mushrooms

The best beef bourguignon ever

~ nancyruth ~ 6 Comments

This does not follow my theme for the year but I just had to share/brag/boast/whatever!

In a Dutch Oven sauté a handful of bacon ends and pieces with a teaspoon of jarred minced garlic. Add 2 small onions chopped in large chunks and continue cooking until onions are semi-tender. Set aside in a bowl. Dredge 1-2 pounds of beef stew meat chunks (from a Top Butt) in ½ cup flour with some salt and pepper. Add a bit more oil to the pot and brown the beef, turning once. Set this aside in the bowl with the bacon/onion mixture. Add one cup of red wine to the pot and deglaze the pan scraping the brown bits on the bottom. Add the beef, bacon, and onion mixture back into the pot along with 2 small potatoes chopped in large chunks and 2 small carrots which have been peeled and cut into one-inch chunks. Cover this with 2 cups of beef broth and 1-2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce. Add more broth if necessary to just cover the goodies in the pot but not to drown them. Stir and bring to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer. This was allowed to simmer for the two risings of the home-made bread dough. Meanwhile in separate skillet place 2 tablespoons of butter and sauté 4 large baby bella mushrooms which have been sliced. Cook just until mushrooms are slightly softened and browned. Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce and set aside. When ready to put the bread in the oven, or after two hours, stir the mushrooms into the pot along with the reserved flour from the dredging of the beef. Continue to simmer the pot for the duration of the bread baking or 30-35 minutes.

We ate most of this before taking a picture. Here is what the leftover in the pot looks like. But no, the pic is not appetizing so I am not posting it, and this stew was fantastic. I do not generally rave about my own cooking but this was aromatic, flavorful, and rich-tasting. I served this with a homemade loaf of bread which is essential to clean the bowl to get every last drop!

tomatoes, garlic, and mushrooms

~ nancyruth ~ 5 Comments

These aren’t really recipes but comments on throwing ingredients together to make meals. Yes, I suppose that is what makes  a recipe. Anyway the amounts of the vegetables in the following meals will be entirely up to you and what you have and want to use.

This is a bunch of tomatoes, garlic, and mushrooms served over egg noodles. My Hubby likes egg noodles. When he makes pasta he cooks bunches of it. He does this for tuna-noodle in the summer and with spaghetti which then becomes his spaghetti pie. I try to cook just enough for the meals I am planning.

I have vegetables delivered weekly from Imperfect Produce. You can google that and see if it would be right for you. I may have mentioned it in a previous blog but am not sure. So I had a bunch of tomatoes that arrived green. I let them sit on my counter for a couple of weeks and they did turn red. Meanwhile I had 3-4 other tomatoes in a weekly delivery. And the mushrooms have been very nice lately. I am still trying to put more vegetables in our meals. We’ve done a lot of big roast ups of whatever vegetables are on hand but Hubby has let me know that he is done with broccoli!

  • 6 or so smallish tomatoes
  • 3 cloves garlic
  •  8 ounce package white mushrooms
  • Italian seasoning to taste
  • Egg noodles or pasta of your choice
  • Grated Romano or parmesan cheese to serve

Boil water and cook the noodles. This will take 5-8-10 minutes depending on how al dente you like your pasta. You can use whatever pasta you have on hand. This might be nice with bowties.

Slice the garlic and sauté in oil or butter. Slice mushrooms and add to pan. Roughly chop tomatoes and add them to the skillet and stir together with a few shakes of the seasoning. The garlic will take about 3 minutes; the mushrooms add 5, and then the tomatoes for about 5 more.

Drain the pasta. We put our pasta in the bowls and then add the tomato mixture. Serve with grated cheese. Enjoy!

Salisbury Steak

~ nancyruth ~ 3 Comments

A while ago a colleague gave me her recipe for Salisbury Steak. Recently another colleague said that was what she was going to try to make for dinner. And then one of you lovely bloggers posted a recipe for them cooked in a crock pot. You know who you are koolaidmoms! And then Hubby bought a package of ground beef when we were grocery shopping. It seems the stars were aligned!

This is the recipe given to me by my colleague: Salisbury Steak with Mushrooms.

  • 1 lb. lean ground beef
  • 1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup chopped onions
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons water

I cannot guarantee that I used the exact amounts listed but a pretty close approximation.

Combine ground beef, bread crumbs, chopped onion, egg, salt and pepper in a bowl until evenly mixed. Shape into four patties.

Fry patties in a large skillet over medium heat until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes. Add broth, sliced onions, and mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for another 10 minutes. Transfer to plate and keep warm.

Bring onion mixture to a boil. Mix cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Add to the skillet. Cook and stir until gravy is thickened, about one minute. Pour over patties to serve.

I cooked brown rice and made a salad to complete the dinner.

IMG_0559
It’s all about the gravy!