Thursday, July 25, 2013

mushroom stroganoff

I think I learned how to make this in 1st grade. My mom was obsessed with mushrooms like everyone in my family and this could be put together cheaply for a pile of people and fast

Slice 1 onion and 1 lb mushrooms....(if you eat meat you can braise 1/2 lb of meat here instead of half the mushrooms) any mushrooms will do but I usually use cremini here as they are cheaper than the wilder sorts and have more flavour than white button.
If you happen to have dried shitake on hand rehydrate a small handful. Cut them up and toss the water in too.
Sautee onion and mushrooms at medium heat with 1 tb butter and 1 tb olive oil until the onions become translucent and the mushrooms begin to give off fluid. If you have it add 6oz  of wine and 4 oz glass water, otherwise 10 oz of water will do just fine.Salt and pepper to taste. Do not lower the heat. Once the liquid is reduced by half turn off the heat. The add ins following will curdle if heated much. Add either 3/4 yogurt, 8oz sour cream or 8oz vegan sourcream. Stir and serve over brown rice or buttered (gf) broad noodles with something green or some sauerkraut.

Basic sauces: lemon and oil, roasted brussel sprouts...

This should be self explanatory Lemon and Olive oil is one of the best sauces out there. The technique pretty much lends itself to a variety of  citrus fruits and to a degree just use sweeter vinegars (like balsamic or apple) in a smaller quantity to enjoy your deep green things and noodley things more when there is no lemony goodness around.
Here's how to do it.

On many things squeezing 1-2 tb olive oil and the juice of a lemon will do it. Add a sprinkle of salt if you desire ...which I do. Done. This is helpful for salad, Chopped salad and as a dressing on white bean soup.

Let's say you just stovetop roasted some mushrooms and onion or say broccoli or really anything verdant or nicely bitter(Chicken breasts too if you eat them). Before you stir fry add 1/2 onion half moon sliced and sautee in olive oil, adding 1-10 cloves of sliced garlic once the onion becomes translucent. Grab a cup of water (or wine if the mood calls for it) to keep by the stove. Add a half cup to your pot after the onions and garlic play for a bit. Add salt here if you use it. Grate 1/2 of your lemon's (well washed) peel into the pot. Once the liquid reduces substantially to a syrupy/brothy texture add the juice of the lemon. Don't worry this works with bottled lemon juice and no zest if that's what you have, the flavour is just a bit less bright. Garnish with fresh herbs like thyme,mint, chives, basil,etc. when you have them and when it doesn't clash.

Let's say you are roasting brussel sprouts. Fresh brussel sprouts, not the completely ruined frozen variety. So it's fall or spring and you want delicious sprouts. Clean those sprouts and cut a partial x through their butts after trimming the stem. Sliced 3 cloves of garlic on that lb. of sprouts and toss in a liberal bath of olive oil 3-4 tb. Zest and squeeze you lemon on it, Add salt again if you like. add 1/4 cup water and cook in the oven 15 minutes at 425 F. Put under broiler at same temp for last 10 minutes