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,
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