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Angela’s Beef Stroganoff

My spin on the classic Russian dish. I vary the ingredients by what’s in my fridge, but this is the basic recipe I use for a quick satisfying dinner. I love making this more of a French flavour profile with the tarragon.

1-1.5# Beef cut in thin strips (any cut is fine, but strip or tenderloin is the best quality)
flour for dredging
olive oil
1 med white onion, frenched
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small pkg creminis, sliced
2 tsp dried tarragon (classic taste is DILL)
1-2 Tbl L&P Worcestershire (more or less to taste)
.75 cup sour cream (substitute half of this w/ full fat Greek yogurt if you have it)
1 T Dijon mustard (more or less to taste)
Salt/Pepper

Wide egg noodles prepared and buttered

Start the onion and garlic in a large skillet w/ olive oil over med-hi flame. You’re looking to sweat them, not brown them, so watch the heat. Sweat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Season your food in every step; that means s/p each ingredient as it’s added. Push the veg to the sides of the pan and turn heat up a notch. Dredge the beef in flour (with S/P of course) and sauté in the center of the pan. Turn all the beef once to cook the flour, then add in shrooms. Add tarragon, stir. Add L&P, stir. Let the shrooms cook down a bit and the beef finish cooking for about 5-8 minutes over med hi heat. Don’t burn the onions. When the beef is cooked to your liking, cut the heat and add the sour cream (and yogurt) and dijon. Adjust S/P to your liking.

Serve over buttered wide egg noodles.

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Heroes Con 2012

Wow! Just wow! This con rocked my FACE OFF. Seriously. We had some tough times, but overall, I’m pleased and inspired!

The trip up was uneventful. We got up there and loaded in by 5pm. We ate at the Hilton and got to bed at a reasonable hour. Friday was BUSY! Heroes had to have had more attendance this year. Friday was like Saturday last year. Everything went well and we had dinner out with Chris and Miracole – which was AWESOME. We never get to hang out due to their crazy schedules, so it was great to actually sit down and converse. Again, we went to bed at a reasonable time since we knew Sat would be balls to the wall.

And it was balls to the wall! I’m sure Stan Lee’s appearances on Sat and Sun are the reason for the uptick in attendance but whatever, we welcomed it! All was well until mid afternoon when Nick had a snack then started to get sick. He ended up with food poisoning and went to bed right after the show closed. I, on the other hand, got dressed and went out to the Westin to see the art auction and have some fun. Nick insisted, so I drank enough for both of us! I got into the tequila and didn’t eat a bite. By some miracle, I felt good on Sunday, too. Weird. Big THANK YOU to the Burnses for their superior herding capabilities and getting me back to the hotel safely. I love you guys!!!

Nick stayed in bed on Sunday and I manned the table. It was still pretty busy for a Sunday. I was tired but not hungover. It is a MIRACLE, I tell you! AMEN! He finally came to the show around 3pm and got to say goodbye to most of our peeps. I cried like a silly girl most of the afternoon when everyone was saying goodbye and wishing us well in PHX. We REALLY appreciate it, you guys. oxoxoxo

Shout outs:
Chris and Miracole: bestest roomies and cat herders!
Little John and Patwicia: our ATL friends we only see at Heroes!
Damian and his chica: our lovely CLT fans – we love you!
Denis (et al): had a great time! Can’t wait to see you in July!
Danielle, Beck and the Womanthology crowd: bestest table mates EVAR!
Jesse and Amber: really loved hanging out with you! Look forward to doing it again!
Nak and Allen: nice to meet you, fellow Atlantans! Hope to see you soon!
Mike: we are in similar situations. I hope we ALL find our sweet spots soon!
Mike Maihack: good to see you and chat!
Jeffrey Brown: you make me very happy with your cat books!
John and Kim (and Kelsey): sorry I forgot your beer! I owe you one! ;)
Suzanne and David: so, so great to get to actually have a conversation. I have a huge crush on you, Suzanne. <3 ::sigh::

And to everyone I gave a driveby fondling to at the Westin: Heeeeey! MUWAH!

Last but not least: my wonderful Weasel Boi. I’m sorry you got sick, baby. I love you!

