Mushroom Stroganoff

The temperature in Boston today hovered between 92 and 100 degrees today. In my car, the temperature gauge went from 103 to 105 and then back down to 100. What it actually was is anyone's guess, but no one is denying the obvious: it was hot today.

So of course, what's a girl to do but make a dish typically seen in colder weather: mushroom stroganoff. I'm not sure why, but I have been craving pasta recently, and trying to figure out the best way in which to get my fix. On Sunday morning, I was watching TV while drinking my morning coffee, and a show that I haven't seen in awhile came on, called "The Best Thing I Ever Made" (on Food Network, obviously). One of the dishes I saw on there was mushroom stroganoff, and I was hooked. I had to do it. Every now and then I'd see beef stroganoff in the store, and I wanted to get it but for some reason always talked myself out of it. This seemed like a pretty decent compromise-and it wasn't even as bad for you as the original recipe! After looking at the recipe it also seemed like I could get it done pretty quickly too, which was a huge plus. Add to that I had nearly everything needed for the recipe except the mushrooms, and I was sold.

Unfortunately, my stomach today was all, "pasta! Now!" while my body was all. "Too hot. Need water and melon.". Cooking this meal didn't seem like the brightest idea at this temperature, until I remembered one thing: I now live in a home with central air. It could be 3,000 degrees outside and I'd be cool as a cucumber in the house. So I went to the store after work, picked up some portabella caps, and came home to get started.







This was very quick to throw together: slice the mushrooms, let them saute, cook the noodles, and make a sauce in the pan. Really no big deal. I was pretty excited too-the recipe called for sour cream and goat cheese. I had plenty of goat cheese leftover from that tart I posted about yesterday, and I had a whole boatload of greek yogurt, which is pretty similar to sour cream and I have it in the fridge more often than sour cream anyway. It took about a half hour, maybe 45 minutes, tops. Most of that time was just waiting-it's very low-effort, as meals go.





I do think the end result was tasty, but it was probably missing a bit more of salt and pepper-it was a little on the bland side for me. On "The Best Thing I Ever Made", one of the things I heard was that this dish tasted just like beef stroganoff. I don't necessarily agree-it tasted like mushrooms. But it was still pretty decent. I ate it with some wilted kale on the side, since I need to use enough of the CSA share from last week to make room for our next share tomorrow. I could definitely taste the goat cheese (I used a bit extra than the recipe called for) and the mushrooms were nice and tender, just the way I like them. Dare I say that this recipe might even be improved by a bit of bacon? But I may say that only because I think bacon makes everything taste better. :)

Mushroom Stroganoff (recipe obtained from foodnetwork.com)

12 oz extra-wide egg noodles (I used whole wheat wide noodles-kind of like egg noodles in shape)
3 Tbsp. butter
5 portabella mushroom caps, sliced
1 tsp. salt
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 Tbsp. flour
14 oz. beef broth
8 oz. sour cream (I used plain greek yogurt instead)
4 oz. fresh goat cheese (I used crumbled goat cheese instead of a log)
1/2 tsp. pepper

Add the noodles to cold water in a large pot (enough to cover the noodles). Turn the heat to high and cook 18 to 22 minutes, stirring every so often.

Melt the butter in a large pan set over medium-high heat. Increase the heat to high, add the mushrooms and sprinkle with salt. Saute for about 5 to 6 minutes or until the mushrooms have softened a bit and released their juices. Add the white bottoms of the green onions (sliced!) and saute 2 to 3 minutes more.

Sprinkle in the flour and cook about 1 minute, creating a bit of a roux. Add the beef broth and bring everything to a simmer. Cook for about 10 to 12 minutes, and then add the sour cream (greek yogurt), goat cheese and black pepper. Stir to combine and warm through, about 2 to 4 minutes.

Drain the noodles, add to the pan and stir to combine. Garnish with the green onion tops if you desire and additional black pepper if you want it. Serve immediately.