Dan | Adventures in Thyme

Beef Stroganoff over noodles

March 20, 2014 by Dan Leave a Comment

Beef Stroganoff with Noodles

Beef stroganoff

1 lb beef (round steak, chuck roast, tri-tip, etc.)
1 (or more) cloves of garlic
1/2 sweet onion, thin sliced
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup red wine
2 Tablespoons dry sherry
6 ounces sour cream
Olive oil

Cut your beef into thin, bite sized pieces. Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a large zip top bag. Add the meat to the bag and seal. Shake vigorously to evenly coat all of the meat. (The flour will help thicken your sauce later as well as help brown the meat.)

garlic for stroganoff

Place 1/4 cup or so of olive oil in a skillet, heat over medium heat. Peal and slice your clove of garlic and also the sweet onion. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic to the oil. Cook until lightly browned. Remove the garlic from the oil, retaining the oil in the pan.

onions for stroganoff

Turn the burner down to medium low and add the sliced onion. Cook the onion until lightly browned and soft. Add 2 Tablespoons dry sherry. Cook, stirring frequently until well carmelized (The onions will be evenly browned.) Remove the onions from the oil and retain the oil in the pan.

beef for stroganoff

You may need to add a little more oil if your onions absorbed a lot of the oil you had. Once the skillet is back up to a medium temperature, add your meat. Cook, turning and stirring occaisionally until well browned. Once the meat is browned, add your beef stock and red wine. Reduce the heat to low and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. (Cook your noodles or rice now.) If the sauce gets too thick add a little more beef stock.

sour cream into beef stroganoff

Once your noodles are ready and the beef is cooked add the carmelized onions to the meat and stir them. Now add in 6 ounces of sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over noodles or rice. Sprinkle a little grated cheese over the top if desired.

For additional flavor you can add a pinch or two of rosemary along with the beef stock and wine and add the fried garlic back in when you serve the stroganoff. This photo shows the dish made with dairy free sour cream and gluten free pasta.

Banana, Caramel and Ice Cream, Oh my…

February 19, 2014 by Dan Leave a Comment

Bananas and Rum Caramel over Ice Cream

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
6 Tablespoons Butter
2 Bananas, sliced (slightly green work best)
2 Shots Rum
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Combine the brown sugar and 4 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Melt and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When it starts to thicken drop a little of the caramel into a glass of cold water. It should form a soft ball of caramel in the water. Remove from the heat and add 2 tablespoons if butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 shots of rum. Return to the heat and stir to combine the ingredients. Add the sliced bananas and cook over medium heat, stirring gently, for a few minutes, until the bananas are soft, but not falling apart.

Remove from heat and let cool until warm. Server warm over vanilla ice cream.

Nachos

February 12, 2014 by Dan Leave a Comment

Nachos

Here’s a low cost, easily adaptable dish that is good as a snack or a meal. It can be made Vegan, Vegetarian, or all out meatlicious; mild, medium, or OMG! Consider our recipe a basic one, add, detract, or just let your imagination run wild. Nachos are also very conducive to set up buffet style, where everyone can customize their own plate. What could be simpler after a long day?

1 Pound Meat (ground beef or shredded beef or you could substitute ground turkey)
1 Package Taco Seasoning
1 Can Refried Beans
Corn Chips
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Large Tomato, diced
1 Avocado, diced
Cilantro, chopped
1 Lime (Optional)

Cook your meat with your favorite taco seasoning. If using ground beef, be sure the beef is browned evenly and broken up into small pieces. Heat your refried beans.

Place a layer of corn ships on an oven safe plate. Top with a layer of your meat and beans. Add another layer of corn chips and again cover with a layer of meat and beans. Add a third layer of corn chips and a third layer of meat and beans. Top with the shredded cheddar cheese. (If you use pre-shredded cheese, be sure it has no anti-caking agent in it or it won’t melt nicely.) Place your place on a baking sheet and put under your broiler for a few minutes. Watch it closely and remove as soon as the cheese melts. Be careful, the plate and baking sheet will be hot.

Serve hot and top with diced tomato, diced avocado and chopped cilantro. You can also squeeze a little lime juice over the top. Enjoy!

The Fudge Factor

December 11, 2013 by Dan Leave a Comment

Chocolate Fudge

Familiar with the old saying, “Families are like fudge, a little sweet with a few nuts”? This is also true about our fudge (and our family BTW, okay TMI, back to the fudge…).

This is an old family recipe, going back at least 50 years, and each Christmas the faded index card comes out and fudge is made, and handed out to friends and family.

So our gift to you, the super secret family recipe. Happy Holidays!

2 Cups Sugar
12-14 Large Marshmallows
2/3 cup evaporated milk (1 small can, not sweetened condensed milk)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (you can substitute butter scotch, mint chocolate, etc., it takes longer to set up though)
1 cup chopped pecans (you can substitute walnuts)
1/4 pound butter (1 stick)
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Combine sugar, marshmallows and canned milk in a large cast iron or stainless steel skillet. (Do not use non-stick, you will scratch it.) Bring mixture to a boil over medium to medium high heat, stirring constantly with a wire spring whisk. (The spring whisk will stir to the bottom of the pan and keep the mixture from sticking and burning.)_ Boil for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate chips, nuts and butter. Add the vanilla. Beat by hand with a wooden spoon until it is of a spreading consistency (it will be relatively cool by that point, butter scotch and some other flavors won’t get as think and may need to be refrigerated to set up completely.) DO NOT use an electric mixer, you will get a very good chocolate sauce but it will never set up.

Pour the fudge into a greased 8×8 or 9×9 inch square pan. Let set over night. Cut into 3/4 to 1 inch squares and remove from pan.