Heroes has been my tipping point. I can clearly see our potential and the importance of doing cons regularly. Our friends/fans who told us they’d miss us really drove home how important it is to get out there and MEET PEOPLE.

You may not be the greatest artist on the planet, but if you’re nice to people, give them your best and let them know how much you appreciate them, you’ll be successful.

If there is any way in the world to make Heroes happen for us next year, I’ll find it. It’s our first big con and it’s our best con. We want to keep that momentum going. Thanks, Heroes Con! We love you!

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Shrimp Ragout with Mushroom Polenta

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Shrimp Ragout and Mushroom Polenta

This recipe is akin to shrimp and grits. I call it ragout because it has more sauce and more veg than a typical shrimp and grits. I used polenta rather than grits, but they are very similar. Polenta is faster!
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Southern
Keyword mushrooms, polenta, shrimp
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Author misangela

Ingredients

Shrimp Ragout

  • 1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled/deveined pat dry, dust with smoked paprika (or ancho powder, or even Old Bay) and set aside
  • olive oil
  • 1 white part of leek, halved, cleaned and sliced thinly optional but recommended
  • 1 small zucchini, small dice about a cup, sub yellow squash or omit
  • 1 small red pepper, small dice or 2-3 minis, green pepper is fine
  • 1/2 cup red onion, small dice any onion is fine
  • 1/2 8oz pkg cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced any kind of shroom is fine
  • 10 grape tomatoes, halved sub 1/2 cup diced tomatoes, canned is fine
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp lemon zest do try to use a fresh lemon, if you use jarred lemon juice, omit zest
  • 1 tsp dried basil if you use fresh: 1 Tbl at the end of the cook
  • 1 tsp dried marjoram sub 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/3 cup dry sherry sub 1/4 c cooking sherry (it has salt in it)
  • 1 small can tomato sauce (8oz) sub 2 Tbl tom paste w/ 1/2 cup water
  • S/P to taste
  • 1 fresh lemon use juice juice to finish after cooking
  • fresh parsley, chopped garnish
  • shredded parmesan or asiago garnish

Mushroom Polenta

  • 3 Tbl butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 8 oz pkg creminis, thinly sliced any kind of shroom is fine
  • 1 tsp dried marjoram sub dried basil or 1/2 tsp dried oregano; DRY ONLY for this
  • 1 tsp lemon zest from the fresh lemon; sub 1 tsp jarred lemon juice if you must and add LAST
  • 1.5 cups chicken stock or shrimp stock if you have it
  • 3/4 to 1 cup polenta (coarse corn meal) NOT corn meal MIX, straight corn meal
  • 1/4 cup shredded parmesan or asiago use up to half a cup to your taste
  • 1-2 Tbl heavy cream to finish optional, adds a nice creaminess

Instructions

  • Put about 2 Tbl olive oil in a pan over med-hi flame.
  • Add in all the veg including garlic and begin to sweat. Turn down heat if browning occurs. 5-7 mins.
  • When veg gets soft, lemon zest, herbs, sherry and tomato sauce. Keep at low simmer for about 5-8 minutes. Add a bit of stock if it reduces and gets too tight.
  • Add shrimp, bring back up to simmer and cook shrimp until opaque, about 8 minutes. Add S/P to your taste, then kill the heat. Let rest.

Mushroom Polenta

  • In a 2 qt saucepan over med hi, add 2 Tbl olive oil, butter and garlic. Do not brown.
  • Add creminis, herb and lemon zest, cook shrooms until they release their juices, do not brown, just sweat. About 5-6 minutes.
  • Add stock and bring to a boil.
  • Whisk in polenta, a bit at a time to avoid lumps. You can make polenta very soft or firmer, adjust how much cornmeal you use to get the consistency you want. It WILL firm up when it cools, so I'd advise you to keep it pretty loose. Try about a cup of polenta, stir for 3-4 minutes and add more if you think it's too loose.
  • Still whisking, add in the parmesan. Add cream if desired. Adjust S/P.
  • Serve as pictured, with polenta on the bottom, ragout over that, fresh parsley and a bit of cheese on top. You can squeeze a little lemon over it if you want.

