Cheater Beef Stroganoff

My husband's birthday was on Tuesday and that means I have much, much leftover food in my fridge. I always overcook, and this time was no exception. Several pounds of salmon (salads! I love cold salmon on salads!), chicken (wraps!) and steak leads me to my favourite way to rid myself of leftovers. I also have some light sour cream that I will forget about otherwise and far too many mushrooms (is there really such a thing as too many mushroom?) so here we are: let's get at it!

 

You will need:

2 c uncooked egg noodles (I am using No Yolks)
2 tsp olive oil (don't use EVOO)
1 onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced, about 2 cups (you can buy 1/2 lb tubs all sliced for you. I don't like them because they slice them too thick, but I really should learn to pick my battles)
1/2 c red wine
2 c beef stock
1 lb cooked steak
Salt, pepper, paprika (I am using smoked hot paprika because I love it so)

First, prep! Grate your onions and crush your garlic into a large-ish heavy-bottom (makes the cooking world go round) saucepan. Slice the steak as thinly as possible. Putting it in the freezer for 10 minutes first helps fo sho. Slice your mushrooms or pull the saran wrap off your package, whatever your wallet and conscience dictates.

Add the oil to the saucepan with onions and garlic, heat to medium and add in the mushrooms. Cook for three minutes or until the onions are softened and most of the liquid is gone.

Pour in the wine and use a flat wooden spoon to scrape up everything off the bottom. Cook until most of the liquid is gone. Start to boil water for the egg noodles, cook, drain and set aside.

Add in the beef stock, sliced steak, salt, pepper and paprika. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by half.

Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. Check your seasoning. Stir in the cooked egg noodles, serve!

You know, it would look much better with BROAD egg noodles, but here's what I had

I portioned this into 4 servings at 350 calories per; add a salad or steamed veggies and boom! Under 400 - 500! And now I can see into my fridge.

Enjoy!

Saturday: Dijon Chicken Chow-Dair

This is not technically a chow-dair, but it has potatoes and I really like to say Chow-dair, so there it is. You have to try this on a day when you have some time. And kale. The Dijon makes this amaz-za-zing. That's right, so good it adds a syllable.

 

You will need:

4 tsp olive oil, divided
2 c sliced leeks (about 4. You could also use one large onion if you prefer)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 c all-purpose unbleached flour
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
Salt, pepper
1 c white wine (I'm using Fat B&*tard Chardonnay because I like hippos)
3 c chicken stock
1 1/2 c water
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 lb potatoes (not russet)
8 c kale (about a bunch), torn

To do your prep, here are some things to keep in mind. You only want to use the white and light green parts of the leek. The rest of it is very tough and doesn't have any flavour, so not any good for stock. I am always so conflicted about leeks, they add such a nice nuance to the taste, but all the waste! Won't someone please come up with a use for all that greenery??

Anyway, trim the end off the leek, then cut off the white / light green part.

Cut in half.

You would not believe the amount of dirt that can hide in between those layers. Rinse 'em!

The easiest way I have found to deal with kale is to hold onto the end of the stem firmly and run a sharp paring knife down to the top of the leaf. Like scraping it off. Then tear or cut into pieces.

Cut your potatoes and chicken into bite-size pieces, mince your garlic.

 

Back to the soup! Heat one teaspoon of the oil in a large Dutch oven, cook the leeks until golden and softened, about 5-6 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute, just until you can smell it. Set aside in a large-ish bowl.

Dump your flour into a pie plate, add your chicken pieces and stir until each piece is coated.

 

Add two teaspoons of olive oil to the Dutch oven, cook half of the chicken, sprinkling with salt and pepper, until browned on all sides, 5-6 minutes. Remove to the same bowl with the leek; add last teaspoon of oil to the pan and cook the remaining chicken, also sprinkled with salt and pepper.

 



 

When all of the chicken has browned and has been removed from the Dutch oven, pour in the white wine and scrape up all the crunchy bits on the bottom.

You should have about a tablespoon of flour left over in your pie plate from coating the chicken, add that to one cup of the chicken stock and whisk together.

Add that, the rest of the stock, the 1 1/2 c water and mustard to your Dutch oven, bring to a boil. Watch your lid, the mustard can get a little jumpy.

Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add in the potatoes, re-cover and simmer for yet another 30 minutes. It will totally be worth it! Instant gratification is for the bids! And hungry people.

Stir in the kale, cook for another 10 minutes until it softens. If you cross your eyes a little, kale looks like spinach, but it does not wilt at all the same. 8 cups of spinach reduces to a tablespoon, whereas 8 cups of kale looks just like 8 cups of kale, no matter how long you cook it.

Becoming concerned my pot is too small for the vast amounts of kale

Throw on your red pepper at the end, serve! I portioned mine out to six servings and came up with 334 calories per, which is not bad. I used a couple hundred grams more chicken, so there is that. Another dish with veggies built in, I'll take it.

Enjoy!

Friday: Summer Coq Au Vin

I love classic Coq au Vin, so I was pretty excited to find a recipe that could be easily adjusted for lower calories and also doesn't have the fussiness of the traditional version. I am also using white wine instead of the usual red, so now we're gonna call it summery.

You will need:

2 lbs chicken, breast, thighs or whatever you got ( I used both)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped or sliced, whaddeveryalike
1/2 lb mushrooms (I am using 1 c dried shiitake mushrooms, because I don't know what else to do with them)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 c good white wine (who's off their meds?? Yay!!) - you can also substitute chicken stock for half if you don't want to intoxicate minors in your care. You know, TOO much
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
Black pepper
Salt
1 bay leaf
3 green onions

First, brown yer chicken. Heat the oil in a wide saucepan (NOT non-stick) salt and pepper your chicken and brown the chicken in batches, until golden. Set aside in a bowl. Pour off most of the leftover fat and reserve.

Toss the carrots, onions and sliced mushrooms into the saucepan, cook at medium low heat for 3 or so minutes until the onions start to soften. Add in the garlic and cook for one more minute. Just one!! Dump all these veggies in the bowl with the chicken.

Pour the reserved fat back in the pan (should be about 1 1/2 Tbsp, add a little bit more as required) and add the flour. Scrape the bottom (all flavour!!) and stir until the flour takes on a bit of colour, a minute or two. Less than that and your pan is too hot. Turn it down, soldier!

Slowly add the wine, scraping as you go. Add the chicken and vegetables back in as well as more salt and pepper, the thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about an hour.

Sprinkle with the sliced green onions and serve without the bay leaf. I separated this into 6 servings at 400 calories per. It is on the high side, calories-wise, but it is for a special occasion. I am serving it with some steamed broccoli and calling it a week, yay!

Enjoy!