Beef Stroganoff; Toga! Toga! Toga!

Wow, one cauliflower recipe and the financial world goes to Hell in a hand basket. Banks are failing, the market's crashing, and there are increasing reports of people withdrawing money from "the system". Kinda makes long for the good old days when we were all fat, dumb and happy. Ahhh August, you flew by so quickly.

True; times are bleak. You've lost your job, the interest rate is up on your mortgage, hell! - your house is worth less than what you owe on your car, (unless you own an SUV which means nobody wants it and people put you right below "baby seal clubber" on the environmental hit list).

But look at the bright side; that SUV is so big, the family will have plenty of sleeping room. And really, who cares if the wolf is at the door? It's the bank's door now, let them worry about it.There's only one reasonable thing to do in times like these: PARTYYYYYYY!

That's right, clean out the fridge, crack open the really good wines and have one last blow-out. "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow...." *

It was CrabCake2's birthday last week and per tradition he gets to choose the meal. He chose Beef Stroganoff; I know, I know, the coming Depression is going to be especially tough on him. But he's got the right attitude. Crying about the future won't stop good food from spoiling. So, as your home burns while Congress fiddles, crank up Peggy Lee and let's dance one more time.


Beef Stroganoff
by SSSal

2 TBSP Oil
24 oz white button mushrooms sliced, (you can also mix in some Baby Bellas if you like)
1 lb. beef tenderloin cut into 1/2" thick, 1" square slices
3/4 cup beef broth
1 1/2 TBSP butter
3/4 cup minced onion
2 tsp tomato paste
3 TBSP dark brown sugar
1 1/2 TBSP flour
3/4 cup low salt chicken broth
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup sour cream

12 oz. Egg Noodles

In a large saute pan, heat 1 TBSP of oil over medium high heat. When oil is hot add the mushrooms (if your saute pan is not large enough, you need to work in batches). Do not stir mushrooms for 1 minute. After a minute, lightly salt and pepper the mushrooms and stir to turn. Allow mushrooms to cook, stirring occasionally until nearly all the liquid has evaporated from the pan. Transfer 'shrooms to a large bowl.

Return pan to stove and increase heat to high. Add remaining TBSP of oil. Add beef, searing for approximately 30 seconds (again, if you have a small pan you may have to work in batches, you do not want to crowd the pan). After 30 seconds, use tongs or a wooden spoon to turn the meat. Cook an additional 30 seconds. Now, if you've sliced the beef thinly, it will be properly done. For the squeamish among you, the meat may appear on the rare side, fear note there's more cooking to come.

Transfer the cooked beef to the bowl with the mushrooms.

Add beef broth to the pan and scrape up any brown bits. Allow broth to simmer until about 1/3 cup remains. Add the broth and brown bits to the mushrooms and beef.

Turn heat to medium. Add the butter. When the butter foams add the onion, brown sugar and tomato paste. Stirring frequently. Cook the mixture for 5 minutes. Note: There will be blobs of tomato paste in the pan. You'll have a chance to get rid of them when you add the chicken stock or you can kill some time by hunting them down with a wooden spoon, your choice.

Note: It would be a good time to start the water for the noodles about the same time the onions hit the pan. Cook according to bag directions.

After 5 minutes sprinkle the flour over the onion mixture and cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly. The mixture will take on a grainy texture.

Increase the heat to medium-high and whisk in the chicken stock and wine. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook for 2 minutes until somewhat thickened. Add any accumulated liquid from the mushroom/beef bowl.

Now, put the sour cream in a measuring cup. Ladle in 1/2 cup of the simmering liquid and mix well. This process is called tempering. If you added the sour cream directly to the simmering liquid there's a very good chance that it would curdle, in which case, losing ones "tempering" would probably take place.

Add the sour cream mixture to the liquid and whisk together. Add the mushrooms and beef to the sauce and stir to combine.

Plate individual serving of noodles, ladle on the Stroganoff. Eat and dream of happier times.


Well that's it for today crablings. While you still can, remember, you can do it, you can cook.

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* Crabby Quiz: "Eat, drink and be merry...", finish the saying and name the source.

Smashed Cauliflower with Corn, Mushrooms & Red Pepper and Other Life Mysteries

Not every meal I prepare turns out well. There have been (are) plenty of courses (entire meals) that turn out as disasters. The perplexing meals are the ones I find God-awful, but that other people love. Invariably the discrepancy centers around vegetables.

If you've been paying attention, then you know that Crabby is highly carnivorous. I understand and extol the virtues of vegetables. I prepare vegetables. I know that vegetables are good for me. I eat vegetables. I hate vegetables.

Most males I know feel the same way: Veggies are nice, some help sop up gravy, they help make the "real food" look good and, if they get caught up with the meat, they don't usually taste too bad. Hooray. My farmer thanks you. My grocer thanks you. My doctor thanks you and my colon thanks you.

Women on the other hand seem to have a genetic attraction to vegetables. Many meals I hate are raved over by the female diners. Whether it's as a main dish, side dish or spousal option, women love veg.

So here's my recipe for one of the most boring of all veg, cauliflower. Actually, my best recipe for cauliflower is: fry a pound of bacon, boil a head of cauliflower, throw out the cauliflower, eat the bacon. Let's assume that isn't a recipe you want to try; this time of year cauliflower are fresh, abundant and massive. They look like something that should taste great. My wife and her friends loved this dish. I thought it dull and tasteless. Go figure.



