Beef stroganoff is one of our favorites. Who doesn’t love a creamy, mushroomy, oniony kind of sauce with beef and served over noodles? It’s all the things that are good in one bowl! I picked this for a date night dinner as it had been ages since I had made it. With only 2 burners I cheated and got out the electric skillet. I did have to dig thru the storage cupboard to find it so that it made it more of an effort, in my mind anyway. I use a seasoning packet for the sauce but I don’t exactly follow the directions. I almost always don’t follow the directions! Why use water if you can use broth or wine? Don’t use just plain flour, add spices to it! Add some fresh herbs to anything and everything!
I had gone on a shopping spree for flat iron steaks as I found a super sale and I didn’t want to just make steaks. Not that anything is wrong with steaks, I just wanted to spruce them up. I always add extra mushrooms because they are tasty and add extra meatiness. So I have the flat iron steak and the baby bella mushrooms and red wine and white wine and the sour cream plus a package of beefy mushroom soup mix- the kind by Lipton that can either be soup or dip. Let’s get started!
I salted and peppered the meat and left it in the fridge overnight and then soaked it in some of the red wine while I got the rest of the prep work finished. I went with slices for the mushrooms and a shallot that I found in the bottom of the produce bowl. I used the white wine in the noodle water and in place of the water that the sauce packet calls for. I have used red wine in all of these places before but it kind of takes away from the flavor of the sauce so I just went with the meat soak this time.
With my 2 burners I boiled the noodles and sauteed the mushrooms and shallot. I could have saved a dish and done the veg in with the meat but I wanted them to be a bit browned and sexy instead of soft and tasting like the meat. Plus it was date night dinner and that needs to be as fancy as I can make it.
Other than the swapping of water for wine I didn’t stray far from the package directions. I like it to be super saucy so I used 2 packages of the mix but I didn’t use twice the sour cream and water/wine, it was closer to 1 and a half.
While the meat cooked in the electric skillet and the shallot and mushrooms were getting brown, the noodles got boiled in 3/4 wine and water. I always salt my pasta water even if it is mostly wine, gotta get all of the flavor possible into the noodles! I also season the meat even though it will have sauce mixed into it. I went with granulated garlic, onion powder and white pepper. Since I had done the salt and pepper over night I didn’t add any more during the cooking process. You can always add a finishing salt or a pinch while cooking but you can’t take it away.
For the mushrooms and shallot I used a bit of butter and olive oil to brown them. Pinch of salt and white pepper, a dash of the onion powder and garlic and a splash of worchestershire sauce. I wanted them to be more like a topping than a stir in even though they ended up kind of getting mixed in during the eating.
Another plus of making extra sauce is the leftovers! I used it as a ravioli topping on the next night. Honestly I could have spread it on toast and been in mouth heaven but I had some ravioli that needed using and no bread!
I did manage to dirty up the entire 3 square feet of the kitchen and most of my dishes but it was totally worth it! Everything came out just how I wanted it and my date had seconds! That is high praise in my opinion.
Simple dinner mostly from a package was elevated by swapping out a few ingredients and doing a little extra prep work. Don’t be afraid to experiment! Try that new seasoning you saw at the market, go for a different cut of meat than you would normally use, pick up one of those weird looking pears or a different variety of apple! Grab an inexpensive bottle of wine and those mulling spices that are everywhere this time of year and get lost in a world of new things!
Happy cooking y’all!
Ali's Kitchen 