Notes

When reheating, you might need to add water to the polenta to get the right consistency again. It will tighten up when cooled. 
Fresh lemon is preferred for this recipe. The zest adds depth and the juice adds acidity that is needed. 
You can use other herbs if you like, but if I specify dried, that is the amount I'm using. In general, you use 2-3x  more fresh herbs than dried and you put in fresh herbs at the end of cooking.  
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Marmalade and Pasta Bake!

Yesterday was cooking day. I spent all day in the kitchen, from breakfast right on until dinner. It was GRAND. I really do love to cook! :)

After breakfast, I gathered up the stuff for the marmalade experiment. Got the canner, jars, fruit, pectin, sugar, thermometer, tons of prep bowls and my dutch oven. Marmalade is extremely high maintenance. You’ve got to wash, peel the zest and then supreme all the fruit. Then you have to boil the peel bits. Then you finally get to stir it all up with sugar and boil. It’s hard work, but I gotta say, it’s kinda worth it.

The recipe for marmalade is here.
jars of marmalade

Then, after hours of slaving over the marmalade, I made the second version of the cheesy pasta bake. It had better flavour this time, but it’s still not perfect. And I forgot the panko topping! I was tired! It’s getting closer. I plan to make this dish perfect as vegetarian then I’m going to add Italian sausage. THEN I’ll love it. I am trying to create dishes that can be meatless and still be tasty. I’ll publish the recipe when it’s perfected. Here is the batch from last night:
Cheesy Pasta Bake

Then to top off a lovely day, our neighbor (and friend!) Noah came over to sample the pasta and watch Kung Fu Panda 2 with us. We had a wonderful time!

Today I think I’ll make a small batch of pickles with the 6 cucs I have. I think I have enough vinegar for a small batch. Then I plan to lay around, read and watch movies. After I exercise, of course. Go ahead and rain! I got no place to be and I plan to enjoy it. :)

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3 Citrus Marmalade

UPDATED Jan 2014! This is my spin on a marmalade recipe from a book. Even my mother likes it!

Angela's Marmalade
Angela’s Marmalade

4 pink grapefruits
6 Valencia oranges
3 lemons
7 cups sugar
7 Tbl low sugar Ball pectin
2 cups zest cooking water
3 cups orange juice

You’ll also need a canner w/ rack, 8 12oz jelly jars (or 12 half pints) w/ lids+rings, jar tongs, ladle, wide mouth funnel and a large non reactive pot (an enameled dutch oven is great). Here are the basics for canning if you’re new. You don’t need a thermometer here because I use pectin.

Use a veg peeler to take the zest from the fruit. Put zest strips 1.5 quart of water (in a nonreactive pot) and boil for 30 mins.

While that is boiling, supreme your fruit. To supreme, you cut off all the rind (yes, down to the pulp) then cut out the sections between the membranes, removing all seeds and membranes. These pulpy sections are ‘supremes’. Squeeze the juice from the remains into the supremes, you should have about 6 cups or so. Double check for seeds and crush up the supremes with your hands. Get them consistent. I don’t mind a chunkier marmalade, so if you want it less chunky, you can take a masher to the pulp to make it finer.

Once the zest has cooked, skim out the cooked strips (don’t dump water) and slice very finely into strips, then cut the strips in half crosswise to make confetti. You should have about 1.5 cups of confetti. Add zest to fruit and 2 cups zest water and 3 cups OJ. You should have about 10 cups. If not, add more zest water to bring to 10 cups.

Put all the pulp, juice and confetti zest into a large non-reactive dutch oven or similar heavy pot. Add sugar and pectin, stir, put the heat on high and bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Let it boil hard for 10 minutes. Pull from heat and keep stirring to make sure the zest distributes properly. You may want to stir the individual jars with a chopstick to make sure the zest doesn’t float to the top.

The jars must be sterilised for this recipe, so just chuck ’em in the canner and bring them to a boil with the canning water. Start the canner up first thing and it should be boiling by the time the marmalade is done. Also, don’t forget to put the lids in simmering water to soften the gaskets.

This recipe gave me 8 12oz jelly jars filled to .5″ from the top (w/ a tiny bit left over for me) – your mileage may vary. I always prepare at least one or two extra jars just in case. Process the filled jars for 10 minutes at the boil. Let stand on the counter and wait for the POPs that indicated the jars are sealed. This is my favourite part!