Beef Stroganof, It's Not Christmas Eve Without It

      Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


      I can't believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away!  Every year I think I'm going to get ahead of the game and then every year it seems that December just gets away from me.  This year is no different.  We finally got the house decorated, but I still have all of my shopping to do.  So this week, I will probably make a trek out to the Mall of America and (hopefully) knock off a lot of my shopping.

     The one thing I don't stress out about is our Christmas Eve dinner.  I have been hosting Christmas Eve for at least 17 years and we have had the same basic meal every year.  I have played around with some of the side dishes and have added a second entree, but I better not take away the beef stroganof!  That is a favorite dish for most of my family and they look forward to it every year.

     The recipe I use is one that's been around FOREVER!  I think my mom has been making this recipe for at least 40 years.  Over the years, I've done very little to change the recipe.  I once tried to make the sauce from scratch, without the canned soups, but it just wasn't the same.  So I gave up and stuck with the original.  It's a very simple recipe, but I have to say something magical happens to those few ingredients while it slow bakes in the oven.  When it comes out and you stir in the sour cream, it becomes something very delicious!

     On a final note, most recipes I've seen for beef stroganof have you serve it over egg noodles, but we have always had it over rice.  Sometimes I use brown rice and sometimes I use basmati rice and it is delicious with either.

Beef Stroganof

• 2 to 2 1/2 lbs Round Steak
• 2 - 8oz packages cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cans French onion soup
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I use the healthy request)
• 2 cups sour cream (I use lite)
• salt and pepper to taste
• hot cooked rice (I use brown)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Thinly slice steak.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a dutch oven over high heat.  Cooking in batches, brown steak slices.  Set browned meat aside.

Add mushrooms to pan and saute until browned.

Return steak to pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Add soups to pan and stir to combine well.

Cover and place in preheated oven.  Bake for 2 hours.  Remove from oven and stir in sour cream.

Serve immediately over rice.

ENJOY!


Shared at Mandy's Recipe Box on 12/13/11.
Shared at Food Corner on 12/14/11.
Shared at Gooseberry Patch on 12/14/11.
Shared at Miz Helen's Country Cottage on 12/22/11.
Shared at 4 Little Fergusons on 12/23/11.

Saturday Night with a French Twist

        Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


     More often than not, we go out to dinner on Saturday night, but last week Steve had been out of town for most of the week and so he really just wanted to stay home.  That was just fine because we could make a special dinner to have at home.

     So the big question was....what should we make?  I was going to be heading to the grocery store and I already had beef tenderloin on my list because it was on sale, so that seemed like a good starting point for dinner.  I also had a LOT of potatoes (I kind of over-bought for Thanksgiving) and if we added some bread and salad that would make a complete dinner.

     But we needed a theme, because that menu sounds kind of boring.  So let's put a French twist on it!  I decided on steak au poivre, Truffled Oven Frites (our latest potato obsession and if you call them frites instead of fries it makes them French!), mixed greens (which was funny because it was a mix from Traders Joe's called Champs Elysee) and grilled French bread.  Now that sounds like a fun meal!

     Steak au poivre is really an easy dish to make.  You saute your steaks and then make a quick pan sauce.  So simple, so easy and fun because you add brandy and get to flame it!

Steak au Poirve

Adapted from Quick Cuisine by Ann Clark

• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 beef tenderloin steaks (you could also use sirloin or New York strip)
• 1 1/2 tbsp brandy
• 1/4 cup shallot, minced
• 1/3 cup white wine (I used chardonnay)
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp fresh tarragon
• 1/4 tsp salt

Let your steaks sit out for 15-20 minutes to bring them to room temperature.  Put peppercorns in a ziploc bag and hit with a mallet or rolling pin until they are coarsely crushed.  Press some of the pepper onto each of the steaks, both sides (unless you want it to be really spicy, don't go too crazy with the pepper).

Get the rest of your ingredients chopped and measured out.  This cooks really fast, so it's good to have all of your ingredients ready to go.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  When pan is really hot (you want to get a good sear on the meat), add steak.  Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes for medium rare.

Add the brandy to the pan and flame (it's best to do this with the burner off).  

Once the flame has died down, remove steaks from pan, place on a warm plate and cover with foil.  Add shallots to pan and cook over medium low heat for 2-3 minutes until soft.

Add the wine, increase heat to medium and bring to a boil.  Add the cream and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.

Stir in mustard, tarragon and salt.

Spoon sauce over steaks and serve immediately.

ENJOY!


