After reading the ENTIRE BH&G cookbook Saturday, I decided to take a stab at a dish or two.
My SO worked this weekend, so there isn't much else to do but cook, since I'm feeling lazy cleaning is not an option. I went to my local grocery store's website and pulled the sale flier for this week. They have a plethora of beef on sale, sour cream, and a nice Merlot. I decided on Beef Stroganoff since we both like that and it is not too hard to make, and home made sugar cookies, since we both love those as well.
I couldn't get the Merlot, because the liquor store portion of the store was not open when i went.. this is typical anytime i NEED to purchase something at this A&P. I wanted to make homemade creamy garlic dressing, but as usual they didn't have one key ingredient.. the dry mustard. All of the other spices were there, but the slot for the dry mustard was, of course, empty. They also didn't have the smaller box of original triscuits either, they had the large one though which i didn't want but had to spend the money on anyway. Oh and the beef? yeah the sale one was no where to be found.. I think they purposely put items in the flier and then NOT put them on sale.. kind of like bait and switch. So instead of spending $3.00 on the beef i had to spend $15.00 and 1/2 of it is now in the freezer and will most likely die there. Now you know why I'm mad about the triscuits thing. It's all about the budget.
Anyway, thanks for letting me rant, the beef stroganoff was delicious and VERY easy to make, add that one to my recipes. The sugar cookies allowed me to put my new mixer to work, a job that would have taken some elbow grease and most likely would have killed my hand mixer, my Kitchen Aid mixer owned that recipe!
I raided the wine stock we have and found yet another bottle of Shiraz. This one is from Rosemount Estate 2004, South Eastern Australia. This wine claims it displays intense spicy fruit with a richly textured subtle oak finish. I guess my pallet isn't working today because i didn't taste any of that at all. I also learned that the more tannins it has the harder the finish, well this is on the higher end because it doesn't finish as nicely as the Shiraz from the last two days.
With all of that being said, it paired OK with the beef stroganoff and a simple side salad with store bought Italian dressing.
After dinner, while my SO was getting ready for work, i got started on the cookies. I pre-made the dough during the day as it had to chill for a few hours. By the time he left for work i had 3 batches done and i sent one batch and a to-go coffee mug full of our favorite coffee. What a way to start a chilly night.. A warmed up truck, hot cookies and hot coffee! Yes, i will say I'm the greatest!
I'm sorry i don't have pictures for this one. The sun has set and i have no good lighting at all in the house. I took tons of pics of the cookies but either the flash is drowning it out or the pics come out to dark and you can't see the detail. Trust me though, they are YUMMY!
Here are the recipes from the BH&G Cookbook (in case you don't have it)
BEEF STROGANOFF
Start to finish: 30 minutes Makes: 4 servings
12 ounces boneless beef sirloin steak ( i actually used london broil because that is all i could find and it worked fine. I also cut it up a few hours early and let it sit in the refrigerator with salt and white cracked pepper)
1 8-ounce carton dairy sour ream
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
2 tsp instant beef bouillon granules
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (I omitted this b/c we both don't like them)
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups hot cooked noodles ( i used egg noodles)
1. If desired, partially freeze beef for easier slicing. Trim fat from meat. Thinly slice meat across grain into bite-size strips. In a small bowl stir together sour cream and flour. Stir in water, bouillon granules, and pepper; set aside.
2. In a large skillet cook and stir the meat, mushrooms, onion, and garlic in hot butter over medium-high heat about 5 minutes or until desired doneness. Drain off fat. (I didn't drain the fat, i left it in for flavor.. fat=flavor)
3. Stir sour cream mixture into meat mixture in skillet. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Serve mixture over noodles. (Because we like a more brown sauce i added a few drops of gravy master to the skillet after i added the sour cream mixture.)
OLD-FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES
Prep: 30 Minutes Chill: 2 hours Bake: 9 minutes per batch
Oven: 375 F Makes: About 48 cookies
1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
1. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1 1/2 cups sugar: beat until combined. Beat in eggs, cream of tartar, baking soda, vanilla and salt until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour (not necessary if you are using a stand mixer). Cover and chill for 2 to 3 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 375 F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in the 1/4 cup sugar to coat. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
The Pantry: Updated
12 years ago
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