whole red potatoes that were left over from Monday's pork roast, so I sliced them and added them to the sauce.

Fast food done right.

by Tim Dineen

Alton Brown's Swiss Steak

Back in 1975 (that would be 37 years ago for the numerically-challenged) I moved to Lake Tahoe and started working as the cook for the Old Post Office Coffee Shop in Carnelian Bay.  Carnelian Bay is on the North Shore, and back then wasn't much more than a wide spot in the road.  The Old PO was mainly a local's hangout although the weekends and summer saw a big increase in tourists.

It was a great job for a guy in his mid-20's.  We lived in Tahoe Vista and I either walked or hitch-hiked the three miles to work in the morning, usually smoking a joint along the way before my 4:30am shift.  (It was the '70s.  One was expected to do things like that in the mountains...)

We had fairly extensive breakfast and lunch menus - and I had free reign to create the Daily Special every day.  One thing I came up with one snowy day was a Swiss Steak - Cube steak simmered in an onion and mushroom brown gravy and served over egg noodles.  It proved to be really popular.  So popular, that it became a weekly Daily Special.  We had a great butcher who I could call up and order anything I needed.  He'd send over the beef, I'd pound flour into it and then fry it in bacon grease. Oh, yum.

I didn't have a recipe then, and I don't have a recipe now.  It's one of those things I make in my sleep.

And tonight, I decided it was time to wake up.

37 years is long enough to be making the same dish.  I went to Alton Brown for inspiration.  Alton's website is a lot easier on this soon-to-be 60 year old body that one of those aforementioned joints of days gone by would be.  Sweet youth, indeed!

I started reading the ingredient list and he nailed me at Smoked Paprika.  I found my wake-up recipe.

Alton Brown's Swiss Steak

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef bottom round, trimmed of excess fat
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or bacon drippings
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
•  (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325°.

Cut the meat with the grain into 1/2-inch thick slices and season on both sides with the salt and pepper. Place the flour into a pie pan. Dredge the pieces of meat on both sides in the flour mixture. Tenderize the meat using a needling device, until each slice is 1/4-inch thick. Dredge the slices on both sides once more and set aside.

Add enough of the bacon drippings or vegetable oil to just cover the bottom of a 4 to 5-quart Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the steaks to the pan, being careful not to overcrowd. Cook until golden brown on both sides, approximately 2 minutes per side. Remove the steaks to a plate and repeat until all of the steaks have been browned.

Remove the last steaks from the pot and add the onions, garlic, and celery. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Next add the tomatoes, paprika, oregano, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth and stir to combine. Return the meat to the pot, submerging it in the liquid. Cover the pot and place it in the oven on the middle rack. Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the meat is tender and falling apart.

I followed the recipe pretty close, although I only used half the meat - there are only two of us, after all, and neither of us had a case of "the munchies."  I also cooked it uncovered in the oven for about half the time - the meat I used was already tenderized.

It was better than I expected and is going to be the new "go-to" Swiss Steak for the foreseeable future.

Thanks, Alton!

The Old Post Office is still there serving great breakfasts and lunches...

by Tim Dineen