Shared at Mandy's Recipe Box on 12/06/11
Shared at Food Corner on 12/07/11
Shared at Newlyweds Blog on 12/07/11
Shared at Baking Bad on 12/09/
Shared at Everyday Mom's Meals on 12/11/11

Pearl's Bars

       Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


      If my Mom is having people over or if she needs to bring a dessert somewhere, this is often her go-to recipe.  It's quick and easy to make and it tastes really good!  As far as the name goes, I have no idea why it's called Pearl's Bars.  Perhaps the person that came up with this recipe is named Pearl?...I don't know.  It really doesn't matter though, because whatever you call it, it's delicious.

     So what are Pearl's Bars?  They are a wonderful combination of crescent rolls and cream cheese.  You layer in a pan a package of crescent rolls, followed by a cream cheese mixture and another package of crescent rolls and top it all off with cinnamon and sugar.  So basically you have a crust on the top and the bottom with a luscious, creamy, cream cheese center.

     I have never made this dessert myself, but I've been wanting to give it a try for a while and Sunday afternoon seemed like as good of a day as any.  I didn't realize until I made this myself how easy it is to put together and it only has 6 ingredients.  If you keep crescent rolls and cream cheese on hand, you can really make this at a moments notice, the rest of the ingredients are things you probably already have in your kitchen.

Pearl's Bars

• 2 packages crescent rolls (I used the seamless dough sheets)
• 2  - 8oz packages cream cheese
• 1 egg, separated
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Topping

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.  Press one package crescent rolls into the bottom of the pan.

Beat cream cheese until creamy.  Add egg yolk and beat until combined.  Finally, add sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined.

Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over crescent rolls.

On a flat surface, press the second package of crescent rolls out to a 9x13 size and place on top of the cream cheese mixture.

Beat egg white until frothy.  Brush on top of crescent rolls.

Combine 1/3 cup sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle on top.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Cool completely and then serve.  Keep refrigerated.

ENJOY!


Shared at Mandy's Recipe Box on 12/06/11
Shared at Food Corner on 12/07/11
Shared at Gooseberry Patch on 12/07/11
Shared at Newlyweds Blog on 12/07/11
Shared at It's a Keeper on 12/08/11
Shared at Miz Helen's Country Cottage on 12/08/11
Shared at Baking Bad on 12/09/11
Shared at Everyday Mom's Meals on 12/11/11

The Soup Parade Continues with Black Bean and Chorizo

       Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


     I love soup!  I make it quite often and I make it all year round.  It's great this time of year when it's cold outside, but it's equally good eaten out on the deck in warmer weather.  What's so great about soup (other than the fact that it tastes great) is that it's so flexible.  It's almost always a great make ahead dish, so if I have time to cook in the morning, I can whip up a pot of soup and dinner will be ready whenever we are.  It also generally freezes well, which is great because I love to package it up into individual portions to have for lunch.  Finally, you can always add or subtract extra veggies or protein to suit your taste and a double batch doesn't take much more time to make than a single batch.

This soup is one that I've made a number of times and the meat that I put into it varies depending on what I have on hand.  Today I had chorizo, but pork, ham, chicken or even shrimp would be delicious and of course, you could certainly leave the meat out altogether.

Black Bean and Chorizo Soup

Adapted from "Calphalon Cooks Weeknights"

• 12 ounces smoked chorizo, diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 medium onions, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 3 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 - 15oz cans stewed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (my store was out of fresh, but they had frozen which worked just fine)
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 4 cups chicken stock

Dice the chorizo and chop the onions and garlic.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add chorizo and saute until browned, about 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.  Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Add onions and saute for about 3 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for another 2 minutes.  Add cumin and continue cooking for another couple of minutes until onions are soft.

Add beans and tomatoes to the pan, breaking up the tomatoes with the spoon.  Season with a little salt and pepper.

Then, either with an immersion blender or in a blender in batches, blend into a course puree.  Make sure you don't over-process, you still want to have some whole beans.

Stir in chicken stock and salt and pepper to taste.  Increase heat and bring to a boil.

Stir chorizo into the soup and let simmer for about 10 minutes to let the flavors develop.

Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, lime wedges or avocado if desired.

ENJOY!

Shared at Baking Bad on 12/02/11
Shared atMandy's Recipe Box on 12/06/11
Shared at Food Corner on 12/07/11
Shared at Newlyweds Blog on 12/07/11
Shared at Miz Helen's Country Cottage on 12/08/11
Shared at Everyday Mom's Meals on 12/11/11