Smashed Cauliflower with Corn, Mushrooms & Red Pepper
by Crabby

1 head of Cauliflower broken down into small florets
14 oz (1 can) no-salt or low salt chicken stock

1 TBSP butter
1 TBSP olive oil
1 red pepper, chopped
1 cup thawed, frozen corn (or 1 cup blanched fresh corn)
8 oz mushrooms, white button or Crimini, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed or 1 small leek, sliced (white part only)

1/2 cup sour cream
2 TBSP Dijon mustard

Chopped Chives for garnish

In a medium sized pot, bring chicken stock to a boil. Add cauliflower. Cover with lid slightly ajar and boil for 15 minutes until cauliflower is very tender. Note: Pay attention to the amount of liquid in the pot. You may need to add water or additional chicken stock. (If adding more chicken stock be very aware of the salt content, most canned stocks are overwhelmingly salty).

Drain off excess liquid into a soup bowl.

Roughly mash the cauliflower. I look for small, bite-sized chunks.

While the cauliflower is cooking heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. When hot add olive oil and butter.

When the butter is completely melted add the mushrooms and walk away for 1 minute. After 1 minute stir the mushrooms and add the garlic. Wait 1 more minute. After that minute add the remaining vegetables. Saute over medium-high heat until vegetables start to show caramelized spots, about 5 minutes.

Add the vegetables to the mashed cauliflower.

In a medium soup bowl mix the Dijon mustard and sour cream. Add up to 1/2 cup of the drained cauliflower stock, (This is a judgement call on your part. If the sauce strikes you as too thick then add the broth. If you like a heavier sauce then omit this step). Mix well to combine. Pour the mixture over the vegetables to coat.

Adjust seasoning, garnish with chopped chives and serve.


There, that's it. A vegetable course that most men will hate but women will find hypnotic.

Other ideas might be to throw in some chopped green onions, crushed red pepper or if you're particularly adventurous, (and would like to appeal to the male Troglodyte in the family), put all the veg in a casserole, cover it with cheddar cheese and broil it until melted and slightly browned. It won't be as healthy, but you'll probably be able to get the kids to eat it.

OK, enough. Next time the carnivore returns, but until then, remember, you can do it, you can cook.

Carrot Cake in a Time of Downsizing.

Let's face it, times are tough. Thanks to that adjustable rate mortgage, your dream house just put you into the poor house. You really want to send your kids to college, but that gets further and further away every time you have to fill up your Hummer Consumpto SUV. To top it all off, your nest egg, filled by the golden goose, just got scrambled by some guy at Lehman Brothers.

No, it's not a good time to own anything. This looming hangover from owing "too much" from having bought "too many" reminds me of a recipe story.

Many years ago, I attended business school in the Northeast. What's interesting about this is, while the business school was very good, the overall college had a great reputation for carrot cake.

That's right, carrot cake. People begged for the recipe, alumni would request it for weddings; as great as the academic experience was, everyone remembered the carrot cake.

After graduation I went to work for a large, three-initialed computer company. One of my colleagues graduated from the same business school. As fate would have it, this co-worker's father was the head baker for the college in question.

His father held the keys to the vault. His father not only had the recipe for this carrot cake but also oversaw its production. His father sat, swami-like, at the top of Carrot Cake Mountain.

I pleaded, wheedled, cajoled, coaxed and inveigled. I had to and finally got, the recipe.

Ingredients: 50 lbs of flour....

Nooooo! I held Nirvana in my hands yet had no way to unlock the kitchen door. The recipe called for "pounds of eggs", who ever heard of using eggs by the pound? All I wanted was a recipe for a single, two-layer carrot cake. Curses, foiled again.

I never made the recipe. SeaShellSal and I have spent years trying out other recipes that were similar, but nothing has ever been exactly the same. Maybe someday I'll rent space in an industrial kitchen and give it a whirl. Carrot cake for 2,000.

Until then, here's SSSal's favorite version; CrabCake 2 always requests this as his birthday cake, (as you can see from the pictures). A food processor makes short work of the preparation. The cream cheese frosting is so good it should be against the law. Enjoy.


Carrot Cake
by SSSal

3/4 lbs (about 6 medium) peeled carrots cut into pieces to fit in the processor
1 piece lemon rind (approx 3" x 3/4 ")
2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1" pieces
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup walnuts
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mace

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9" bundt pan or two 8" round cake pans for a layer cake.

Shred carrots in food processor and set aside.

Process lemon peel and sugar in the food processor. Add butter, eggs and vanilla. Process until smooth.

Add walnuts and pulse to chop and distribute.

In a large measuring cup, stir together flour, baking power, baking soda, mace, salt and cinnamon. Add to the food processor, pulsing until the flour has disappeared.

Add carrots 1/3 at a time, pulsing after each addition until fully incorporated.

Pour batter into floured pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Run spatula vertically through batter to release any air bubbles that may have formed.

Bake bundt for 55 - 60 minutes or 45 minutes for the layer cake, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool slightly and then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting
by SSSal

1 stick of butter,(4 ozs) at room temperature
8 ozs. cream cheese (the real stuff) at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar - the whole box
1 TBSP grated lemon zest

Using a mixer, combine all the ingredients and process until the frosting forms a creamy consistency. You may have to refrigerate it for 1/2 an hour or so to make sure it is not too soft.

Spread on cake. Refrigerate to set the frosting if you have time. Bring out to room temp for 1/2 an hour before serving.


This recipe can easily be doubled, and why wouldn't you? Spread it on cookies, on bagels, the family pet; this frosting is ridiculously good.

Well that's all for today. Time to replenish the retirement account, I'll be the one with the metal detector walking the beach looking for loose change. Until next time, remember, you can do it, you can cook.