A month of all new recipes part 2: Crazy Beef Stroganoff

If you missed the last post, we're jumping into an all-new series making something completely different for nearly every night of the week over the course of a month.

After weeks of Thanksgiving leftovers, we really needed something unique and off the beaten path to refresh our palettes, so it's time to get adventurous! Be sure to check out the last post about delicious savory Italian casserole before we jump into our next all-new meal: a crazy twist on traditional beef stroganoff.

We got this idea from Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals show on Hulu (which, by the way, is a serious lie - none of those dishes can be made in 15 minutes, but hey, they are mostly tasty, so we'll let it slide). For this non-traditional take on a traditional meal, you'll need:

• 1 lb. your preferred cut of beef (we used skirt steak, see below for more options)
• Button mushrooms
• Fresh bunch spinach (NOT the frozen kind)
• 1 red onion
• 6 - 7 gherkin pickles
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp. brandy
• 2 cups rice (we prefer parboiled)
• 1 tsp. parsley
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 2 tsp. paprika
• salt and pepper
• about 1/2 cup sour cream

To get started we're going to clean off our mushrooms and then slice them in thin strips, as well as peel our garlic and get it in the press to use later.

We want the red onion and pickles to be thinly slice but completely uniform, so we cut them up using the slicer attachment on our food processor. This is a quick and easy way to get through lots of veggies, but a mandolin also works great - which we finally just got for Christmas and will be utilizing heavily in new posts to come soon!

We're going to next mix the red onion and pickles with all our seasonings (except the paprika) in a large bowl.

Finally its time to get cooking, and here were heating up the mushrooms and the pressed garlic in about a teaspoon of oliv eoil.

After a few minutes, add in half the red onion / pickles but reserve the other half - we'll be using the uncooked mixture later.

We want the onions to get nice and soft and have time to develop their flavors with the garlic, mushrooms, and the very nontraditional pickles.

Now it's time for the meat! We used skirt steak, which is a little more on the chewy side, so if you go that route you'll definitely want to marinate for at least a few hours before hand. Even a simple oil, vinegar, and seasoning marinade would do, and of course adding some of the bourbon won't hurt! If skirt steak isn't your favorite, go with any other cut, like flank, sirloin, top round, or chuck.

After slicing strips of beef, the seasonings here are pretty simple - paprika and salt and pepper.

Were going to remove the cooked veggie mixture from the heat and set aside in a different bowl while cooking the beef. After it's started to brown, add in the bourbon, and if you want some sear - light it on fire!

Next we return the vegetables after the meat has cooked through and then we add in the sour cream to get more of the traditional stroganoff flavoring.

While this has been cooking, we've had our parboiled rice cooking away in the rice cooker and heating the spinach in the steamer basket on top. After its all cooked, we're mixing the spinach into the rice for serving.

Throw a few heaping spoonfuls of spinach and rice on your plate as a base for the delicious topping to come.

Next add on the cooked skirt steak, vegetable, and sour cream mixture - as much as you can handle!

Remember how we saved some of the vegetable mixture and didn't cook it? Throw some of that on top for extra crunch and flavor!

Here we go, a big messy, wonderful dinner adding in some flavors you really don't expect while still keeping up the basic idea of stroganoff,

A month of all new recipes part 1: Italian Casserole

After a week of leftovers following Thanksgiving, we decided it was time to focus on entirely new meals, so we've been challenging ourselves to come up with several new recipes a week that we've never tried out before.

In the coming days we've got a huge variety of delicious meals to share with you from those cooking experiments, from the savory two-pot Italian casserole below to a salty brined chicken, a meatball pie, and even a very unique twist on beef stroganoff.

For this easy but super tasty Italian casserole, you will need:

• Store bought penne (or homemade sheets of pasta)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne
• 2 tbsp. of your preferred Italian pasta seasonings + salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 pound Italian seasoned sausage
• Large, thin sliced pepperoni AND salami (the deli kind, not the pizza topping kind)
• 6 oz. fresh mozzarella (the kind packed in water or dry and pre-packaged from the deli is best)
• 2 - 3 oz. shredded regular mozzarella
• 8 oz. provolone
• As much Parmesan as you can handle!

To start off this dish, cook the sausage over medium heat in a dutch oven (or any pan that can switch from the skillet to oven).

Next we're going to shred and slice each of the types of cheese.

We're going to slice the salami and pepperoni into long strips, but you could also do small squares or even leave them whole in the circles for a twist.

Meanwhile, we're cooking the penne in boiling water in a separate pan. Once it's finished, throw it in the dutch oven with the sausage and then stir in the salami, pepperoni, and each type of cheese.

Next we whip up some homemade sauce by mixing together the canned tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasonings, and cayenne in a blender. For a better flavor and thicker consistency, cook this down over medium heat in a covered pan for about 20 minutes. It's an extra step that takes longer, but the results are worth it.

After the sauce is ready, spoon it into the dutch oven and stir together. For a more even mix, you can also add in layers of each ingredient type: pasta, meat, cheese, and then sauce. Repeat with four or five layers for an even distribution.

Next we're going to crank the oven to 400 and cover the pasta casserole in a thick layer of Parmesan to get a good crust on top.

For presentation, we're adding on a final layer of uncut pepperoni. Throw it all in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes.

Here it is, with a bubbly cheese crust and layers of tasty Italian flavor just begging to be eaten!

Spoon out a section and throw it on a plate or bowl and then top with extra Parmesan if you are so inclined. Bon Appétit!

There are plenty of ways to modify this recipe to change things up - add in some fennel for more of a pizza taste, or swap out your meats with any other favorites like ground beef, bacon, chicken, or pancetta. Adding in some cream also takes this up a notch by going from straight tomato sauce to more of an Alfredo style.